Views • 01/05/2025 • 4-min read
Achieving operational harmony
Following a very noisy few months in the news, both in and out of the real estate market, our CEO, Louise Bonham, penned this note discussing her perspective on how the property market is responding and how MAPP continues to streamline our operations.
As a now long-retired choral singer, I’ve done my best to get my children to listen to and engage with the choral classics; sadly, my attempts to play Classic FM in the car have come to nothing.
On the bright side, via the now vast array of current affairs podcasts available, I have managed to turn the children into news junkies and am delighted that the team at MAPP shares this trait.
Just this week at MAPP we’ve been discussing the changes caused by activist investors in the REIT world, looking ahead to how upcoming employment law changes and US-levied tariffs will affect our market and working to sift through the rather percussive global news to separate likely impactful change from what is simply noise. And that’s before we find the time to catch up on Elton John’s new album or Mummy Pig’s pregnancy news.
Having discussed leading indicators in our last note, we were intrigued when February’s CPI came in lower than anticipated. Although we don’t expect it to create any immediate downward momentum with regard to rates, we do feel that the news chimed with what we heard at MIPIM:
Three themes we are seeing:
Repurposing – with plenty of conversation along the Croisette around repurposing and delivering on the Government’s residential and planning goals, we continue to expand our specialist Mixed Use team to help meet the growing appetite for spaces where, in keeping with the trend toward comprehensiveness, people can live, work and unwind.
Technology and data – the announcement in the Spring Statement of a Transformation Fund, integrating AI technology to drive government efficiency, certainly caught our eye. Employing the latest technology to make your properties operate smarter, safer and more sustainably is central to our strategy. Our Data team has grown exponentially, and they are deepening their partnership with our Technology team to ensure we are prepared to implement AI tools when they’re ready and appropriate for our clients. This process will be undertaken with careful consideration of client security needs, with solutions rolled out on a case-by-case basis.
Climate Ready – although the tone of climate conversations in the US has changed significantly since our last, pre-inauguration note, so far, we haven’t seen our clients following suit. Indeed, our Climate Ready service has been busy since its launch last year, with clients looking to us to integrate the collective input of our sustainability advisors, building surveyors, technical specialists and building managers into everyday operational actions that make their properties more efficient. This longer-term desire for climate resilience is also evidenced by the growing demand we’re seeing for renewable energy arrangements. Though we didn’t hear much about it in the Spring Statement, our capacity to facilitate the transition for our clients with renewable power purchasing agreements continues to be a major focus area for MAPP.
The Spring Statement on 26th March was not the only big presentation of that week. On 24th March, MAPP held its bi-annual ‘Live with Louise’ company update, where I gave a brief overview of our last six months to all 650+ of our colleagues, in person and virtually, then ceded the floor to the team members behind some of the exciting things going on at MAPP right now.
We talked about our commitment to tailoring our work to each client and occupier. We also took the opportunity to launch a new visual identity. Having made the transition to employee ownership less than 18 months ago, we wanted something that would encapsulate how all our people and supply partners, with their differing skillsets, play equally important and intertwined roles in creating an exceptional service for our clients and their assets.
And, as we discussed at Live with Louise, we never want to release the same song twice. We wouldn’t claim that our harmonies can outdo those in Elton John’s new album, but we are adamant that they need to sound different for each client and every occupier.
