TFT Celebrates London and Launches Growth Strategy

TFT hosted an event for over 150 key City property experts to celebrate the opening of its new City office and launch the firm’s five year growth plan, with a pledge to double their net turnover from eight to sixteen million pounds by 2016.

Attendees at The Celebrating London Party included senior figures from Knight Frank Investors, HSBC, Land Securities, Lloyds TSB, Threadneedle Property Investments, PRUPIM, Royal Bank of Scotland and St Bride’s Fund Managers.

Highlights included on-site shoe shine to help clients put their best foot forward, a masseuse to help take the strain and a fortune teller.

Alan Pemberton, managing partner, also took the opportunity to unveil TFT’s ambitious five year growth strategy.

Robert Houston, Principal of St Bride’s, said of the announcement: “It is refreshing to see a firm of consultants studying the sector and coming out with optimism. It shows that there are areas of the sector that are starting to thrive again and hopefully this will spread to other areas as time goes on. For those of us involved in real estate investment, diligence is going to be key to growth and there is as much importance in adding value to our existing assets through refurbishments, as there is in sourcing new investments.”

Alan says: “Over the last year we have been studying the market and assessing our own business in order to make as accurate as possible predictions on the directions the construction industry and commercial property sectors are heading.

“At TFT we have always strived to move forward and we feel that the changing economic conditions presents a number of opportunities for us and our clients. For this reason we have chosen to launch an ambitious five-year growth strategy.

“There is still an element of negativity among many in the sector, but we have seen that our core building surveying and project monitoring services are in demand. We weathered the downturn well and as a result our workload over the last twelve months has been increasing at around ten per cent per quarter, which has allowed us the opportunity to look closely at the immediate future of the industry. The last few months have seen a rise in technical due diligence surveys, as well as instructions on major office refurbishment projects and dilapidation claims. We have also been working closely with clients to develop bespoke sustainability audits to help them meet and surpass their corporate, government set environmental targets.

“We see it as vital that we put in place an ambitious business plan that reflects how we see things developing. This includes opening new offices in new locations throughout the UK and employing more of the best professional talent that match our strong reputation and respected expertise.

“The short term economic outlook may be a bit choppy, but I am very optimistic about the future.”