Stoford Developments – Best Property Company
It is third-time lucky for Stoford Developments, which has won the accolade of EG’s best property company in the West Midlands for the second year running, after first winning the title in 2007.
The private developer continues to nurture its relationships with occupiers, both in the Midlands and across the UK.
Despite a difficult market last year, Stoford signed up almost 1.2m sq ft of prelet and freehold development space, of which around one-quarter (330,000 sq ft) was based in the Midlands.
Its notable Midlands projects in the past 12 months include the completion of the 170,000 sq ft Severn Trent HQ building in Coventry, developing Staffordshire county council’s 140,000 sq ft HQ, and starting West Bromwich’s first office scheme for more than 30 years – the 75,000 sq ft BT office building, which forms part of the All Saints redevelopment.
Stoford is also developing 250,000 sq ft of B1, B2 and B8 accommodation for Moog at the i54 development near Wolverhampton. It is due to be completed in November 2011.
Jon Andrews, Stoford’s managing director, says: “These projects represented a triumph of determination for the team involved, having crossed the most challenging hurdles during this turbulent period.”
Further afield, Stoford secured Cardiff’s biggest ever prelet – a 215,000 sq ft HQ building for Admiral Group. Admiral will house 3,000 staff in the building, which is due to receive consent in mid-2011, with a start on site due later this year.
The company had a turnover of £48m in 2010, up from £39m in the previous year. Its pipeline is valued at £155m, with one-third of the projects (£57m) located in the Midlands.
Savills – Best Property Adviser
With a turnover of £7.7m in the West Midlands, the 60-strong team at Savills’ Birmingham office has managed to increase total office turnover and profit in another tough year for the industry.
This tenacity has resulted in the agency being voted property adviser of the year in the West Midlands by EG readers.
The Birmingham office is one of the firm’s largest outside London and has continued to recruit. Two directors and an associate have been appointed to the shopping centre management and set-up teams, and planning and industrial agency directors have been hired.
Birmingham office head Barry Allen says: “Our work ethic is strong, but so too is the sense of fun, with regular team and charity events. Motivation remains high, with the company continuing to grow market share in its 12th year in Birmingham.”
A three-strong investment team transacted more than £643m of deals in the past year, making it one of the most successful and profitable within the entire firm. And the industrial agency team transacted more than 2.5m sq ft, of which 2.1m sq ft were disposals, including the 900,000 sq ft warehouse prelet to Marks & Spencer at EMDC.
The residential market, a key area of focus for Savills nationally, marketed 170 acres and sold more than £60m of land. Key clients include ProLogis, St Modwen, Goodman, Aprirose REI and Warwickshire county council.
Simon Jenkins, senior vice-president development UK at ProLogis, says: “With Savills you know you are getting not just local expertise, but knowledge that’s backed by a hugely successful team.”
