We catch up with Richard Garside and Jonathan Gardiner from
Savills Central London Office Agency and Investment teams
"A key focus has been to maintain our expertise as specialists in the various sub-markets, while also knowing what’s happening across London as well as understanding the big trends that are impacting all office markets in a post-Covid environment."
In 2022, a mere 23 years after a brief graduate stint in West End agency, I returned to lead the Central London office leasing team. Having formerly led the South East and national office teams I wasn’t looking for pastures new but as we emerged out of Covid it became clear that this was an opportunity I couldn’t ignore. I had known many of the team for most of my career so I knew I would be working with some of the most experienced and respected in the market. Furthermore, with the announcement of Richard’s imminent arrival to lead the investment team I felt we had the experience and expertise to really take market share.
The Central London office market has become increasingly fluid in respect of occupiers and their locational preferences. That means a key focus has been to maintain our expertise as specialists in the various sub-markets, while also knowing what’s happening across London as well as understanding the big trends that are impacting all office markets in a post-Covid environment. How we share market intelligence, deal activity and thought leadership is central to ensuring we can spot opportunities and provide the best advice to our clients.
With a growing need, and indeed opportunity, for service line specialisms, one of the major growth areas in recent years has been the development of our tenant rep business and in 2021 we were able to lure Andrew Barnes back to Savills from JLL. Together with a core group of other tenant rep experts, organised under the Central London Occupier Group (CLOG), we are now one of the most active tenant advisory businesses in the Central London market. Indeed, in 2022 Peter Thursfield acted on one of the largest transactions in the market, advising US law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, in acquiring 215,000 sq ft at M&G’s 900,000 sq ft flagship City tower, 40 Leadenhall. Savills also advises M&G on leasing. (Image to follow).
We have built a strong book of business focused on best-in-class schemes which lead on ESG, amenity and wellness, and this will serve us well as markets grow stronger. We are also working closely with our colleagues in Flex, led by Cal Lee, and Savills Science, led by Tom Mellows, as these markets become increasingly active. As ever, we are always seeking the holy grail of advising through the lifecycle, from buy and develop to lease and sell and, therefore, the interactions between development, led by Ollie Fursdon, and Richard’s investment team are increasingly important.
It has taken me 25 years to finally get to Savills having taken a wrong turn at the graduate milk round by accepting a job at Richard Ellis instead. As the alumni well know, Savills is a highly functioning team of talented individuals, many of whom have built the business over many years. So, arriving in June last year was an exciting if daunting task but my strategy was clear: to immerse myself into the business to fully understand the moving parts and then build on this exceptional talent base through a collegiate way of working, with greater emphasis on information flow and collaboration between the investment, agency, SIA, cross border and development teams.
Richard Garside
Head of Central London & International Investment Contact Richard
As an added string, my role also includes sitting alongside SIA with Rasheed to advise on the DEKA account – a fantastic opportunity to work with a long-term client of Savills with whom I have a long-term track record but always on the other side of the trade. It was very helpful that Jonny assumed his new role as head of Central London office leasing at a similar time. We share the same goals so can jointly focus on our team and clients in a coordinated fashion, guided by our hugely experienced chairmen in Stephen Down and Pip Pearce.
Q4 2022 was challenging for the Central London market but CLI still managed to lead the charge with some of the largest trades of the year including acting for Landsec on the £800m-plus disposal of 21 Moorfields, closing just before the mini budget. Q1 2023 has been equally challenging but again CLI has set the tone with benchmark deals acting for Chinachem on the c.£350m acquisition of 1 New Street Square, setting a prime yield tone for Victoria with the sale of 50 Broadway (c.£125m), and the acquisition of the current Deutsche Bank HQ at Winchester House for £250m-plus for Castleforge and Gamuda. There’s also the sale of 33 Foley Street for Abrdn, a prime £80m Fitzrovia long let asset, which perfectly underlines the liquidity of freehold assets no matter the market, and most recently the off-market acquisition of The Sancroft in Paternoster Square (c.£300m) for Greycoat and Mitsui, a prime City of London landmark.
There is more in the pipeline and this real-time market intelligence plus our continued dominance puts us in an enviable position to provide our clients with the very best advice in this challenging market.
Y O U M I G H T A L S O B E I N T E R E S T E D I N . . .
Other Alumni blogs and updates we think you will enjoy
I N T E R V I E W S -
S A V I L L S A L U M N I
Theo Williams
"My last 10 years focused on lease consultancy within the business space sector, and it was fun to return to working alongside investment, agency and occupier services teams."
S A V I L L S A L U M N I
F U T U R E L E A D E R S
The new Alumni initiative led by Maddy Maguire, Tom Fazakerley and Helen Gregory
The group will be an addition to the wider Savills Alumni Programme with the primary focus of creating a network of “Future Leaders” connected by their Savills backgrounds, whilst collectively bringing together the next generation of Savills alumni.
