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WINNER:
This was the last award before a dining break, and another enviable Thames Valley professional ‘title’ to win. But, the audience may have felt an element of ‘déjà vu’, or were waiting for Gyles Brandreth to admit he had failed to turn over the page of his script, as two familiar names appeared in the trio of title contenders.
Either way, there again were the names of:
• JLL • Lambert Smith Hampton and the fresh 2015 finalist • Wadham & Isherwood
Again the judges thanked Estates Gazette for helping in the selection process by providing information on the most active firms in the area during the qualifying period.
In fact, Lambert Smith Hampton was going for a double (no doubt the Ascot Racecourse influence) since it won the title last year.
In deal volumes, LSH consistently rates as the top south-eastern agency. The Thames Valley team with offices in Reading, Oxford, Maidenhead and Guildford, is at the centre of this activity. It had declared 2014 as the year of ‘agile working’ and LSH consulted with occupiers on ways of reducing
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LAMBERT SMITH HAMPTON
workspace required, while at the same time increasing employee wellbeing and productivity.
JLL had an active year in the region, and reported a strong increase in Western Corridor demand for offices. Key transactions included Avnet at the Capitol Building, Bracknell. JLL has reported ‘strategic dispersal’ with London companies taking administrative functions outside the Capital and into towns along the M4 – a trend that will likely continue with CrossRail.
Wadham & Isherwood, a 26-year-old firm with offices in Farnham, Guildford, Woking and the M3 Corridor, had a strong 2014 with a long list of key Surrey lettings. However, it raised the concern of a shortage of quality offices with confidence returning to the market. The firm’s all-round property sector expertise has helped Wadham & Isherwood to become an EGi ‘Dealwinner for Surrey’ in recent years, and the firm also has a strong development and investment team that provides advice to businesses and property companies throughout the UK.
This prized award was sponsored by SEGRO so leasing manager Louisa Kington (pictured right) announced the winner – a consultancy “responsible for driving significant
investment and development into the region in the past year.”
The audience hushed as she revealed that Lambert Smith Hampton had achieved its winning double.
Head of the Thames Valley LSH team, Nick Coote (pictured centre), said afterwards: “This is really pleasing. I proudly head up a brilliant team of people, young surveyors who have grown over the past 10 years or so into what is a very successful group today, now recognised by this award for the second year.”
“There are big firms in London, but we are still able to out-compete them within a very competitive market. As a group we are dedicated to working and living in the Thames Valley region and that’s key. Our team has its roots here.”
Being a successful consultancy, LSH didn’t find it so hard to get applicants on occasions when it wanted to recruit and grow, said Coote, but finding the right people to join the team was what really mattered.
“The success we have had is based on our people working, developing and growing together.” Success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if you get it right, he added.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2015
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