BUILDING DESIGN &
CONSTRUCTION THE MAGAZINE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SEPTEMBER 2013 SEPTEMBER 2013 ISSUE 189
FORWARD THINKING SOLUTIONS FROM
MONTAGU EVANS
BUILDING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
WATERSTONES
PASSIONATE ABOUT BOOKS ABB GROUP
POWER AND PRODUCTIVITY
MANAGING OUR WOODLANDS
FORESTRY COMMISSION
HOLLAND & BARRETT
THE GOOD LIFE
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: MONTAGU EVANS
FORWARD THINKING SOLUTIONS MONTAGU EVANS HAS BEEN PROVIDING EXPERT ADVICE IN THE PROPERTY SECTOR FOR NEARLY 100 YEARS
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: MONTAGU EVANS ontagu Evans provides the full range of services associated with property, from acquisition to disposal and everything in between. On the management side of the business, Head of Management Gregory McGonigal believes it’s crucial to focus on day-to-day operations. “The core skill set any client wants to get right from the outset is to make sure that the accounting side — rent collection, service charge, administration etc. — is all running smoothly and properly, that the buildings are being looked after and maintained and that the tenants are happy,” he says. “The next part of the equation is asset management work, which is about adding value to clients’ properties or portfolios. That is another area of our business, but the core focus is on getting the fundamentals right. If you don’t do that, you won’t have much of a chance to do any asset management work on the building because you won’t have a very happy tenant or client.”
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MEETING CLIENTS’ NEEDS Those clients tend to be property companies, institutional funds and private individuals. Services run all the way through from valuation and acquisition to planning, development, rating, rent reviews, lease renewals and the general management of properties. Although the company is capable of providing a full range of services, it will equally handle specific aspects to suit client needs. “We focus on what clients want us to do,” remarks Gregory. There is also an acceptance that Montagu Evans doesn’t have a large network of regional teams to handle vast portfolios across the country and so the concentration comes back to providing focused core services. “People often think we’re much bigger than we are because of the high quality instructions and the excellent client base we have,” comments Gregory. “We do what we’re good at, which is linking with clients and working closely with them on a particular remit. We have a very high ratio of partners to staff, which means that every instruction
has a partner and a very high calibre of person involved with it.” Working closely with clients is particularly important during times of economic difficulty. That generally extends to speaking with the bigger clients every week and having formal quarterly meetings where a report is issued and recommendations and observations are discussed. Sometimes those recommendations arise from meetings with tenants where concerns about the condition of certain building aspects may arise and plans need to be put in place to address them. Gregory says: “That puts us in a much better position when negotiating new terms with a tenant. We may decide to collectively put some money into improving a reception area or the security of a building, so it all comes out of communication. The key is making sure we don’t do things just for the sake of it; we do them in consultation with our client as the owners of the building, but also with the tenants as occupiers. Most of the time, they’re going to
“THE CORE SKILL SET ANY CLIENT WANTS TO GET RIGHT FROM THE OUTSET IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ACCOUNTING SIDE — RENT COLLECTION, SERVICE CHARGE, ADMINISTRATION ETC. — IS ALL RUNNING SMOOTHLY AND PROPERLY, THAT THE BUILDINGS ARE BEING LOOKED AFTER AND MAINTAINED AND THAT THE TENANTS ARE HAPPY.” GREGORY MCGONIGAL HEAD OF MANAGEMENT
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: MONTAGU EVANS
be paying for work and so we want to make sure that they’re happy and the money is well spent.” Montagu Evans has an increasing involvement in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) sector and is working closely with Resolution Property on Triton Court on Finsbury Square, which is being refurbished and renamed Alphabeta Building to be a major attraction to the TMT sector in and around Shoreditch. Alphabeta will include a bicycle ramp access directly from Worship Street down to a 200-plus capacity store in the basement together with a very large open central atrium that will provide a central reception area, seating, breakout areas and a café to create a community feel with a modern and innovative setting. CONTINUAL DIALOGUE Meetings with tenants are crucial so the aim is to have a continual dialogue, with quarterly or sixmonthly meetings for the larger, multi-occupancy
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buildings and as part of the annual inspection for single lets. They also come up at key dates, such as lease expiry or rent review times, and can help identify tenants that are struggling to meet their commitments. “Inevitably there are several conversations that start off from a negative point of view, such as payment difficulties, that we look at in accordance with client’s instructions,” remarks Gregory. “But there are options that come from moving people around where one tenant may want to decrease the space they occupy, but someone else in the building needs more. So it’s not all negative, but certainly the context of contact with tenants has been much more focused in the last few years. It was easier when everything was going well and you expected the rent to be paid on time, you had conversations with tenants on the basis of future expansion or you spent heavily on building improvements so you could re-let or sell them”.
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Project work increasingly focuses on environmental issues and energy efficiency, especially when tenants and clients are signed up to the CRC scheme and have to report consumption figures. The emphasis is often on installing better lighting systems, improved controls and more efficient boilers and chillers, with refurbishments invariably incorporating more of a focus on sustainability. ENERGY MANAGEMENT A recent project at The O2 in Greenwich sought to drive down energy consumption and costs. Gregory explains: “We’re putting in an online energy management system. Tenants will be able to access data loggers for their unit and interrogate hard value
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data so they can see whether they left equipment on overnight and view spikes that might indicate that something is wrong with their plant. When analysing bills, we can interrogate the system in a much more forensic sense to deliver some savings, which is essential because the electricity costs are vast.” Montagu Evans is now engaged with 26/28 Hammersmith Grove where the former owners had already embarked on a chiller replacement project. “We questioned some of the decisions surrounding the options,” recalls Gregory. “The choices were partly driven by neighbouring properties, which dictated that we needed a particularly quiet chiller so we didn’t cause a noise nuisance, but could still
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: MONTAGU EVANS operate outside normal working hours when necessary. We commissioned a full acoustic survey of the surrounding area and a chiller was selected on the basis of its performance and noise criteria. We changed the emphasis of that project and chose a different chiller due to looking at things in a different way.” RENEWAL FREQUENCY There has been a trend to shorter leases, from the 25-year leases common up to the late 1980s to less than ten yeas now. That leads to more frequent renewals, which can work in the client’s or tenant’s favour depending on the state of the rental market at the time. The economic downturn has put pressure on maximising occupancy and income, whilst at the same time minimising expenditure. “It’s a fine balancing act between having to do what you know you’ve got to do to keep the building in good condition but, at the same time, being mindful that clients are not necessarily awash with funds,” states Gregory. “I think we are beginning to see a change where more clients are now able to focus on improving property stock and so we are getting more actively involved in project and asset management work.” www.montagu-evans.co.uk Tel: 020 74934002
“I THINK WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE A CHANGE WHERE MORE CLIENTS ARE NOW ABLE TO FOCUS ON IMPROVING PROPERTY STOCK AND SO WE ARE GETTING MORE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN PROJECT AND ASSET MANAGEMENT WORK.” GREGORY MCGONIGAL HEAD OF MANAGEMENT
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