Mike Slade was his usual upbeat and gregarious self when Estates Gazette caught up with him to talk about his 30 years at the helm of Helical Bar, which this morning announced that he was to hand over the reins to Gerald Kaye next July.
One of the best-known and most outrageous characters in the UK property market, he is rarely out of the limelight and he spoke about corporate governance, red tape, the timing of his departure and what he will miss the most.
Why did you decide to step down as chief executive and become a non-executive chairman?
It doesn’t happen until July but it gives the whole thing some time to bed in and let Gerald get his feet under the table.
We spoke to all the major shareholders because it’s outside the norm and it slightly offends governance, so we had to clear it with everyone.
One of the shareholders was lovely, saying: “We need to make sure Mike is a real non-exec and if he does make this move then he mustn’t interfere and Gerald must lead the business.” And that’s absolutely right. I have no intention of fiddling. My role is to run the board and Gerald’s is to run the company.
The investor said that when I make the move in July I should leave the company and not appear at all for two months. I had to laugh. I said to him: “I must tell you, Mike Slade has never been seen in the office for the past five years during August or September.” We’ll be taking Leopard [Slade’s yacht] off and have five big races planned in the Mediterranean. Bloody funny.
Why did you decide to make the move now?
Over the past few days, some guys have said to me: “Are you getting out at the top? Are you telling us something? Mike Slade is jumping off at the top?” It’s bollocks. I said five years ago I would move when I was 70 and I’m 70 next August and that why it’s happening in July next year.
Are you proud of how the company has performed?
Robbie Duncan, the analyst at Numis, came out with this thing the other day: if you invested £1 in Helical Bar in 1984 when I started it would now be worth well over £1,000. That’s an extraordinary number and it’s testament to the way we run the business that we do turn things over and reinvest capital rather than sit and collect rent.
Has it been hard running an entrepreneurial company in the listed sector?
What you find within the quoted sphere is that it will get harder and harder to reward the guys that make all the money. We do get well paid and get good bonuses but that’s once you’ve hit a pretty high bar for performance. That’s before you get into a bonus discussion.
The answer is that if you do make those sort of returns then we’re well rewarded and that’s the only way you keep such long-standing staff together for so many years. This year [the directors] will get a lot of pay after a terrific year.
You’ve timed the cycles well. How do you know when you’re at the top of the market?
The top of the market is an innate feeling you get when it’s a bit hairy. It’s in your tummy at four in the morning when you’re trying to sleep. It something that you don’t analyse, it just comes to you.
Property is like that. You have strong periods and then sometimes it goes very soft. You can’t fiddle around and get depressed by it. Just go and play golf, I tell the boys here sometimes.
Are we at the top now?
I’m not starting to get that feeling again. Quite the reverse. If there’s any message from a retiring old boy it’s that this thing about London being in a cycle that’s going to stop in 2018 is complete and utter bollocks.
The other week we did the biggest deal ever on our own book with The Bower and that is the strongest demonstration of the fact that we see London having a good, long run.
All these minor points they all add up. Some 200,000 new jobs being created, there’s a huge population increase, building costs are high, so loads of what is mooted won’t be delivered, PDR means that all of the crap offices that have held rents down are going and £100 per sq ft rents are a lot more sustainable now than £30 per sq ft was four decades ago. In specific places the occupational market is very strong.
What was the hardest downturn you endured?
The 2007-2010 downturn was the hardest. Quite easily the worst. We had never before had a situation in which the main banks were bust. That is as low as it gets in my book. That was the hardest, quite dramatically the hardest. It was towards the end of my career and I thought, f***, the whole thing is turning upside down, just as I was thinking about jumping off.
What will you miss the most?
The Helicalettes [Slade’s occasional entourage of glamorous ladies] will always be very close to my heart. Talk about “PC” – I thought that stood for “Please, constable!”
I think I will miss the banter the most, the fun. I’d go to a restaurant in the West End and people would say, “Hi Mike”, I’d get a few high fives, a bit of “Who’s this woman you’re with, what’s going on?” That’s what I’ll miss, the general banter of the property game. I can still do that but I won’t have the expense account!
How would you like to be remembered?
I turned up at the College of Estate Management the other day dressed as Buzz Lightyear – that was a highlight. They gave me an award for services to the built environment and I had to admit that most of the things I’ve been responsible for have been complete shockers.
It was LandAid day and the office here all dressed up as Toy Story, so muggins here was Buzz Lightyear. I arrived at Haberdashers Hall dressed as Buzz Lightyear but they didn’t mind. Bloody funny, and if that’s the sort of thing I’ll be remembered for, I’ll be delighted.
