Surplus properties are at one and the same time the lowest and the highest priority for any corporate real estate manager. Lowest because they are not adding value to the business and the operational demands always take priority not least because they make a difference to the business output. They are the highest priority because the costs of surplus property are a drain on the business resources and whilst surplus property continues to exist it is a reminder of previous business decisions that are now perceived as being wrong.

How can the corporate real estate manager deal with this conflict? Traditionally this has been to build the in-house team and have one part of the team devoted to the legacy portfolio and reducing the impact of the portfolio on the business. However the inherent problem here is that the legacy team members are ultimately working themselves out of a job. To counter the effects of that the alternative is to ensure everyone has some of the legacy portfolio to deal with. The problem here is that there is no consistency of approach to dealing with the properties and the priority is always the operational portfolio first.

By bringing an expert partner on board, the corporate can release resources and prioritise both operational and legacy portfolios. There are three elements to our offering. Firstly to develop the strategy for dealing with the legacy portfolio, which can include the assessment of the liability, priorities for cash spend, running the letting agents, etc. The second element is to deal with the individual properties and their disposal and take on the role of instructing solicitors, assessing the benefit of a deal, deal with the queries etc. Finally there is the total management of the portfolio.