Improving business property to increase equity value
Clare Consulting will help make sure that your buildings suit your business needs. Spaces will need to be as effective and efficient as possible with plans in place to control costs, renew out-dated stock and optimise the way the buildings are owned. These are a few examples of times when our advice can help:
‘Bad-fit’ accommodation
Professional firms and head-office support units sometimes find themselves left in office space that serves them poorly. This is an opportunity to streamline and modernise working practices whilst cutting costs and enhancing the value to the owners – private and public sector alike.
Poor space utilisation or ‘wrong’ location
Firms can also find themselves in difficulties if their factory is the wrong shape or it is out of keeping with the surrounding area. The answers lie in having expert advice on space planning and local land-use policies, which can make a big difference to the ‘bottom line’.
Cost-ineffective accommodation
Too much old space is the usual cause of high property costs but if property services are not procured properly, overheads will rise for this reason as well. In these cases, it is necessary to challenge and benchmark existing costs and seek better, low-cost suppliers.
Business Case Studies
Space-extensive single-site factory user in Lancashire
We helped a firm faced with the pressures of a relentlessly consolidating industry by aligning its property strategy with plans to build capacity in market sectors where it was strong. Specifically, we looked at ways in which space layouts, land uses and new locations could improve the firm’s competitive position.
Rapidly diversifying farm business in Yorkshire
Our client sought funding from public sources to help it finance new investment in a property-related new venture. We used our expertise in public sector funding to make a successful business case drawing on economic and financial appraisal techniques to show how the funding would benefit the business and strengthen the local community.
Helping voluntary organisations and projects achieve their goals
Voluntary organisations need to spend the maximum on the good causes they serve and only the right amount on the ‘means to those ends’ – like property.
In some cases, though, the building is the source or focal point of the voluntary purpose (for instance, the pitch for a sports club). This can be another challenge – to make sure the property continues to meet the needs of the organisation as they change over time.
Clare Consulting helps the voluntary sector and voluntary groups by applying commercial standards of property asset management to help them achieve their goals. We work with all sorts of clients: charities, community groups, faith organisations, clubs and associations. Here are two examples of the type of project where we get involved.
Local Scout group: search for new accommodation – The ‘Scout Hut’
Our local Scout & Guide Association needs to replace its scout hut that grew up on a relatively small site with only poor parking and a narrow access. The hut itself provides good, flexible space but is desperately cold in winter and is in urgent need of major repairs.
Our solution will be to make sure that the Association can reach as wide a range of funders and partners as possible. By rigorously examining all possible ideas and solutions, we will be able to create a robust case for funding a new hut and find potential areas for partnership working.
Social club – property reorganisation: North Manchester
Although the origins of the club were political, its main function became social and sporting, centred on the bowling green that sits next to the clubhouse. At its height, there were over 100 playing members but the number has fallen drastically. By 2010, the club struggled to put out any teams and the cost of maintaining the green had become uneconomic.
Our approach was to identify parts of the land that no longer make a contribution (such as the green itself) and find others that could take up the strain – under-used parts of the clubhouse that could be converted to flats for letting, for example.