Don’t feel too sorry for private equity firms, but they are struggling to attract and retain talent right now. Bright young things, once drawn by the world of high finance, are increasingly being lured by the thrill of disruption.
Pop-up retail start-up Appear Here is the latest to swoop, appointing a former Blackstone managing director as head of global landlord partnerships.
After a decade working in the US and Europe, Peter Lennon has joined the two-year-old start-up to expand its portfolio regionally. It is an exciting time for the fast-growing Appear Here. It launched 650 shops in London and internationally last year, up from 80 the year before. You can see why Lennon was tempted. Don’t expect to see him in a suit and tie anytime soon.
Lennon isn’t the only one to make the switch in property from finance to start-up. And it’s a trend that is playing out across the corporate world. Are agents affected? Absolutely. To pick one example, retail surveyors Ed Marsh and Tom Mees set up on their own in 2012 to specialise in retail- and office-to-resi conversions of unusual spaces through FRT Developments.
Meanwhile, traditional occupiers are increasingly looking for space that allows them to create a start-up vibe for parts of their business to foster innovation and retain talent.
Some straddle the two worlds. Faisal Butt, chief executive of James Caan’s investment company Spire Ventures, has launched Europe’s first property accelerator with Cushman & Wakefield’s Juliette Morgan.
Complained one investment banker to me a few weeks ago: “The younger generation aren’t looking for the sort of career I’ve had, rising up the ranks, doing well for themselves with job security and few risks. They want the excitement of a fluid career.”
However traditional your business, offering that fluidity may be the key to retaining and attracting talent over the next decade.
• “Sometimes,” said CBI director general John Cridland, “business wants less from government rather than more.”
With a general election so close, the voteless business community should never have expected much from George Osborne this week. And while it was billed as a Budget for jobs and housing, the levers pulled were decidedly demand-side, not supply-focused. Yes, there were housing zones created and a London Land Commission endorsed, but the real emphasis was placed on a help-to-buy ISA. It may have impact outside the capital, but little within. And that is where the need is most acute. So a Budget for votes, not one for housing solutions.
• One day I’ll stop writing about agent consolidation. Not today, though. Capita is in talks to buy Malcolm Hollis. The building surveying firm turned over £15m last year, generating a £4.3m operating profit. Expect that to have grown by at least a third by the end of this financial year following the launch of a residential arm.
Perhaps consolidation isn’t the right word; agglomeration would be more appropriate as the activity isn’t limited to agents. This week Savills swooped for SEB Asset Management, paying €21.5m (£15.6m) in cash and creating a new €17bn fund manager. It propels Cordea Savills up the league tables in Europe and Asia. The business will be branded Savills Investment Management, a sensible move.
More next week, no doubt.
• Argent may just be the most dynamic developer in the UK right now: from its longstanding scheme at London’s King’s Cross to its more recent activity at Brent Cross, Birmingham’s Paradise Circus and Manchester Airport. In his latest Real Talk interview for EG Radio, broadcaster James Max caught up with the Argent team, including managing partner David Partridge, about the propco’s transformational plans.
