Group Strategy

Savills is a long established, international real estate advisor. From over 180 offices around the world we offer a broad range of specialist advisory and transactional services to our clients globally. Our success has been built on an entrepreneurial culture which our clients recognise and appreciate, and a team which has a passion and a pride in its work and the business. This has enabled us to attract and retain many of the most talented people in the real estate sector.

We have always focused on adapting our business to the changing marketplace and ensuring that our services and advice meet the changing needs of our clients globally, never more so than now. We believe that this challenging market will deliver opportunities for growth and that we must be ready to take advantage of these opportunities if and when they arise.

Our aim is to become the real estate advisor of choice in our chosen markets. We recognise that to achieve this goal we must continually think forward, anticipate trends and above all understand what those trends mean for our clients and our business.

In the past, Savills has successfully seized opportunities and taken market share in weaker markets. Savills has always been cautious in its expansion plans and as a result has a strong balance sheet which will help us to fund any growth opportunities that may arise.

Our strategy for 2008 – 2010 remains unchanged:

• Building scale and brand recognition in our chosen global markets.
• Continued expansion/integration of global cross-border investment teams.
• Exploring selectively new opportunities in the strongest emerging economies.
• Expand the residential brand globally.
• Providing a 'best in class' client service.
• Increasing our non-transactional revenue/profit.

Out of uncertainty comes opportunity and with our track record of prudent financial management, our strong balance sheet and our ability to adapt, we will continue to invest selectively in areas where we see future growth. Historically, we have achieved our most profitable growth in weaker markets and we think that the markets in 2009 could present further opportunities.

We will focus on expanding our market share in those cities and countries that are the source of international capital and investment as well as having substantial domestic markets of their own. We will strengthen and grow market share in existing markets by continuing to look for attractive investment opportunities and through the selective hiring of exceptional individuals and teams. Our preference is to grow organically but when, and if, there is a compelling case, we would not rule out acquisitions.

In 2008, we made bolt-on acquisitions in the Netherlands, Germany and China and established new businesses in Belgium and Mexico. We also opened new offices in Germany and China and recruited new teams into a number of businesses including a Corporate Finance team in London.

The aimis to establish a leadership position in this market through improved client relationship management and teamwork. Some of our leading investment agents have been taken out of their previous roles to concentrate on developing cross-border business and clients. We have continued with secondments and also recruited a number of individuals and teams to strengthen our cross-border investment capability.

We opened a new office in Mexico to exploit investor interest in this market. We are continuing to review entry strategies and timing into other emerging markets including India, Russia and the Middle East.

We continue to believe that Savills' nationwide prime Residential business in the UK and our New Homes and Development businesses in a number of major cities globally give us a real competitive advantage in advising our clients on mixed and residential development opportunities worldwide. Savills is probably unique in the combined strength of its Residential and Commercial businesses and we intend to be ready to take advantage of this strength when markets improve. It also supports the Savills brand positioning as 'premium' and 'international'. We will continue to search for attractive opportunities to drive this expansion.

We work hard to maximise our client relationships to ensure that our clients receive the very best service from Savills at every level. We will continue to strengthen, invest in, and build on the services we offer which range from transactions and corporate finance, through to valuation, consultancy, property management and, in some markets, facilities management.

We are determined to attain the highest standards of professional integrity, building long-term advisory relationships with our clients based on trust.

We will continue to invest in and expand our Consultancy and Property/Facilities Management teams across all markets. In the UK, our Valuation and Planning teams continue to win market share and our property management portfolio in China alone grew from 431.0 million sq ft (2007) to 643.7 million sq ft (2008).