North West Annual Agents Review

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Event Sponsor:

Simon Bedford; Head of Deloitte Real Estate, Manchester

Simon joined Drivers Jonas as Head of the Economic Development team in May 2008. Prior to joining, he was managing director of EKOS Consulting, responsible for overseeing all company operations and leading the management and development of the company’s four UK offices. With over 25 years’ experience in practice, Simon has spent significant periods of his career as a director of Jones Lang LaSalle and Planning Director at Building Design Partnership. He has also worked in the public sector for both Local Authorities and Urban Development Corporations.  He is an independent planning commissioner at the Greater Manchester Planning and Housing Commission. Simon is head of Deloitte Real Estate’s North West practice with responsibility for the firm’s 70 strong team.  He is also part of the senior management team at Deloitte North West.

David Porter; Partner and Head of Office Knight Frank Manchester

David Porter is the Head of Knight Frank’s North West commercial business and has been involved exclusively in office agency and development since 1996, concentrating on the M25 Thames Valley office market prior to relocating back to his native north west in 2006. Whilst being responsible for overseeing all company operations for the North West, David also oversees Knight Frank’s  office agency service line across all their UK offices outside of London.

Specialising in the City Centre and wider North West market, David advises a number of national and regional property companies, institutions and occupiers, providing leading advice on various disposal and acquisition instructions,  as well as providing design, master planning  and market led advice on new development projects.

David has played a key role in a number of the North West’s most high profile transactions including:

KPMG – Advised on the acquisition of their new Manchester office at One St Peter’s Square totalling 62,500 sq ft.

100 King Street, Manchester  – Continued advice on the potential remodelling of this landmark office building in the centre of Manchester’s financial core.

Balfour Beatty Group Ltd – Advised on the acquisition of their new “North West Hub”, Lakeside 5000, Cheadle Royal Business Park, extending to 37,500 sq ft.

Davenport Green, Manchester Airport – Strategic advice on the potential master planning to provide approximately 700,000 sq ft of commercial accommodation.

MAN Diesel and Turbo Limited, Bramhall, Stockport – Disposal of 29 acres of brownfield land, together with a pre-lease of 20,000 sq ft office and 90,000 sq ft warehouse on behalf of MAN Diesel and Turbo Limited. Continued advice on the master planning of the remaining 22 acre site.

Birchwood Corporate, Warrington – Acquisition of 160,000 sq ft for a new Regional Office HUB for the Home Office.

Major clients include: Grosvenor Estates; KPMG; British Land; Balfour Beatty; IVG; LaSalle Investment Managers; CBRE Investors; CDP Limited; MAN Diesel and Turbo UK Ltd; Promethean: PRUPIM; Countryside Properties and Liberty Property Trust.

Mike Hawkins; Partner WHR Property

Michael Hawkins is a Founding Partner of WHR Property Consultants LLP, one of the regions highest profile property consultancies, and has over 25 years of office agency, development and consultancy experience in the City Centre and North West market. Michael specialises in the Manchester City Centre market and has assembled a number of complex sites on behalf of national and regional property companies and funds.  Michael has been responsible for the procurement and successful implementation of planning consents on some of the most high profile City Centre schemes.  Key current projects on which Michael is retained are:-

• NOMA – 20 Acre, 4m sq ft mixed use urban district within Manchester City Centre
• Landmark – 175,000 sq ft Grade A development in St Peter’s Square
• 40 Fountain Street – Redevelopment of this high profile City Centre site
• Astley & Byrom – Institutional owned redevelopment opportunity of up to 250,000 sq ft
• The 15 acre ITV Granada site
• 3 St Peters Square – a 100,000 sq ft prime development scheme

WHR City Centre Office Leasing Team has been consistently responsible for 25% to 30% of all City Centre lettings for the last 4 years.   The Investment Team are consistently involved in the city’s most high profile office investment transactions.  Both teams have won high calibre awards in these catetories.

Major clients – Co-op, The Crown Estate, Hines, Landprop, Hermes, AXA, Aberdeen Asset Management, CBRE Global Investors, Legal & General, INVESCO, Moorfield as well as private investors – Bruntwood, Langtree, HIMOR, Magnus, Walls and Hollins Murray Group

Chris Moore; National Director Hotels & Leisure Jones Lang LaSalle

Chris has a specific focus on the regional hotel market throughout the UK, providing brokerage and advisory services around both corporate and independently owned hotels. He trained and qualified in hotel management at Westminster Hotel School in London, Chris switched later to a career in property. He has over 25 years experience of dealing with UK hotel property, has sold hundreds of privately owned hotels and dealt with various portfolio sales. In recent years, he has advised clients on management contracts, including the negotiation of bespoke agreements for the owners of various trophy hotel assets.

Chris re-joined Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in July 2011 as National Director, having enjoyed a previous spell with the firm some 20 years earlier.  Before his move, he was Head of Hotels at Colliers International. Trained at Westminster Hotel School, Chris is an Associate of the Institute of Hospitality (AIH), a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) and a regular speaker at UK hotel conferences.