Commercial property blog

By Tori Turner

“This is much more efficient than Mipim. Here, there is no beach and no boats!”
That is how one of my fellow delegates summed up the Expo Real experience.

You see, I am currently stranded out here in Munich, an English émigré in a sea of sausage-munching, beer swilling German real estate professionals.

Now don’t get me wrong.

I have been to Expo once before, and have found my schnitzel and sauerkraut-loving brethren to be quite charming.

What I object to this time around is the distinct feeling that they are rubbing our noses in it.

I believe the appropriate German word is schadenfreude. The Brits – myself included – are generally out here to Continue reading »

By Tori Turner

Womankind took a step back towards drudgery this week, with trade union zealots vowing to ban high heels in the workplace.

As I write – wearing a pair of 3” heeled Post Mistress shoes – I am grinding them into the carpet in silent rage. You certainly won’t see me turning up to a big meeting wearing a comfy pair of Hush Puppies.

This can’t be said for foot specialist Lorraine Jones, who has told the TUC conference that wearing high heels can cause knee and back problems. No shit, Sherlock! Unless she also thinks women keep their brains in the soles of their feet, the point of imposing a ban is lost on me. We women are capable of deciding for ourselves – and I am firmly in favour of power dressing in the office.

For a woman in a man’s world, high heels are a godsend. They not only make you several inches taller, they also give you an edge of confidence as you click clack your way down property’s corridors of power. Going out shoe shopping is a wonderful reward after pulling off a big deal or other work-related victory. What’s more, they are fantastic for ‘accidentally’ stepping on the feet of pushy commuters on the London underground.

Maybe Ms Jones would change her mind if she knew about some of the secrets of hardened heel-wearers?

Ladies, if you have yet to discover Scholl Party Feet, get down to Boots this lunchtime and buy a pack. A must-have for any property cocktail party, stick these invisible gel pads inside of your shoes and you can stand up all night (providing the cocktails don’t floor you).

Another invention that surely deserves the Nobel Prize is Tipsy Feet. Perfect for black tie dos, this clever product is small enough to fit in your handbag. Come the end of the night, it unfolds into a pair of designer pumps, and a pretty bag for carrying your heels home.

I say, if the shoe fits, wear it.

By Tori Turner

You might like to think that the property industry hasn’t got a drug problem – but you’re wrong.
 
It cannot be denied that in today’s austere times, most of the heady excesses have gone out of the window, and anyone visibly under-performing at work will come under renewed scrutiny.

But when the investment market was approaching its peak, blizzards of cocaine were blowing through the nostrils of property types in Hanover Square.

And who were those most likely to be rolling up a crisp £20 note? Without question Continue reading »

By Tori Turner

Is it sheer coincidence that the start of Wimbledon has coincided with even more of my industry colleagues opting to “work from home”?

In happier times, there was simply too much work to do for this mass idling to have been tolerated. Twice this week, I have heard the televised “thwack” of tennis balls in the background when re-routed work calls have been answered on the mobiles of my contemporaries.

One guy admitted he was glued to centre court, rather than the planning report he was allegedly working on. “If I got a call from the client, I would have dived for the mute button before answering,” he joked. The joy of modern technology makes it possible to keep one eye on the Blackberry, and the other on Federer’s serve.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am in complete support of flexible working, and many women in my firm have Continue reading »

By Tori Turner

“Have you ever met Alison Carnwath?”

Doing my socialite rounds of the property industry over the last fortnight, nearly every woman I have hob-nobbed with has popped this question. Why? Well, for those of you who have been hiding under a rock, Ms Carnwath is the fearsome new chairman of Land Securities. Over the bank holiday weekend, the Sunday Times famously reported she has given Land Secs’ chief executive Frances Salway six months to turn the company around – or face the sack. Oooh! The nasty lady!

Here’s the non-sensational version: in the wake of Land Secs reporting a £4.8bn loss at its full year results, the chairman orders the chief executive to carry out a strategic review and deliver a new business plan. So far, so dull. But the fact that the chairman is a woman gives this story legs.

That she is a successful woman with a number of influential non-exec roles in the City makes the story even better. We are told that Ms Carnwath is a “former investment banker” (surely equivalent to a first degree in ball-breaking) with newspaper reports describing her as “tough”, “powerful”, “formidable”, “unsentimentally tough” and having a reputation that is universally described as – you guessed it  – “tough”.

The picture caption accompanying one web story simply reads; “Alison Carnwath: Tough”.

You almost expect her corporate portrait to growl like a Rottweiler when you run your cursor over it. There are many Google images that show her smiling, but predictably the papers all used the ones of her looking steely-eyed and serious. It’s amazing they didn’t Photoshop in an Continue reading »

By Tori Turner

There has been much comment in my office this week about the antics of Nick Leslau and Mike Brown, photographed in last week’s edition of Property Week to promote the launch of their £200m stock market listed property fund, Max Property.
So have people been debating whether they have called the market right, or even where they got the name from? No. The older guys in my office have been getting extremely agitated about the fact that neither man is wearing a tie.
Millionaire tycoon or office boy, the property industry is hardly noted for its sartorial originality – in fact, the standard uniform of the pin-striped suit and Windsor knot has hardly changed over the years. But after a quick poll of my female property compatriots (well, you could hardly expect men to notice fashion trends!) it seems that Leslau’s no-tie antics may be pointing the way forwards.
At least his (unbuttoned) shirt is white, and not covered in some garish pastel stripe or pattern, which the male fashion offender tends to accent with an equally nauseous tie. And I suspect that his shoes – if we could see them – would not have the ridiculous winkle-picking pointy toe favoured by some young male surveyors. Peering closely at the photo through my half-moon spectacles, nor can I detect any traces of the biggest fashion crime to befall property men in dark suits – dandruff on the shoulders.
I ate my lunch in Berkeley Square on a sunny day recently with a friend, and noticed a worrying new male “dress down” trend, namely mustard cords teamed with a white shirt and bright red jumper or (even worse) tank top. Commonly accessorised with a Black n’ Red book tucked under the arm. Please stop it at once! You look like Rupert the Bear in human form.
Now, it would be unfair of me not to mention a few distasteful female dress-down errors, although I have a feeling that most of these have probably been warmly received by property blokes. Firstly, the trend for skirts with a big slit up the back. Why? As you walk through the office, we can practically see what you had for breakfast. Then there’s ultra short “City shorts” with tights – unless you are a stick insect, you will look fat, and even if you are very skinny, you will just look like a tart. And just because we are in a slump doesn’t mean that trousers should be abandoned in favour of (gulp) leggings. I don’t care if they are a designer label, there are certain parts of the female anatomy that should not be encapsulated in skin-tight lycra for the world to see.
And if there are any crimes against fashion going on in your office, I want to hear about it.

By Tori Turner

The market may be on its knees – but it’s a great time to have a baby.

This is the consensus view of my closest bunch of female property pals, following a heated discussion at our new budget lunch venue, Strada, last week.

One of our number was rumbled as being “with child” when she refused a glass of Pinot, instead asking the embarrassed waitress for a ginger tea (for the uninitiated, this helps to ward off morning sickness).

After congratulating her, we started to speculate if this could be the start of a new trend for property’s über-femmes.

As a group, we are all far enough into our thirties to hear the biological clock ticking loudly. Up until now, we believed having a baby could wreck our careers.

Nowadays, taking a short career break looks like a smart idea.

There’s no chance of a bonus, little hope of promotion, and few killer deals to get your teeth into. In short, we wouldn’t be missing much.

But girls, before you flush away your contraceptive pills and head down to Mothercare, please remember that we work in one of the most institutionally sexist industries in the world. Continue reading »

By Tori Turner

Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep discuss divorce in Kramer Vs Kramer

Spring has finally sprung, but romance is definitely not in the air. I wasn’t surprised to read this week that the number of couples heading for the divorce courts is expected to reach an all-time high as we sink deeper into recession.

Let’s face it girls – life is miserable enough at the moment without having to put up with some loser. You may as well trouser what you can, and hit the shops!

I am not surprised that top divorce lawyers have never been busier, as warring couples battle to split their assets before falling property values and stock markets completely wipe them out. However, what I find more interesting are the cases trying to renegotiate past settlements agreed in happier times.

I have many female friends in the legal profession who hear through their own gossip circles that several high-profile men of property are trying to reduce big buck settlements agreed with their ex-wives.

Continue reading »

By Tori Turner

A lack of glitz in Cannes means this year's Mipim may be more about work than play.

It’s a sad but true fact that the credit crunch has put pay to lavish corporate entertainment. I had the choice of going to Mipim this year, but opted not to. Why?

I have a feeling that the quality of partying on offer will be so thin, I might actually have to get some work done

There will be few pension funds or local authorities brazen enough to hire giant yachts (remember the RREEF one from a few years back which was so big, it had to be moored at sea instead of in the marina?).

The uproar over banking bonuses means that hiring luxury villas for swanky soirees will be the last thing corporate lending teams will want to be seen doing. Given the state of the banking industry, they probably couldn’t lend themselves the money to pay for one.

But before I depress you all too much, I must divulge my favourite ‘corporate hospitality sport’ of better days: Wife spotting.

Continue reading »

By Tori Turner

Sacked office workers carrying their belongings is becoming a common sight

Calling a friendly acquaintance at a big surveying firm last week, I had a bit of a shock.
Despite having dialled her direct line, some numpty picked up the phone.
Answering my queries with an unadorned, “She’s not here”, my mind was racing.
It was nowhere near lunchtime. I hadn’t heard of any holiday plans. Surely she hadn’t been made redundant?

That particular instance turned out to be a false alarm, but when my surveyor friend returned my call, our laughter was rather forced. Unlike many firms I could mention, her employer has not announced hundreds of redundancies.
However, it is covertly shedding staff in twos and threes.
This avoids having to announce cuts to the marketplace, which could be interpreted as a sign of weakness by all-important clients.
So my friend, like many of you, is watching her back.

Unless you know somebody really well – like “invited to their wedding” kind of well – they won’t call to say they have been canned.

The humiliation, sense of failure and betrayal from the bosses we have worked our butts off for hurts too much to publicise.
In a world where we are defined by our careers, it is the ultimate social stigma.
But does being laid off mean that you are not up to the job?

Over lunch with the head of a City agency firm last week, I asked him how he had selected the first batch of employees in his office to get the chop.
“Easy,” he said, munching his steak. Continue reading »