As Derwent London co-founder Simon Silver announces his impending retirement from the REIT’s board, don’t expect to see him become a man of leisure immediately. Yes, the executive director is looking forward to spending more time doting on his two grandchildren. And sure, he hopes to squeeze in a few more games of golf. But the boardroom will beckon for a little while yet.
Today, Silver announced that he will step down from his Derwent board role next February, although he will work with the business as an adviser until the end of 2022. “I said to colleagues – it’s au revoir, not goodbye,” he tells EG. “I’m close to a lot of people in property – I love coming in to the West End and I like breakfasting with a lot of my friends and colleagues. I’ll still have things to do.”
Nonetheless, even a phased retirement for Silver marks the end of an era for Derwent. John Burns, the company’s co-founder and chairman, as well as Silver’s step-brother, described him as an “exceptional” colleague and friend with an “outstanding” knowledge of the London office market. Jefferies analyst Mike Prew said the impact of Silver’s retirement on the business in which he has been a director since 1986 “should not be underestimated”.
Silver spoke with EG to reflect on more than three decades of building the business, the draw of a modern office, and his advice on forging a career in real estate today.
“Working from home can be soulless”
“It’s that old saying: time waits for no one,” Silver says of his decision to retire. “After 34 years it’s time to stand down and let succession take place – we’ve got a lot of talent here at Derwent. Sometimes the word “retire” makes people feel a bit flat. I don’t feel that at all. I feel very proud of where the company has gone and to have it in such great shape, able to deal with any difficult times ahead.”
Difficult sounds about right. Silver’s retirement announcement came on the same day that Derwent posted a loss of £13.2m for the first half of the year, as headwinds led by the coronavirus pandemic have grown.
But like Burns and chief executive Paul Williams, Silver is a believer in the power of the office. Staff started to return to Derwent’s own Savile Row office about five weeks ago, and if their experience is anything to go by, Silver reasons, companies will find some of their workforce eager to leave their home working set-ups behind.
“The idea of working from home for someone like me would be a very soulless experience – although I did enjoy my wife making me the odd cup of tea, I’m much happier being back in the office with colleagues,” he says. “It plays to Derwent’s strengths that if you’ve got a great building to return to, then it’s more likely you’ll want to get back soon than if you’re in an average office building. This idea of design excellence is worth its weight in gold.”
Silver returns to that notion of design and beautiful buildings often. Asked about early memories of developing Derwent’s vision for regeneration and refurbishment, he points to a “chance meeting” via a friend with a firm of young architects who had recently left Richard Rogers. Impressed by their attitude, Silver and colleagues asked them to help covert some industrial buildings the company owned in Islington into office space.
“It was definitely a eureka moment – ‘my goodness, look at what they’ve done to these buildings’,” Silver says. “They stand up today – timber floor, glass brick, a lot of the materials that people would be happy to use now. It influenced me and my colleagues on our refurbishment programme, as it was then. The idea that we could employ these young firms of architects took root and turned out to be a game changer. We’ve been at the forefront of architecture and design for many years.”
Asking Silver for a favourite project from more than 30 years at Derwent may seem like asking someone to pick a favourite child – and sure enough he struggles to stick to just one answer. One all-time favourite in terms of regeneration is the Tea Building in Shoreditch, he says, but he also points to the White Collar Factory, the Angel Building and the recently completed 80 Charlotte Street.
“Property is an amazing industry”
The London office market Silver is preparing to leave is very different to the one he and Burns entered with Derwent in the mid-1980s.
“I can remember rents being £5 a foot when I started in agency, and the idea that rents would ever surpass £100 a foot would have been impossible to believe,” Silver says. “It’s a very different market and much more competitive because of the way technology works. In those days you’d receive buildings that were off market – now, the minute they’re mentioned, they’re with everyone. But it’s still very enjoyable and we’re still plying our trade using a lot of the values we’ve gained over the years.”
And that notion of enjoyment is important. Still enthusiastic in conversation and still clearly in love with the capital and real estate, Silver gives the impression of someone who is unlikely to let go entirely. But as he starts to take it easier, what advice does he have for the younger professionals starting out their careers in real estate as his draws to a close?
“Life is all about timing and some people are luckier than most,” says Silver, who has two sons also working in the property industry. “I worked in what was an absolute golden era – not that there weren’t ups and downs and recessions. For people coming into the industry now, it’s obviously not the greatest of times.
“But I don’t think that matters. Property is an amazing industry. It’s a people industry, communication is everything, and I certainly wouldn’t deter anybody thinking of making a career in property from making a start now. When there are problems, there’s also opportunity, and where there’s opportunity, there’s a chance for young people to show their prowess.”
To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette
