A Midlands property consultancy left the economy’s doldrums behind to record one of its most successful ever years in 2012.
FHP, led by founding directors David Hargreaves and John Proctor, was involved in a series of landmark deals in key commercial property markets which saw it play a major role in transactions worth more than £120 million in sales or lettings.
The deals – which involved projects which have helped create or safeguard more than 2,000 jobs – saw FHP dominate key markets. In the central Nottingham office market alone, it accounted for nearly 50 per cent of deals measured by either number or square footage in 2012. And this success came in the wake of a previous year when it had been responsible for a third of deals.
Across office, industrial and retail markets FHP has been involved in nearly all the major instructions, ranging from a major office letting at Castle Wharf through to giant distribution warehouse developments alongside the M1 corridor for High Street giants.
John Proctor says the scale of the activity that FHP has been involved in is the result of a long-term strategy coming to fruition. He commented: “It was obvious even before the credit crunch that the property market had to find a more sustainable way forward, and we began to focus on long-term relationships rather than individual opportunities some time ago.
“We have been able to forge some productive partnerships as a result, and it has been a privilege to work alongside some incredibly professional development teams whose commitment and experience has led to the successful delivery of ambitious projects which have made their mark on the regional economy.”
Those projects include two giant industrial warehouses delivered on behalf of Clowes Developments for High Street giants Marks & Spencer and Co-operative Food. The two projects account for nearly 2000 jobs between them. But Tim Gilbertson, who is a senior member of FHP’s office and industrial team, says experience at all levels of the market have proved just as important to the firm’s success as the landmark deals.
He commented: “What matters to vendors or potential occupiers is not so much the state of the wider market as the strategy that is going to help them navigate their way through that market and achieve their objectives. Despite the challenges, and the dearth of new development, there are growing businesses that need room to expand and sites that have the potential to accommodate them. We’ve got the experience and market intelligence to find solutions.”
Gilbertson is part of one of the most experienced commercial property teams in the Midlands, and John Proctor says a consultancy that is now within sight of its quarter century has grown more than anything else because it has invested in its own surveyors.
“There are all sorts of measures of success in the commercial property market, but you can’t argue with simple square feet, particularly when it involves so many high-profile developments and prominent deals,” he said. “Whether it’s a third of the deals or half of them, we’re thrilled by these results.
“What makes me particularly proud is that this is also a consequence of the efforts we’ve made to develop our own people. Alongside Tim we have people like James Hartley and Laura West, who have developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of key parts of the East Midlands market, and Mark Tomlinson, who has won two EGi awards already, even though he is one of the youngest members of the team.”
During 2012, FHP secured sales worth £11m and lettings worth £3m per annum in the office market; sales worth £18m and lettings worth £18m per annum in the industrial market; and sales worth £70m and lettings worth £6m per annum in the retail market.
Only a few weeks ago, FHP won a competitive pitch to become joint agent for Intu Properties on its planned refurbishment and expansion of the Intu Victoria Shopping Centre in Nottingham. Earlier this month, both the retail and office and industrial teams won EGi Most Active Agent awards for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in the first quarter of 2013.
