CBRE has made it four years in a row as the UK’s most active agent, establishing itself as the country’s pre-eminent dealmaker in what has been a turbulent period for the industry.
The latest figures from Radius Data Exchange, which are based purely on deals numbers, offer an extensive breakdown of where the industry stands at national and regional levels, as well as on a sector-by-sector basis.
Interestingly, the only use type in which CBRE finished top was retail, where – despite all the high-profile occupier casualties – transaction volumes for the top five agents remained higher than for their counterparts in the buoyant industrial sector, suggesting that reports of retail’s collapse are somewhat exaggerated. Indeed, many of the regional winners got there largely as a result of their focus on retail.
But nationwide it is in offices where volumes were highest, and this sector was topped by JLL, helping it to maintain its second place overall. Cushman & Wakefield remains in third, while Knight Frank is a new entrant into the top five after outperforming everyone in investments and finishing strongly in offices. In leisure and hotels, Fleurets has made it three wins in a row.
Perhaps the biggest surprise can be found north of the border, where Shepherd Commercial has knocked Ryden from the overall top spot for the first time in almost two decades. In Wales, meanwhile, Jenkins Best now rules the roost after edging past Lambert Smith Hampton in terms of overall transactions.
It has been a strong year for the regional specialists. Out of the 11 geographical areas covered by the competition, only three have national agents topping the overall rankings.
The Most Active Agent Competition results are based on 235m sq ft of take-up and £38bn worth of investment sales recorded in Radius Data Exchange in 2019.
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National results
Overall winner: CBRE
East Midlands
Overall winner: FHP Property Consultants
FHP Property Consultants makes it three years on the trot as overall winner following a 10-year winning streak by regional rival Innes England. The latter actually topped more individual categories this time around but FHP’s strength in the retail sector was enough to give it a solid lead. The two companies are head and shoulders above the rest of the market in terms of transaction volumes.
East of England
Overall winner: Barker Storey Matthews
Barker Storey Matthews has once again put clean air between it and the rest of the market and cantered to the top spot in East Anglia, although it could not prevent Roche Chartered Surveyors reclaiming the retail title it lost last year. It remains the region most heavily dominated by its local specialists.
Greater London
Overall winner: CBRE
CBRE retains its lead in the ultra-competitive London market by hanging on to its retail crown and climbing to the top in investments, where volumes are considerably higher than the rest of the country. Colliers remains the leading office specialist as JLL maintains its lead in industrial, while the top three in leisure and hotels goes unchanged.
North East
Overall winner: Bradley Hall
Bradley Hall hangs on to the overall title it won for the first time last year thanks largely to a dominant performance in retail. It is also the only overall regional winner to finish highest in leisure and hotels. Knight Frank climbed to the top in offices and maintained its industrial title, while Avison Young came from outside the top five to finish highest in investments.
North West
Overall winner: CBRE
The resilience of Manchester’s office market was a large factor in CBRE maintaining its overall title for the North West, although the competition is heating up. Cushman & Wakefield came from outside last year’s top five to top the retail rankings, as did Knight Frank in investments. The only regional player to claim a pole position was B8 Real Estate, which remains top in industrial.
Scotland
Overall winner: Shepherd Commercial
Shockwaves abound as Ryden has been knocked from the top spot for the first time, and it was largely down to lower transactions in retail. Shepherd Commercial dominated the retail scene north of the border, and that gave it the edge over Ryden even though the latter maintained its lead in office and industrial. Shepherd Commercial also hung on to its investment title.
South East (excl. London)
Overall winner: Lambert Smith Hampton
Lambert Smith Hampton remains uncatchable in its South East heartlands. It maintained its office crown and has now climbed to the top in industrial, putting it in an unassailable position. There was a shake-up in the retail market, where Cushman & Wakefield has climbed from outside the top five to sit at the top.
South West
Overall winner: Alder King
Perhaps the safest bet in this entire competition is for Alder King to finish top in the South West, and so it has proved once more after it maintained its office and industrial titles. Savills reclaimed its retail title after a disappointing 2018 in which it finished outside the top five, while Christie & Co stays top in the region’s important leisure and hotels market.
Wales
Overall winner: Jenkins Best
Wales is the hardest to call of all the regions, and Jenkins Best’s overall win means that there has been a new name at the top of the rankings for five consecutive years. It got there almost entirely as a result of its strength in the industrial market, where it remains number one. Knight Frank is a new entrant to the office rankings and goes straight to the top, while Cooke & Arkwright climbs top in retail.
West Midlands
Overall winner: Bulleys
The industrial sector remains massively important to the West Midlands owing to its geographical position and obvious advantages for distribution hubs, and it is no surprise to see Bulleys retain its overall title by maintaining its lead in industrial. Elsewhere, Avison Young has climbed to finish top in offices, while Cushman & Wakefield remains the most active retail agent.
Yorkshire & Humberside
Overall winner: Carter Towler
Carter Towler edged an incredibly close three-way competition with PPH Commercial and Knight Frank to retain its Yorkshire & Humberside title. PPH climbed to joint first in retail, while Knight Frank and Carter Towler maintained their leads in office and industrial respectively. CBRE went up the investment leaderboard to share first place with Cushman & Wakefield, and it also worked its way on to the leisure and hotels podium.
