When it comes to who wields the most power in UK property, it’s all change again this year. From politicians and global players to the industry’s biggest investors, fresh blood dominates. Here is the ultimate guide to the ones to watch over the next 12 months
Potential political shifts, fresh overseas investors and more influence on UK property than ever from the US of A. In a fast-changing industry operating on a faster-changing global stage, nearly 60% of the 2014 Power List is made up of new entries. Considering that the 2013 list was already dominated by fresh blood, this year’s rankings are evidence of just how quickly influencers in UK property can find themselves dropping down or even out of the top 50 in a matter of months, to make room for a new wave in a market on an upward trajectory.
No surprises that, once again, international players and investors have stormed the top 10. One overseas debut entry has come straight in at second place, above the UK’s own most influential politicians and industry players. The list also features the highest-ranking female entry in its four-year history.
Another trend this year has been the number of forward-looking entries. With so many possible political changes coming up in the next two years, keeping an eye on those lurking in the shadows will be crucial to avoid coming to terms with potential new policy too late.
This year we have ranked the most powerful players in the UK property sector based on nominations from 30 senior industry figures, before analysing the new entries and the – now pretty rare – remaining Power List stalwarts.
Estates Gazette Power List 2014
50Twitter
EG has long sought to expose laggards. Anyone digging their heels in and retaining an old-school #notontwitter status could find themselves seriously suffering in 2014. Breaking news, company updates, conference and event gossip often appear here first. The power of the little blue bird is building. Best embrace it before it’s too late…
49Alison Nimmo
Chief executive, Crown Estate
The first woman to lead the Crown Estate and now with more than two years under her belt, Nimmo has successfully continued the firm’s recent successes with global names. With the business posting a record profit last year, and its capital value topping £8.6bn, it is easy to see why all international eyes are on the Crown.
48David Atkins
Chief executive, Hammerson
After selling off Hammerson’s office properties to focus purely on retail, Atkins has turned the business into a very attractive REIT. With more than 8m sq ft of new shopping space in development, including the 2m sq ft makeover of Croydon, south London, with Westfield, Atkins has a big role to play in the future of retail.
47Lord Heseltine and Greg Clark
Politicians
This understated double act is currently engaged in dispensing £10bn of Local Growth Fund through the 39 local enterprise partnerships; £2bn pa for the next five years, in a competitive bidding round. The property sector would do well to keep an eye on this activity; these two mean business in getting public sector assets freed up.
46John and Fawn James
Managing director and director, Soho Estates
As John James forges ahead with dramatic plans to revamp London’s Soho, his stepdaughter – and company director – Fawn is finding her own voice. Currently leading plans announced last year to restore and convert her grandfather Paul Raymond’s infamous RevueBar to create a new fringe theatre, her Power List credentials are becoming increasingly clear.
45David Sleath
Chief executive, SEGRO
After stripping out non-core UK assets, SEGRO is poised to command much of the industrial market’s movement in the prime South East. Significant holdings in key locations such as Park Royal, Slough, and Reading mean occupiers are compelled to knock on SEGRO’s door. And an expanding portfolio and growing foothold on the continent, backed by Canadian money, means the man steering this 57m sq ft ship is going to be a key player in Europe’s main conurbations.
44Chris Grigg
Chief executive, British Land
Not to be too cheesy, but with British Land’s 610,000 sq ft Leadenhall Building in the City due to complete this year, failing to have former banker Grigg on the list would be remiss. With a dearth of space in the Square Mile, top-class developments are getting all the attention. Add to that development plans at Paddington and Clarges House in the West End and BL has a busy few years ahead providing much-needed space for prime location-hungry occupiers.
43Matt Brittin
Managing director, Google UK
As head of Google’s northern European operations – the wet countries, as he calls them – Matt Brittin has had more influence on the UK property industry than any other occupier. His decision to plant a new HQ in King’s Cross, N1C, secured the area’s reputation and had a ripple effect across the capital as London became the tech capital of Europe. What would Google do? was a business bestseller a few years ago. More property people are asking themselves the same question.
42John Slade
Chief executive, BNP Paribas Real Estate
A deliverer. Asked to boost turnover, London activity and personnel by French bank BNP Paribas, Slade has done just that at BNP Paribas Real Estate. Two years into a three-year plan to add 150 staff to the UK business, Slade is on the hunt for more go-getting agents. And with an appetite to grow the financial side of the business too, the big boys may need to watch out.
41Jamie Ritblat
Chairman and chief executive, Delancey Estates
Ritblat has slipped down – but certainly not out – of the Power List as 2014 looks set to be another big one for Delancey. The group is currently working up plans for a 23-storey residential tower behind the Tate Modern gallery on the site of the former National Grid office. And just last week it was announced that 200 private rented homes have been let at Get Living London, Qatari Diar’s and Delancey’s private rented initiative at East Village, E20.
40Andrew Jones
Chief executive, LondonMetric
Merging his Metric with his old bosses’ London & Stamford should have been enough to put Warren Buffet-quoting Jones on the Power List, but his ambitions for LondonMetric cement his place. A year on from the merger he has transacted more than £1bn, buying at yields of 7.9% and selling at 6%. Expect more activity in the retail sheds sector. And expect plenty more quotes from the Sage of Omaha.
39The New Top Agents
They have taken quite a tumble in the Power List stakes from number 13 last year. But then the past 12 months have seen a growing move towards principal-to-principal deal sealing. Nevertheless, the top agents – particularly the new guard – remain key players. Guy Grainger at JLL, Ciaran Bird at CBRE, and Alistair Elliott at Knight Frank hold their places in the spotlight as they deliver bold UK and global strategies. Each is looking to develop further as the market continues to pick up.
38John Burns
Chief executive, Derwent London
The often-quoted exception to the developer rule – particularly among UK and global TMT occupiers – Derwent London is known for taking a modern approach in an old-fashioned industry. As the group’s key projects around Silicon Roundabout progress this year, Burns continues to be the man to know for occupiers wanting to get a foot in the door.
37Brendon McDonagh
Chief executive, Nama
Leading Ireland’s bad bank since its inception in 2009 has been a “huge buzz”, says Brendan McDonagh. Finally, life may start to get easier. The clouds that have hung over the Irish economy for so long are lifting. And with US private equity eyeing European distress, McDonagh’s efforts to purge the Irish economy of £63bn of toxic real estate loans may be rewarded in the coming year.
36Paul Singer
Elliott Associates and the activist investors
US billionaire Paul Singer took some time out from his protracted battle with the Argentinian government over repudiated bonds, to overturn the shopping trolley at Morrisons earlier this year. Elliot Associates, together with other US hedge funds have bought into the supermarket giant’s shares in an attempt to force the sell-off of the group’s giant freehold estate. The Co-operative Group has also been the subject of activist investor attention and is in the initial throes of unloading parts of its large property portfolio. Where, when, and why Singer and his activist ilk next choose to exert their influence is unpredictable, but the resulting opportunities for property investors could be immense.
35Tyler Goodwin
Chief executive, Lodha Developers UK
India’s largest property developer Lodha Group made its UK debut in November 2013 with the not so subtle £306m purchase of the Canadian High Commission, W1. At the same time it hired Tyler Goodwin, a former managing director at JP Morgan Asset Management to head its UK business, and has since bought a £90m Midtown asset. It is has rapidly made itself a big presence in the capital.
34Sir David Higgins
Chairman, HS2
It could have been Sir Howard Davies, but his work on UK airport capacity has been kicked into the post-general election long grass. So we have plumped for Sir David Higgins, the former chief executive of Network Rail, the man who delivered the London Olympics, and, as of this year, the new chairman of HS2. Next month Higgins will submit his report on the project to David Cameron. The argument for the near £50bn project still rages. But if anyone can make the case it will be the Australian who is universally acknowledged as the UK’s infrastructure king.
33Charles Weeks
Chief executive, Cornerstone
Cornerstone keeps threatening to emerge as a fund management force to be reckoned with in Europe, linked as it is with takeovers of most of the businesses known to be available. As chief executive for Europe, Weeks has positioned the business to capitalise on a range of investment strategies; expect the company to become a real force this year.
32Jason Kow
Chief executive, Queensgate
Kow’s opportunistic fund manager Queensgate Investments bought Executive Offices Group last year for £260m. But that is only half the initial equity the upstart investor was backed with by LJ Group. The strategy is incredibly flexible – he already has a giant hotel and residential project in Greenwich but is open to any sector and any area for the rest.
31Roger Orf
Chief executive, Apollo Global Management
The former Goldman Sachs man called the bottom of the European property market by investing £500m of equity across the continent last year. Keep a close eye on his investment strategy – particularly in Spain – in 2014 for more hints.
30Sir Michael Bear
Chairman, UKTI Regeneration Investment Organisation
Everyone across London and the regions will be watching Bear to see how he handles his new role as chairman of the UKTI Regeneration Investment Organisation. Will he deliver on the ambitious remit – acting as an honest broker through helping international investors find and invest into a range of UK-wide pipeline of regeneration opportunities?
29James McCaffrey and Michael Cochran
Senior managing directors, Eastdil
Eastdil has confounded expectations that it would burst onto the London agency scene with a headline acquisition but that has done nothing to lessen the threat that it poses to established UK players. The frantic recruitment of debt specialists by the big agencies is testament to the fear Eastdil has instilled in the central London advisory markets. And with instructions last year like the sale of a half stake in City complex Broadgate or West End trophy Devonshire House, W1, it is easy to see why.
28Toby Courtauld
Chief executive, Great Portland Estates
Great Portland Estates has been one of the property sector’s best financial performers in recent years thanks to its focus on West End assets under the leadership of Toby Courtauld. Now in his 12th year, Courtauld continues to take on major game-changing projects. Most recently the REIT secured consent for redevelopment of the former Fitzrovia Royal Mail sorting office, W1, and the industry will watch eagerly to see where the company next takes a major punt.
27Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
2013 was the year Boris took to the world stage. He has wooed Cannes in recent years; last year he took his charm offensive to China. Measure it by sheer weight of newspaper headlines or Chinese investment on the South Bank of the Thames, but it has worked. The mayor will continue to champion inward investment in London but with a general election barely two years away, expect him to become a little more domestically focused.
26Daniel Van Gelder
Co-founder, Exemplar
You have to watch the quiet ones. Van Gelder may have been press shy for the past year. But with Fitzroy Place, W1, due to complete in October, all eyes will be on the Exemplar boss to see what he will do next.
25Mike Hussey
Chief executive, Almacantar
The past 12 months have proved that there is no slowing down for ambitious Mike Hussey and his development company Almacantar. His firm made strides with two major West End projects: securing planning consent to convert iconic skyscraper Centre Point, WC1, into luxury flats; and lodging proposals for a mega-makeover of Marble Arch Tower, W1. Hussey is now waiting to hear the outcome of an inquiry into a 1.5m sq ft redevelopment of the Shell Centre, SE1, as Almacantar is under offer to buy the office element of the project. The remainder of 2014 is likely to be full of more attention-grabbing deals.
24Bill Hughes
Managing director, Legal & General Properties
Hughes has a problem with the word institutional. It is dull, he says. To his credit, he has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to smashing the stereotype at L&G: investing in a housebuilder (Cala Homes) to further his PRS ambitions, making moves in social housing and forward funding the National Football Centre. This year Hughes becomes president of the British Property Federation; do not expect that to detract from other bold moves by L&G.
23Alex Jeffrey
Chief executive, M&G Real Estate
Not one to seek the limelight, Alex Jeffrey has enjoyed an effective 18 months since taking over from Martin Moore at Prupim. M&G, as it is now known, was almost certainly the UK’s busiest investor in 2013, pumping £2.5bn into domestic property. His strategy of “being creative in searching for yield” has taken M&G in unexpected directions, not least the purchase of 18 British Car Auction sites for £240m. This year he will be celebrating 150 years of property investment by the Pru while building up the investor’s overseas stakes.
22Rob Noel
Chief executive, Land Securities
Other than unleashing a death ray on London, Rob Noel’s 2013 could hardly have gone better. Trinity Leeds was the biggest retail opening of the year, Buchanan Gardens in Glasgow opened soon after. It may be a challenge to cross the road in Victoria these days but the transformation of a civil service backwater into a vibrant slug of prime real estate surged forward. The death ray tale may have pushed the theory that all publicity is good publicity to its very limit, but with a solution in the offing, lettings at the Walkie Talkie, EC3, exceeding 60% and LandSec’s share price continuing its upward march, Noel will not be unduly worried.
21Peter Ferrari
Founder, Ashby Capital; former Heron lieutenant
Ferrari made a strong start to life on his own last year, splashing £230m on 200 Aldersgate, EC1, for his £1.5bn Saudi Arabian backer. Ashby Capital, the investment vehicle through which Ferrari will spend the money, is well placed to make an even bigger mark on the London market this year.
20The Taiwanese Regulator
Taiwanese insurers reportedly have a $10bn (£6bn) war chest ready to invest in overseas property. But the real power lies with the island’s financial regulator where plans must first be submitted for approval. With a large chunk of the funds potentially headed for UK shores, the regulator’s each and every decision could move the UK market.
19David Partridge
Managing partner, Argent
When George Osborne was on an investment mission to China last year, Partridge was there. When Google sought a UK HQ, he delivered. And when Sir Howard Bernstein is looking to make things happen in Manchester, the Argent chief is one of his first points of call. In the past couple of decades Partridge has moved from architecture to project management and become perhaps the UK’s foremost urban regenerator. And with PRS in his sights, he is not finished yet.
18Sir Albert Bore
Leader, Birmingham city council
The next two years will be crucial for Birmingham, and Bore will be the man running the show. The head of the UK’s largest local authority has ambitious plans for the city’s economic growth. He is throwing his weight behind initiatives including the £600m redevelopment of New Street station and the Pallasades shopping centre. By 2016 a number of major infrastructure projects will have been delivered. Birmingham council is now looking to release cash from its sizeable property assets not least as the majority owner of the NEC Group, estimated to be worth £250m-£300m. Do not take your eye off the Birmingham ball for a minute. Bore certainly will not be.
17Angus Dodd
Managing director, Lone Star Europe
Lone Star Europe has pulled off some of the most ambitious distressed real estate investments in Europe thanks to Dodd. This month the former JER fund manager, who joined the Dallas-based firm in 2009, steered Lone Star into pole position to buy more than 90% of the most coveted loans being sold by the IBRC. They have a face value of €7bn (£5.8bn). This follows a deal in January to take control of the Coeur Défense office complex in Paris by buying the shares in the 1.9m sq ft estate’s controlling vehicle. These add to numerous NPL and corporate deals pulled off across Europe in recent years.
16Ric Clark
Chairman, Brookfield Office Properties
Since July 2012 Clark has been senior managing partner and head of global real estate for Brookfield. He runs property for the biggest property investor in the world. Brookfield, through its various guises, has more real estate assets under management than anyone else. In the UK it controls a major stake in Canary Wharf and now owns most of Hammerson’s former central London portfolio, including three of the biggest and best office schemes in the City of London. He won’t rest in 2014.
15Tony Pidgley
Group chairman, Berkeley Group
The king of housebuilding is in his element. The polo-playing Berkeley Group founder, who managed to weather the recession better than most of his peers, is in prime position to take further advantage of the booming housing market in London and the South East. The group delivered an impressive set of results for the six months to October 2013 as basic earnings increased by 22% and pretax profit by 19.2% to £169.5m – more than UBS’s expectation of £154m.
14Ian Hawksworth
Managing director, Capital & Counties
This looks set to be Capco’s year. Plans that had been bubbling away for some time surged forward at the end of last year as planning was approved on the £8bn Earl’s Court masterplan and the 90,000 sq ft New Covent Garden scheme. The firm has now revised its ERV target to £75m by December 2016. As the man heading up the group and overseeing the two flagship schemes, Hawksworth leaps up the Power List from 32 in 2013.
13Jonathan Goldstein
Head of real estate and direct investment, Guggenheim Partners
Gerald Ronson’s former number two has flown the nest; expect him to spread his wings this year as he builds a European platform to be proud of for heavyweight US finance house Guggenheim Partners. A debut deal investing in Capital A – the alternative lender formerly backed by Pears – is well under way. But expect more and bigger deals to follow soon.
12Ken Caplan
European head of real estate, Blackstone
Caplan heads European real estate for the all-pervading Blackstone, which in recent years has built up a 31m sq ft European sheds empire – Logicor, a circa £800m central London portfolio which includes the landmark Adelphi building and a real estate debt team which has teamed up with Royal Bank of Scotland to work through the £1.4bn Project Isobel loan portfolio. However, all of this is overshadowed by the so-called deal-of-the-downturn, which saw the private equity giant make a reported four times return on equity and a profit of around £600m by buying – and then last year selling – a 50% stake in London’s Broadgate Estate. With Blackstone among the top three firms to raise equity globally last year, and see its Blackstone Real Estate Partners – Europe IV fund take in a record-breaking $4bn, the pace of activity shows no sign of abating.
11Mary Ricks
Chief executive, Kennedy Wilson Europe
Since relocating to London in 2011 Mary Ricks has overseen Kennedy Wilson’s move from new entrant to the vanguard of distressed real estate investing. The Beverly Hills-based company has just raised more than £900m by listing an opportunistic vehicle targeting loans and assets in Britain, Ireland and Spain, which will add to its growing portfolio of hotels, offices and shopping centres across the UK and Ireland. This follows its bold entry into Europe in 2010 completing three deals including its purchase of Bank of Ireland real estate management business, and a £1.8bn portfolio of UK commercial loans.
10Sir Howard Bernstein
Chief executive, Manchester city council
A Power List stalwart and force of nature in Manchester, just last month Sir Howard Bernstein scored a huge victory in his drive to attract global financial talent to the city. Along with inward investment body MIDAS, Bernstein helped persuade the financial arm of automotive giant Ford to choose the city for a new 60,000 sq ft European HQ at Ask Developments’ £500m First Street. Bernstein also supported the creation of new areas and buildings such as the Manchester Velodrome, the City of Manchester Stadium and the Sportcity district in east Manchester. Bernstein is also still looking to spread himself between London and the regions, increasingly working in the West End advising growth strategies.
9Max Sinclair and Ellen Brunsberg
Max Sinclair is head of Wells Fargo’s London commercial real estate office; Ellen Brunsberg is head of UK real estate and European capital markets at GE Capital
Former Eurohypo boss Sinclair and Morgan Stanley’s European securitisation platform founder Brunsberg are at the helm of the two US lenders who last year firmly cemented their position in the UK debt market by buying performing loan books. US behemoth Wells Fargo bought the former Eurohypo UK loan book from Commerzbank Hypothekenbank Frankfurt for £4bn, while GE Capital bought Deutsche Postbank’s UK loan book for £1.4bn. The market is keen to see what activity will follow the purchase of these ready-made balance sheet positions – and client relationships. It has all contributed to the shake-up of the old guard of UK and European banks.
8Rory Cullinan
Chief executive, Royal Bank of Scotland Capital Resolution Group
Cullinan is the newly appointed boss of Royal Bank of Scotland’s internal bad bank, RBS Capital Resolution Group which was established on 1 January. Cullinan, who spent the past five years as chief executive of the non-core division, is set to oversee the accelerated deleveraging of £29bn of loans, including about £19bn of commercial real estate debt through loan and asset sales. Investors, who have been eyeing positions held by the bank since the financial crisis, will be beating a path to his door.
7Overseas investors
Last year’s Power List was swamped with international entries as foreign investment into UK property became both increasingly widespread and influential. This year will be no different as even more overseas investors look set to chase opportunities in London in particular. Ones to watch are the Chinese, Malaysians, and Koreans. Plus Japan’s biggest pension fund – which happens to be the biggest in the world – is undergoing a review which could result in it being in a position to invest in international property. This is all on top of continued investment from the US, Canada, and mainland Europe – none of which show any sign of slowing down in 2014.
6Alex Salmond
First minister of Scotland
The fast-approaching referendum on Scottish independence thrusts Salmond into the top 10. Last week marked the start of the 200-day countdown to the vote. If Scotland does end up breaking free then all eyes will be on the first minister to see what steps he takes and which are most likely to affect the UK property sector as a whole. What would separation mean for the Crown Estate assets north of the border? And how will housing policy shift?
5Ed Balls
Shadow chancellor
There is a real chance that property’s own Lord Voldemort could step out from the shadows in the not too distant future. He Who Must Not Be Named is starting to crop up in conversation between industry movers and shakers more frequently as the 2015 general election looms. If Labour gets in next time around then Balls would be in a position to wield some serious power. And with just 18 months to go until a very possible sea-change in government, the time to get used to the idea is now.
4George Osborne
Chancellor of the exchequer
Ranking George Osborne sixth in the 2013 Estates Gazette Power List, we said the chancellor faced a make-or-break 12 months: “His role this year will be even more important as he struggles to restore investor confidence in the UK property market,” Estates Gazette said back then. Whether it was judgment or circumstance, Osborne has delivered. The economy is improving, investor confidence in the UK is strong (he may not have Boris’s charisma, but Osborne’s trade missions to China have boosted East-West capital flows), and the UK property market is looking up. Now the hard work begins. Maintaining momentum is the chancellor’s principal challenge. Politically, ensuring London’s strength is to the UK’s benefit will be a priority as the clock counts down to next May’s general election.
3Mark Carney
Governor of the Bank of England
“If it walks like a politician and talks like a politician, then people are going to assume that you are a politician,” says Labour MP John Mann. He had a point but may have missed the point. On current form, Carney is proving himself to be a far more effective politician than any of our elected officials. From the way he can out charm and outflank Paxman in a tricky Newsnight interview to the careful path he has steered through the Scottish currency debate, Carney has already proven himself an astute tactician. That should comfort the property industry as the economy strengthens and interest rates inevitably rise. Carney has said they will only do when conditions are right, that they will only do so gradually and that we are not there yet. For the past several years this industry has craved stability and predictability; forward guidance if you like. And that’s exactly what Carney has pulled out of his man bag.
2Janet Yellen
Chairwoman of the US Federal Reserve System
Since taking over the position as the Fed’s chair of the board of governors in February, Yellen has become one of the most powerful individuals in the world. Whatever the Fed does, decides or announces has a colossal knock-on effect – not only across the US but globally. And the UK property sector is no exception. In the past eight weeks the industry has watched both Yellen and Bank of England governor Mark Carney like a hawk as 2014 has, so far, been dominated by speculation over how aggressively quantitative easing will be “tapered” in the US and in the UK.
1You
The effect of two crucial votes this year could fundamentally alter the economic fabric of the UK. This makes you, the UK electorate, the most powerful force to be reckoned with in 2014 and beyond. First up in May, there is a good chance the British public will vote to send more UKIP candidates to Brussels than from any other party, increasing the pressure on Labour to join the Tories in committing to an in/out EU referendum after 2015. The other referendum – on whether Scotland goes it alone – is already exercising the minds of business leaders: ask Standard Life. Ask an investor what the biggest threat to their business is now and there is a good chance they’ll say “the politicians”. But we reap what we sow, and in 2014 the British public could plant the seeds that will tear up the UK as we know it. As economic confidence returns, political uncertainty is rife.
Five most powerful international players in property
1JANET YELLEN
Chairwoman, US Federal Reserve
2MARK CARNEY
Governor, Bank of England
3The overseas investors
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4MARY RICKS
Chief executive, Kennedy Wilson Europe
5KEN CAPLAN
European head of real estate, Blackstone
Five fleeting visitors
Proof, if it was needed, of just how much things have changed in a year, here are five of last year’s Power List first-timers who have already been knocked out of the top 50 by a rush of fresh blood.
1Yin Yong
Director, Gingko Tree
2Karsten Kallevig
Global head of real estate strategies, NBIM
3Goodwin Gaw
Chief executive, Gaw Capital Partners
4David Porter
Corporate vice-president of retail stores, Microsoft
5“Spider-man”
Daredevil trespasser
