Cushman & Wakefield boss Brett White has come out fighting against CBRE and JLL, claiming the agent is better placed to weather the coronavirus pandemic.
White said that he believed Cushman had differentiated itself from its peers with its recent advice on how to get the global workforce back to the workplace and that that was enabling it to take market share.
He said more than 12,000 people from 8,000 companies had dialled in to its best practice webinar for reopening offices and that “many of the companies and callers were likely current clients of our competitors who ended up turning to Cushman & Wakefield for advice and counsel”.
“I can speak from experience that sound advice and an ability to solve problems in a challenging and uncertain time is a critical differentiator to our clients,” said White. “I believe this crisis will ultimately drive an increasing volume of activity to the big three firms CBRE, JLL and Cushman & Wakefield, which each possess unique capabilities to serve clients in these unsettled times.”
He added that while other firms were only recently beginning their plans on austerity, Cushman began its own months before the market turned down.
He said that because the senior management team had led all three of the largest firms – White was chief executive at CBRE before joining Cushman – the “playbook on additional temporary and permanent cost reductions” was well-known to the leadership and had been implemented immediately.
“To put it clearly, we have a formula for financially managing our business that we feel is a distinct differentiator and competitive advantage for our company. Our approach is scientific, data-driven and conservative,” said White. “Cushman & Wakefield is a much stronger company than it or our two largest peers were in the global financial crisis with more than ample liquidity and a diversified revenue base weighted towards recurring revenues.
“We are confident in our company, our employees, and our ability to serve our clients no matter what the coming months may bring,” he said. ”Our actions have been fact-based and decisive and our financial strength is not in doubt.”
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