Last month, Lunson Mitchenall threw a packed party for clients and friends to celebrate 30 years as a leading independent retail and leisure agency. And the important word to note here is “independent”.
In a decade that has seen a many mergers and buyouts, most recently that of Jones Lang LaSalle/King Sturge, which has completely changed the UK’s agency landscape, Lunson Mitchenall is proud of its independent stance.
“We have always, as a business, had our independence quite high up our list of priorities,” says senior director Peter Courtney, who joined the company in 1980, the year it was founded by Neill Mitchenall and David Lunson. But, he adds: “That’s not to say that people haven’t approached us.”
One approach, which the market knows about, was by Wilkinson Williams five years ago – although it was only a tentative negotiation and no alliance was formed. Wilkinson Williams is another niche firm which also celebrated its 20th anniversary last month (see below).
Attractiveness to others
The reasons for Lunson Mitchenall’s attractiveness to other businesses are clear. In the past five years alone, the company has done £4.5bn of retail investment, in 85 transactions, equating to 18.3m sq ft of shopping centre space.
On its website, Lunson Mitchenall boasts of being involved in “more than 50 of the top shopping centres, providing day-to-day asset management and leasing advice”.
Adding to its burgeoning portfolio, in April the company, which does a large amount of asset management, was appointed letting agent at the 530,000 sq ft Dolphin shopping centre in Poole, Dorset, by Dutch investor Weraldhave, and at the 850,000 sq ft St Enoch Centre in Glasgow by Canadian investor Ivanhoe Cambridge.
Globally, Lunson Mitchenall provides shopping centre consultancy for major retail developments in Abu Dhabi, Buenos Aires, India and Europe. On the leisure side, the company has worked on developments such as London’s 02 arena and the Royal Festival Hall.
It is quite a CV for an independent. And independent is the way Lunson Mitchenall wants to keep it, despite the past decade’s acquisitions and mergers – there have been three this year alone. In February CBRE bought the lion’s share of ING’s property investment management business; in May GVA bought Humberts Leisure; and, of course, in the same month there was the aforementioned JLL buyout of King Sturge.
On its independent stance, managing director Marcus Kilby, who joined in 1983, says: “It’s endemic on the way we focus our expertise on retail property. We have kept within our own bounds and we haven’t lost a lot of people either. That continuity for the client and us helps us provide a long-term look.”
Courtney adds: “There are always clients who say ‘well, I have lost my contact’ [when firms merge]. People find they don’t like it and, we tend to benefit from that.”
Being focused on niche areas also helped the company through the recession. Courtney says: “We stuck to what we always do because we haven’t been distracted by different business models.”
And not surprising, given it is a firm of just 23 fee-earners, the belief is that smaller agencies are better, not just for clients, but also for the agents themselves. John Griffin, who joined in 1995 and heads up the retail investment team, says: “The majority of our staff have come from other larger companies and they have joined because they like the niche aspect of the business. They like the longevity of the company and what we do.”
The future
After finishing its 30th anniversary celebrations, the company’s sights are firmly on the future. And central London is set to play a large part in that. “We expect to expand organically over the next five to 10 years as we have done,” says Kilby. “We have no major plans to diversify, but we intend to stick to the areas we are good at – but there are always areas where you can expand.”
Kilby explains that part of this expansion comes from having a dedicated catering and leisure side, as this area is becoming increasingly important to Lunson Mitchenall’s clients, as it is to a lot of retailers.
Meanwhile, Courtney says central London is going to be a main focus. The company is already doing leasing work for Argent’s Kings Cross scheme, which has 500,000 sq ft of retail. Phase 1 will be open in late 2011.
As the internet changes retail, the company wants to change with it. Kilby says: “The future will be defined by experience, and we have to create those environments, whether it is retail or catering. There is also so much to be done with existing stock and working with clients.”
The company is also involved in a few schemes (no names yet) for which it is going to provide funds. Griffin says: “We don’t want to reply on the pension fund model but it’s about picking the right schemes in the right locations where there is no over supply.”
Wilkinson Williams celebrates its lofty position
Wilkinson Williams celebrated its 20th anniversary last month by displacing large agency Savills as the number one agent. The company now has the most UK retail warehouse floorspace under asset management, according to Trevor Wood Associates.
This is a great achievement for the niche retail firm, which has just 16 staff, including 12 surveyors, compared to Savills, which has 700 staff in 13 offices in the UK and Ireland.
Set up by Paul Wilkinson and Robert Williams, who left two years ago Ð Miles Marten is now managing partner – the company operates, according to its website “at the leading edge of the dynamic out-of-town retail property market and its activities and advisory capabilities now cover investment consultancy, occupational agency, rent reviews and asset management”.
And, like Lunson Mitchenall, it flourishes under its independent banner. “By being independent we believe we can provide fully impartial and focused advice,” says Wilkinson, who adds: “Not being beholden to corporate pressure for short-term returns, we can concentrate on developing long-term relationships with our clients.
“Some of our current clients we have worked with from day one, 20 years ago, and for most, we started the relationship 10 to 15 years ago. And we have coped relatively well through the recession Ð we have stuck to the knitting and now asset manage 132 retail parks.”
As for expansion, Wilkinson says: “We don’t have plans for significant growth but there is further potential to expand our five-strong agency team. We see our success routed in providing the best advice across the out-of-town market.”
