Christian Ulbrich, JLL’s president and incoming chief executive, talked to Estates Gazette about his appointment, how he feels about the real estate market and whether replacing Colin Dyer at the head of the global firm is as daunting as it sounds.
What are your initial goals in your role as president and chief executive?
We are a very large organisation, so there are lots of talented people. I know many of them, but obviously there are a lot of people I want to get closer to over the next 12 months to understand the challenges, which will help guide our strategic direction.
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Do you have any concerns in the real estate market globally right now?
Every time has its specific challenges. There are quite a lot of issues that might have an impact on the real estate market. On the other hand, I’ve been running the EMEA region from 2009 onwards, and during that time, we’ve had a financial crisis, the euro crisis, the Ukrainian invasion and lately the Brexit discussions. A successful company needs to adapt and deal with all the situations. That’s what we have done in the past and we hope we will be successful doing that in the future.
What opportunities are there at the moment?
When times are becoming a bit more challenging and visibility decreases, our corporate clients especially are even more focused to drive efficiency in the real estate portfolio. That is a massive opportunity, especially in Europe, because most corporate clients are still in the early stages of the cycle with regard to real estate outsourcing.
Do you think it is possible JLL will do any large corporate deals, either in M&A or in purchases?
There’s a big consolidation play going on and we are in a position where we are usually invited to look at pretty much everything out there. We did that in the past and we’ll continue to do that in the future, but there’s nothing specific at the moment.
What were the most important things you learned under Colin Dyer?
My whole time within JLL I have worked closely with Colin Dyer, so that’s a long list! What comes immediately to mind is that Colin was a mastermind of turning our diversity into something good for our clients and our organisation. That is something where I have developed my skills over the last ten years, looking at how he was doing it and trying to get close to his skills around that.
He has been a very strong chief executive, and we have benefited tremendously from his leadership. I think it’s fair to say that we are really leading our industry in terms of technology. This didn’t come by itself, because we are in a very traditional environment. We were steered by Colin into that direction.
Is Colin’s legacy a daunting one to follow?
That’s not how we think. We have a whole load of very talented people, and Colin stood out as chief executive for the past 12 years. A number of people could have stepped up into his position. I’m now honoured to be the one who was chosen, but I don’t see it as a daunting legacy at all. I find it inspiring that he was leading our organisation. He will continue to be a mentor to me for many more years.
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