Joanna Watts

“As the business has grown, we have needed to keep moving forward and offering new services as the market demands it. We now have 400,000 sq. ft. of property under management and we have dealt with millions of pounds worth of investment sales. In fact, we have been involved in one way or another with pretty much every office building in St Peter Port.”

That experience stands them in good stead as they navigate the often tricky area of commercial property transactions.

“Commercial property deals tend to be a lot more complicated than residential deals – there are a lot more issues to consider, ranging from planning, title and tenancy issues to change of use applications. Because there are a lot more matters to take into account, there is a lot more negotiation and case management ALONGSIDE OUR MANAGEMENT PORTFOLIO WHICH HAS GROWN ORGANICALLY IN GUERNSEY YEAR ON YEAR, WE NOW ALSO MANAGE PROPERTIES IN JERSEY. on many different levels. I think you really do have to keep your head and have a bit of grit about you to be successful in this area.”

For Jo, that success also comes through having a broad range of income streams through the business. It’s something she’s been focused on from the start.

“We’ve made sure that as the company has progressed, we have built a balanced multidisciplinary business. We have always tried to offer all relevant services such as dealing with landlord/tenant relationships and areas such as rent negotiations, but in recent years we’ve expanded into areas such as residential valuations and mortgage valuations for the banks. We are on all the bank panels now for commercial lending, and an increasing number for residential. “Not only have we been a key part of the team kick starting Admiral Park, but in recent years we’ve also been involved in a lot more investment sales. For example, we recently sold Carey House and we’ve been involved in the sales for Royal Chambers and Royal Bank Place. Alongside our management portfolio which has grown organically in Guernsey year on year, we now also manage properties in Jersey.”

Jo has also carefully considered new appointments to ensure the services the firm offers are enhanced and potentially expanded. That has particularly been the case with the company’s most recent joiner, Mark Johnson. His appointment means that they can offer building surveying work on top of their other areas of expertise.

“I’m delighted with Mark’s appointment and the expansion of our services. It’s an area that

we were keen to move into, but we wanted to make sure that we had the right person who would fit into our team. Being a small, independent firm we are very nimble so once we decide to do something we are able to act on it very quickly. We knew Mark was the right person so we were able to recruit him speedily.”

For Jo, that independent approach is crucial to how she runs her company. As part of the firm’s 10th anniversary celebrations in 2019, she decided to rebrand from Watts & Co to Watts Property Consultants.

“As part of the rebrand we wanted to develop and launch a new website. Because we’re not answerable to a parent company or a large board sitting above us, we are able to make decisions like that without interference or delays. I felt that it was a worthwhile investment in the business that was necessary to ensure we kept moving forward.

“We had only developed our website five years previously, but technology moves forward so quickly it was important that we had something that was better for mobile devices and was more efficient. The rebranding was also just a really nice way to properly mark our 10-year anniversary.”

Having been in business for a decade, it’s unsurprising that Jo has seen some changes during her time at the helm, both in the industry and the market.

“There are some new players in the market compared with a few years ago, such as the RED fund and the Channel Islands Property Fund. There is also quite a lot of new money and new investors in the island, who have confidence in our economy and have realised that it can generate positive returns. Dealing with investors like that can be very rewarding as the work becomes much more relationship based. As far as our industry colleagues are concerned, consolidations amongst our WE UPHOLD TRADITIONAL VALUES WITH INTEGRITY AND RESPECT AND ALWAYS SEEK TO OFFER THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF SERVICE. competitors has also meant there are probably fewer players in the market now compared with when we first launched; it is certainly a sector that has evolved.”

While the evolution of the industry has brought benefits for Jo, she admits that other changes, particularly in the regulatory environment, mean that there have been challenges along the way.

“There is a lot more compliance now than there was when we started 10 years ago, which, whilst important, is time consuming and has also made the cost of business highe. That’s why we need to run an efficient and lean ship and operate as profitably as possible.

“I believe that there is still work for us to do inhouse in terms of processes and systems. We are always looking at increasing efficiencies and ensuring that we are as streamlined as possible. There are also other areas we want to develop and exciting schemes that will hopefully come online over the next 10 years.”

But while Jo is already looking forward to the next decade, when asked to sum up the firm and its ethos, she says she looks back to their last major milestone. “When we had our fifth anniversary, we invited Giles Brandreth to speak at a dinner, which we held at the Farmhouse Hotel for all our clients. He gave a powerful, yet off the cuff, speech about the company, describing us as ‘as modern as tomorrow with a lot of time for yesterday’.

“I remembered that the other day and thought that it really does capture who we are. We uphold traditional values with integrity and respect and always seek to offer the highest quality of service. Yet at the same time we aim to be progressive – we understand the importance of investing in IT and processes and in our staff and their training.”

As for their award, it was something the team was delighted to receive.

“It was a lovely evening of celebration and inspiration for the industry. As a team, we all really love what we do – we all share the vision of what Watts Property is and what defines the firm in terms of our corporate culture so we were really pleased to have that recognition and be part of the awards.”

J G ARCHITECTURE

As a design firm, J G Architecture is very aware of the importance of presentation. So when founder, James Gavey, was looking to move premises, he knew the new space needed to be something special. After a couple of years of searching, he found the ideal opportunity, and the team has recently moved into its new industrial styled space on the island’s west coast.