At Grosvenor I work in the London estate team − specifically in the offices team, one of our three sectors alongside residential and retail. I’m the investment manager for the Belgravia offices, which means I’m responsible for all the offices within Belgravia.
We formulate strategies for each property. These can vary from whether we want to maintain it in the office portfolio, or maybe it actually lends itself better to residential use. It may even be that its use as office space is quite restrictive, so it might lend itself to merge or amalgamate with a neighbouring building to form something like 70 Grosvenor Street, which is modern ‘triple A’ office space, as we call it. So we are constantly looking for ways to create the best value from our offices.
My average day is never the same. I deal with a number of different properties, so my day might involve dealing with a new letting of some office space that we have available, liaising with the solicitors or the agents, or dealing with a lease restructure − which again often involves solicitors and agents, as well as seeking advice from the valuation director. I also get involved in marketing our vacant space, potentially dealing with project managers and discussing development and refurbishment opportunities within the portfolio.
The best thing about working at Grosvenor is the people. It’s a wonderful place to work − a fantastic location and great offices. I was lucky to join with a fantastic group of graduates, and given that this is an old and well-established company I think a lot of people would be surprised by the number of young people in the company. As a company, we are also very sociable − I’m on the sport and social committee, and there are regular social events after work, including sports and quiz nights.
When you start at Grosvenor you are given a huge amount of guidance. I was a non-cognate, so I had limited knowledge of property. So initially you are assisting the investment manager very much on a day-to-day basis wherever you can. Gradually that built up so I was looking after a small portfolio with predominantly charity occupiers in it. These are generally easier leases to deal with initially. From there my portfolio grew, and I have recently been made investment manager for the Belgravia offices, so I’m now looking after all the offices in Belgravia.