A new year always gives us opportunity to take a fresh look at how we approach life, both personally and in business. It’s a chance to do things differently.
A post on LinkedIn the other day shared an interesting perspective on the farming community. A very different world compared to Real Estate, but a key phrase that jumped out at me was:
You can’t change the weather, so prepare yourself to weather the storm.
The storms will only impact the unprepared, so now is the time to be smarter about your Real Estate.
2022 was certainly a year for storms. Soaring inflation driving up construction costs, interest rate hikes significantly increasing the cost of funding and the war in Ukraine affecting supply chains throughout Europe to name a few. Set all of this against the background of a market coming out of COVID, a global sustainability crisis and a looming EPC B by 2030 requirement and the outlook for Real Estate looks challenging.
And looking ahead in 2023 further storms appear to be brewing. Analysts are predicting a recession, the great resignation is underway and the cost of living crisis is affecting the rates people can afford to pay.
However, amidst all the turbulence there are opportunities. We have seen the resilience of the Real Estate market through the recent pandemic years, the market weathered that storm well and we’ve come out of it stronger and more connected. London remains one of the most well-known centres for foreign exchange, banking and insurance and the demand for office space is forecasted to increase as more companies push for a return to the office. Other sectors such as life sciences are also buoyant, with demand for pre-fitted lab space in London on the rise, as the sector strives to become a global hub over the next decade.
Real Estate is here to stay as a worthwhile investment, and moving into 2023 it is time to take a fresh look at how we approach these storms to best weather them.
Take our Façade Strategy service as an example. Façade Strategy is all about using decades of experience to anticipate the unique risks and challenges facing a project, and doing it before it’s too late to make adjustments to avoid them. It means we get involved early in the design stages, acting as a strategic partner from the outset to ensure opportunities are not missed and problems are avoided before the design is locked down. It’s this holistic approach, focused on optimising your return on investment that helps you prepare for the storm, before it’s too late and risk and compromise become unavoidable.
Now’s the time to network and collaborate, like never before, sharing our challenges and successes, bringing others on the journey as we continue to weather the storms.
