Knight Frank Clocks-up 25 years in Newcastle

Knight Frank Newcastle is celebrating 25 years in business - having grown from three to 76 employees to become the North East’s largest commercial property agency.

The firm has, using its global networks, driven millions of pounds of inward investment into the region through thousands of property deals over the past two and a half decades.

It all started in Autumn 1994 when two surveyors - Mark Swallow and Tim Evans – persuaded global real estate consultancy Knight Frank to open a North East office, which was a modest 350 sq. ft. space at Doxford International Business Park in Sunderland.

The decision was considered risky at the time because, after years of industrial decline, the North East was struggling and the commercial property market was depressed. Much of the Newcastle Gateshead quaysides were still derelict and the Development Corporations that were to become pivotal in the regeneration of the region were yet to gather serious momentum.

Despite being just a two-man team competing against well-established property companies, the firm quickly started to pick up work and very early on was appointed to help steer two of the UK’s largest office instructions - Akeler’s Doxford International and Amec’s Newcastle Quayside East.

Today – with a workforce of 76 – the team has been involved in pretty much every significant property development that has pumped life, hope and jobs into the region over the past two and half decades. From the Quayside, to Quorum, to the Team Valley, to Doxford, to Wynyard.

Now based on Newcastle’s Quayside, the firm manages 19.2m sq. ft. of commercial space, compared to just 90,000 sq. ft. 25 years ago and is appointed on major schemes including the £200m Stephenson Quarter, £35m Partnership House in Gosforth; Taras Properties' Bank House on East Pilgrim Street; Sunderland City Council's The Beam; and Wynyard Park for Northumberland Estates.

Office Head and Partner, Peter Bowden, shares his thoughts on why he thinks the business is so successful: “I genuinely believe we have the best people in the North East in terms of expert knowledge and experience. We’re very proactive in the market and pride ourselves on knowing things first.

“I think one of our biggest strengths is, not only delivering the deals, record rents and yields, but looking after our clients very well. We are humble, approachable, welcoming and give them a personal service.

“We’re also privately owned and debt-free which ensures we’re a secure partner.

“I think our best legacy to date is we’ve made a significant contribution to inward investment for the region over the years by using the Knight Frank network to introduce developers and institutional funds that had never previously invested in the city or, in some cases, even thought about it.”

Major achievements:

• By 2007 - just 13 years since opening its doors - the office made its first £1m profit.
• In 2017, the office announced its best-ever year of trading – with turnover up 27% on the previous year. And, remarkably, this feat was achieved in the looming shadow of Brexit.

There are now 12 Partners leading nine service lines – Property Management, Building Consultancy, Business Rates, Lease Advisory, Industrial Agency, Office Agency, Valuations, Residential Consultancy and Capital Markets.

The firm will be celebrating their 25^th birthday at their annual client Christmas party on 5^th December.