EG Property Podcasts

The North East has powered through the pandemic thanks to the indomitable spirit of its people and is set to emerge with its streets reinvented with a flavour of continental Europe, believes Bradley Hall senior surveyor Nick Bramwell. With 58 deals across the line in 2021, Bramwell is last year’s leading individual dealmaker for the North East, while Bradley Hall sits in fifth place overall in the Radius Rankings for Tyne & Wear and first in Northumberland in terms of transacted space.   Bramwell believes the rise of independent retailers – helped by developments such as Stack – gives people something different to try when they come to the cities of the North East, and this is helped by developments such as the pedestrianisation of Grey Street in Newcastle where a café culture can emerge and make it a stylish, European-style city. He also explains how the recent takeover of Newcastle United could have profound implications for the city’s commercial property offering.  

Jess Harrold and EG editor Sam McClary start the year by sharing their enthusiasm for Lego, and addressing her four major themes for real estate during 2022. McClary shares her views on the importance of leadership, the need for better communication - particularly with the government - and the fast pace of transformation. But which is the fourth key word for 2022 that gives her the "warm and fuzzies"? Tune in to find out - and to hear her pitch the Lego Group for an EG interview.  

Jess Harrold is joined by EG editor Sam McClary, deputy editor Tim Burke, head of content Emily Wright and news editor Pui-Guan Man to review 2021 in a very special episode of EG Like Sunday Morning. From family festive traditions, discussion soon turns to some of the highlights of another challenging year - and, inevitably, some of the real estate disappointments along the way. But what are the teams hopes for the sector in 2022? And, as the awesome foursome split into two dynamic duos, which team will triumph in the climactic quiz of the year, with questions culled from the EG headlines of each month?

Real estate companies large and small are mapping out sustainability strategies as the climate crisis escalates. For many the challenge is not just what tomorrow’s business must look like, but how today’s business can prove resilience in the face of growing threats. In this podcast EG’s guests discuss climate resilience in the real estate industry; the social impact of sustainability strategies; how real estate companies, the businesses within their supply chains and their customers are collaborating; and the opportunities around data and analytics that can mitigate risks. Joining deputy editor Tim Burke are Janine Cole, sustainability and social impact director at GPE; TwinView’s Rob Charlton; and Samantha Carlsson, senior sustainability manager at Derwent London.

Legal & professional editors Sarah Jackman and Jess Harrold present their annual podcast round-up from the courts, counting down their top 10 property law cases of 2021. From a raft of Covid-fuelled disputes - including CVA challenges, unpaid rent claims and the rise of pandemic clauses - to surveyor's negligence, empty property rates and service charges, it has been another busy year for litigation. But which judgments will make EG's official list of the biggest and best? Find out together with Jackman, Harrold and a few very special guests, each offering their expert insights on the cases that defined 2021.

For the final EG Like Sunday Morning episode of the year, Jess Harrold is joined by editor Sam McClary and London & offices reporter Alex Daniel to round up the week. Daniel reflects on his year covering the City and the office market, and how the sector is coping with the impacts of the Omicron variant, before taking the opportunity to look ahead to 2022. McClary shares details of the inspirational speeches from EG's Future Leaders event, now available in video form on our website - and her joy at attending the similarly uplifting Story of Christmas, an annual festive fixture in the real estate calendar. But who will triumph in the ever-competitive quiz of the week?

Frost Meadowcroft director Shaun Wolfe says 2021 was the year occupiers realised working from home was no longer viable and this has seen an office recovery in West London gain momentum after a very tough 2020. Frost Meadowcroft, an office specialist which mainly operates across a three-mile radius around Hammersmith, has transacted 238,530 sq ft of office space so far this year, with a further 50,000 sq ft set for completion over the next month. This represents an uptick in fortunes compared to 2020 when volumes were below 200,000 sq ft and less than half that of the previous year. Wolfe says many companies are realising home working as a full-time option is far from optimal and that they need to take office space, albeit in lower volumes than pre-pandemic times. He also says landlords are rethinking the shape of the space they offer, with West London now boasting office buildings more akin to hotels in terms of the open space and gym facilities they contain.

In this episode of the EG Property Podcast, EG editor Samantha McClary takes a look back at EG’s Future Leaders event, which took place on 7 December and saw 8 amazing individuals from across the real estate sector get up on stage, with no notes, and deliver a Ted-style talk. All eight talks were honest, delivered straight from the heart and underlined just how much talent exists in this industry and how, if we listen to people like Tanya Coen d’arcy from JLL, Robin Didier from Ellandi, Clare Grimes from Octopus Real Estate, Jenny Offord from Homes England, Zaman Sheikh from Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council, Deborah Green from Oxford Properties, Georgina Watt from Taylor Wessing and Alex Woolmore from Argent, the future of the sector is looking bright. Reminiscing on the evening are Taylor Wessing’s international head of real estate Paul Lawrence, JLL’s head of UK project, cost and NZC design Aimee Baker, and head of HR at Savills, Noel McGonigle. Listen in to this 50-minute podcast, to find out more about why these 10 minute talks mattered so much and just why the Future Leaders project is such a positive for the property industry.

The industrial market is booming in the super-connected county of Hampshire but with a coastal boundary and two national parks to contend with, land has never been in shorter supply, according to Hellier Langston director Andy Hellier. Hellier Langston is the highest-placed regional agent in the Radius On Demand Rankings for Hampshire with 444,162 sq ft transacted so far this year across 37 deals. It operates from offices in Fareham, near Portsmouth, as well as Southampton. Southampton, which is the UK’s second biggest container port, is linked via the M27 to Portsmouth, itself a major passenger port, and this motorway connectivity is rare along the south coast and makes it attractive to the logistics and shipping services sectors. Hellier says the office market is also in tentative recovery, although he believes the pandemic means the days of single-let office buildings in the county are over. The biggest challenge, however, is land. In Portsmouth particularly, which is a densely populated island, there is no land available and Hellier hopes planning laws can be made more flexible to help remedy this.

Jess Harrold is joined by senior writer Piers Wehner and EG's new reporter Evelina Grecenko for the latest weekly podcast round-up. Grecenko introduces herself to EGLSM listeners, and shares her experiences from her first three weeks covering her challenging patch, comprising both life sciences and the North. Wehner reviews his week of early mornings covering property news in the UK press, and some of the stories set to have major impacts in the coming weeks and months. But who will triumph in the quiz of the week?