Outstanding Contribution:
Thames Valley Property Personality OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY Handelsbanken WINNER Gareth Osborn of SEGRO
Graham Beith (left) of sponsor Handelsbanken presented the award to Gareth Osborn (centre)
This was the last award of the evening but the winner was already known – there was a personal résumé in the evening’s event programme.
He was also very well-known in Thames Valley property circles, as you would expect from a professional being honoured with a special award from the judges as the Thames Valley’s Property Personality of the Year.
The judges, Jeremy Vine revealed, had been looking for “someone who had made an outstanding contribution to the local property sector, a stand-out person who has promoted and created success in the execution of their property strategy across the region, but more importantly someone who has been involved with the promotion of the Thames Valley as one of the best places in Europe to do business.”
Graham Beith, Reading branch manager of Handelsbanken, the bespoke banking experts with offices throughout the Thames Valley and sponsors of this final category, announced the worthy recipient: Gareth Osborn of SEGRO.
As SEGRO’s business director for the Thames Valley and national logistics, Gareth Osborn has responsibility for a UK portfolio of £2 billion. This includes, of course, the highly successful Slough Trading Estate, established more than 90 years ago and home to leading global businesses, plus assets in Reading, Basingstoke and the M3 corridor.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2014
Osborn heads up the national logistics unit, which has built a significant portfolio of larger distribution warehouses in key locations, from stand-alone buildings to larger logistics parks. This includes the acquisition of £350 million of investment property since the start of 2013.
For his contribution to the continuing growth of SEGRO, his work with the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP, Project Aspire, the British Property Federation, and his ongoing support of the Thames Valley as a great place to do business, he was the judges’ choice for the Outstanding Contribution award.
Having received the award, Gareth Osborn spoke from the stage, congratulating David Murray and Matthew Battle for “showing the power of the Thames Valley” by organising the Property Awards and attracting 340 attendees in its inaugural year.
He recognised that his award had been gained for two reasons:
• Executing the SEGRO property strategy. “As you can see we have been nominated for quite a few award categories tonight and got diddly-squat, but we will be trying again next year.”
• Supporting work to promote the Thames Valley generally. “The Thames Valley generates roughly 17% of the UK GDP and is a very powerful asset to the country, but the problem we have is a very noisy neighbour in London. We have felt for a
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long time that the power of the Thames Valley needs to be captured and all the good things going on in businesses in the area need to be supported.”
Osborn urged the 340 attendees to start lobbying, promoting and publicising the Thames Valley. “There is a real opportunity to help grow the region and look to the future with encouragement.”
Such positive promotion of the Thames Valley might even generate a ripple effect of optimism throughout the UK, he suggested.
Either way, Osborn was happy to celebrate one recent Thames Valley success: “Thank you very much for this award, it will fill a big hole on my mantelpiece,” he said, as he left the stage with a smile.
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