LOMA Q1 2017: Knight Frank has edged out CBRE to become London’s most active office agent in Q1 2017, write EG’s Hugh Carson.
Despite topping three of central London’s submarkets in Q1, CBRE had to settle for second spot, according to EG’s London Offices Research. This ends a run of three consecutive top place finishes for CBRE which was last pipped to pole position by Cushman & Wakefield back in Q1 2016.
TOP FIVE ACTIVE OFFICE AGENTS Q1 2017
Market total: 2,901,001 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | % share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Knight Frank |
715,293 |
37 |
25% |
| 2 | CBRE | 616,831 | 53 | 21% |
| 3 | Cushman & Wakefield | 592,627 | 38 | 20% |
| 4 | JLL | 460,198 | 30 | 16% |
| 5 | GM Real Estate | 343,450 | 7 | 12% |
Knight Frank disposed of 715,000 sq ft in Q1, in a meteoric rise from its sixth place finish in Q4 2016, when it disposed just 266,000 sq ft.
Completing 37 deals – approximately 50% more than in Q4 2016 – Knight Frank secured a market share of 25%, with its involvement in one deal in particular that ultimately proved decisive in achieving top spot: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s 13 floor, 256,000 sq ft prelet deal at 100 Bishopsgate, EC3, in the City Core. This was far and away the biggest deal of the quarter in any of the submarkets, and crucially one in which CBRE had no involvement.
CBRE however was the quarter’s busiest agent, completing 53 deals, just one deal more than Colliers International whose 52 deals were enough to secure it sixth place this time, with 253,000 sq ft disposed.
Interestingly, only seven of the top 10 agents successfully disposed more than 100,000 sq ft during Q1, as opposed to all of the top 10 agents in the preceding quarter. The higher volume of deals – completed in Q4 2016 – 319 in Q4 2016 compared to 255 in Q1 2017 – probably goes some way towards explaining this.
Perhaps the quarter’s biggest story, however, was Pilcher Hershman’s sudden rise to prominence, having only managed a 34th place finish in the Q4 2016 table, proving that it is not necessarily the size of your deal count that matters, it is what you do with them.
The niche West End agent was joint agent in both the 133,600 sq ft disposal to Arup Group, at 80 Charlotte Street, W1, and the 97,000 sq ft prelet at the Post Building, 21-31 New Oxford Street, WC1. The two disposals accounted for 50% of its completed deals in Q1, but enough to propel it into a commendable seventh place finish in the overall Q1 table.
TOP 20 ACTIVE OFFICE AGENTS Q1 2017
Market total: 2,901,001 sq ft
| Agency | Disposed (sq ft) | No of deals | % share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knight Frank | 715,293 | 37 | 25% |
| 2 | CBRE | 616,831 | 53 | 21% |
| 3 | Cushman & Wakefield | 592,627 | 38 | 20% |
| 4 | JLL | 460,198 | 30 | 16% |
| 5 | GM Real Estate | 343,450 | 7 | 12% |
| 6 | Colliers International | 253,309 | 52 | 9% |
| 7 | Pilcher Hershman | 247,628 | 4 | 9% |
| 8 | Savills | 99,137 | 18 | 3% |
| 9 | Gerald Eve | 97,864 | 7 | 3% |
| 10 | Newton Perkins | 89,872 | 9 | 3% |
| 11 | Strutt & Parker | 84,070 | 16 | 3% |
| 12 | Bluebook | 81,079 | 6 | 3% |
| 13 | Tuckerman | 74,908 | 11 | 3% |
| 14 | Allsop | 73,831 | 12 | 3% |
| 15 | Edward Charles & Partners | 66,899 | 16 | 2% |
| 16 | Union Street Partners | 66,379 | 12 | 2% |
| 17 | Farebrother | 63,887 | 11 | 2% |
| 18 | GVA | 57,622 | 9 | 2% |
| 19 | Anton Page | 52,380 | 22 | 2% |
| 20 | Ingleby Trice | 48,975 | 9 | 2% |
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