Consultancy

Our Consultancy business covers a wide range of professional property services including:

• Valuation - a professional service typically focusing on valuations for bank lending purposes covering a wide range of property types from offices to mixed development sites to care homes.
• Building Consultancy - providing a wide range of advice on all aspects of building including structural surveys, dilapidations, project management, fit outs, energy performance, rights of light and service charge auditing.
• Housing Consultancy - advising housing associations and institutions on all aspects of housing including investment planning and procurement, asset management and stock condition surveys.
• Planning Consultancy - providing advice on all aspects of planning and potential development opportunities.
• Landlord and Tenant - advising on all issues stemming from rent reviews and lease renewals.
• Development - advising on all aspects of development whether assisting owners, developers or local authorities on matters ranging from site assembly to costing and feasibility studies.
• Rating - providing professional advice on rateable values, securing allowances for building works and external disruptions and empty rates relief.
• Capital Allowances - providing general consultancy, analysis and valuation together with negotiation and agreement with HMRC to reduce client tax liabilities.

Our Consultancy business produced a resilient result in the face of the credit crunch and its impact on real estate values and transaction volumes. Overall, Consultancy revenues were £131.8m (2007: £141.5m) and underlying profits were £16.3m (2007: £22.3m).

Our Valuations team is one of the UK’s leading practices and had a busy year. During the year we merged our Residential and Commercial Valuation teams to form a team of 56 consultants. The combined Valuation team also established a Recoveries team to offer strategic advice to clients which taps into the full range of Savills’ Consultancy, Agency and Financial Services disciplines. Whilst transaction-related revenues were down, we saw increased volumes of instructions from most UK and European clients assessing their loan exposure. Our Housing Consultancy team had a strong year advising local authorities and housing associations. The Landlord & Tenant team continued to be involved in many of the highest value office and industrial/warehouse properties throughout the UK. Our Planning Consultancy team continued its successful track record with developers, land owners, funders, local authorities, Regional Development Agencies and English Partnerships. Underlying profit before tax in 2008 was £10.3m (2007: £13.1m) on revenues of £76.9m (2007: £84.0m).

We continued to grow our European Valuation teams in 2008, notwithstanding the lower volume of transactions. Reflecting the cost of this investment, whilst revenues at £11.5m were ahead of 2007 (£10.7m), underlying profit before tax at £0.8m was lower than 2007 (£2.0m).

In Asia, the professional services markets continued to grow although this slowed markedly towards the end of the year due to the global financial turmoil. During the year, new teams were added in Taiwan and China and we increased our shareholding in Savills (Vietnam) Ltd, enabling us to offer our services to a wider market.

Underlying profit before tax in 2008 was £2.0m (2007: £1.6m) on revenues of £19.4m (2007: £16.4m).

Our UK Residential Valuation team saw growth in loan security valuations in the early part of the year. However, as lenders’ credit restrictions came into force, the volume of instructions reduced. Our UK Residential Housing Consultancy team had a very strong year developing procurement and investment advice and asset management consultancy to local authorities and housing associations. Costs of £1.1m (2007: £1.4m) were incurred supporting the development of Infinergy Limited in the period up to the sale of our interest in this business. Reflecting these and other increased costs, underlying profit before tax in 2008 was £3.2m (2007: £5.6m) on revenues of £24.0m (2007: £30.4m).

We will seek to selectively broaden the range of consultancy services we offer in 2009.