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GVA Grimley this week unveiled GVA Grimley Financial Consulting Limited – a new specialist advisory team designed to galvanise the company’s consultancy offer. This move strengthens the firms standing as a market leading advisor on strategy, efficiency and delivery to both the public and private sectors.
GVA Grimley Financial Consulting has been created via the appointment of specialist financial advisors. The team will provide financial input to the firms advice, helping clients achieve their objectives in the most efficient and effective manner possible. This may include improving operational efficiency, making the best use of assets and maximising value. The team are specialist advisors on asset backed vehicles and all forms of joint ventures.
Within the public sector arena the team will provide comprehensive advice aligned to public sector priorities, utilising private sector practice and resources as appropriate, to drive cutting edge solutions.
Gerry Hughes, executive director at GVA Grimley, who will lead the firm’s Consultancy and Delivery business, comments: “As a company we are focusing on providing the services that our clients need and want. This is a direct response to a shift in market conditions in which, as a result, the emphasis is increasingly on delivery and value for money.
“Our new finance team will be FSA regulated, and will ultimately give us a market leading position. We can now present a truly holistic advisory service to our public and private sector land owning clients, merging regeneration, development, economics, project management, planning and financial services, as well as providing access to a whole suite of wider real estate services.
“GVA Grimley is renowned for its strategy advice to the public sector. Now we can make that advice even more robust, putting our clients in a position to take that advice forward to delivery.”
Andrew Screen, director, who will lead GVA Financial Consulting, comments: “We see this as a huge opportunity for us to be part of one of the leading advisors in the market place. We are now able to combine our financial skills with leading experts in regeneration, development, planning and the wider real estate market.
“The market for consulting skills is in the greatest state of flux for over a decade. This is due to the recession and resulting market conditions; lack of bank debt funding; the extent of public debt and the needs for public sector cuts and efficiencies. As such the make-up of property consultancy has to react and evolve with the market to maintain approaches that are tailored and ultimately workable.”
“The public sector will be seeking to make better use of their assets and seek alternative and innovative funding methods to fund development and regeneration projects. We have also seen an increase in multi-asset, long-term joint ventures and sale and leaseback transactions and anticipate that this will increase in the future. The public sector will also take a more pro-active role in development and regeneration as they seek to enhance their property values and maximise profit potential.”
The market leading team comprises financial advisors with debt and equity experience, accountants and expert financial modellers.
The new consulting and delivery offer will exploit the numerous opportunities in advising the public and private sectors and major landowning bodies on strategy, delivery and funding. It will offer a range of financial advisory services; capital funding and accounting advice; establishment of Asset Backed Vehicles and Joint Ventures; debt and equity funding; and financial modelling.
Andrew Screen comments: “Access to funds and knowledge on how best to optimise equity will be key in maintaining momentum. Our multifaceted offer will provide the specialist expertise to achieve that. Private sector equity and opportunistic funds have also recently shown an interest in public sector assets and joint venture funding vehicles. They have also shown an interest in investing into property and regeneration funds including JESSICA and other similar funding vehicles, however the key to unlocking these funds is by providing suitable risk and reward profiles to the equity investors and debt providers”.
Gerry Hughes adds: “The future will present major funding constraints so planning, development and regeneration consultancy must become long term and multi-faceted by its very definition. Unemployment, crime and education must also be addressed, combined with physical regeneration through infrastructure provision and high quality refurbishment and redevelopment. These highly complex issues require a versatile consultancy offer with financial feasibility at its core.”
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