As the country draws closer to a general election, property expert James Routledge, head of investment at Fisher German, draws on his own experiences of working within one of the UK’s largest independent property consultancies with its own complex set of stakeholders to analyse the strategy of the Government Property Agency (GPA) and the challenges it faces.
The ongoing integration of systems, protocols, cultures, and evolution of core multi-discipline offices across the UK is an interesting parallel to the strategy of the GPA to reshape the relationship civil servants have with their place of work.
It would seem that the GPA is currently imagining new, flexible and inclusive communities in “interoperable” hubs, digitally enabled right across the government estate through a “smaller, smarter, greener” mantra. These hubs bring different departments together in improved environments as part of the drive from outdated buildings towards more modern ways of working.
What could go wrong? And who makes the overarching decisions? The GPA is an advisor to the government, with its many departmental heads, giving rise to a complex task of providing the best value to a range of stakeholders – this I know only too well. The merger between Fisher German and Matthews & Goodman blended rural and urban cultures and has seen us develop nuanced services for the different client audiences at the firm.
It’s encouraging to see such ambition from Mark Chivers, the government’s chief property officer, to deliver a better culture and place in the civil service. As the ‘flight to quality’ continues to drive the private sector office market and businesses look to attract and retain staff with the help of premium on-site amenities, the public sector needs to do everything possible to maintain a strong workforce, even when this workforce’s relationship with the workplace is increasingly hybrid.
But my reading is that key decision-making needs to be nearer the centre of government, albeit in partnership with respective departments that control their budgets, to communicate effectively to demonstrate what good value looks like for all. After all, various government departments with their own budgets seeking value for money can inevitably lead to a lack of collective decisions being made. And outside of government departments, the point of view of the taxpayer must also be taken into consideration, particularly as we draw closer to a general election.
The challenge for any potential incoming government would be to enable better quality, joined-up decision making which is focused on strategy. Considering bricks and mortar alone, we know that most government buildings are freehold, and at a time when both central government and local authorities are out of cash, they should be freeing up properties and providing the opportunity for the private sector to engage and enter into joint ventures.
Perhaps the greater challenge is for the public sector as a whole to find better ways to work together and allow the private sector to innovate and help drive solutions at scale.
Yet there are some strong government-led initiatives underway, two particular examples of which relate to transport infrastructure. TTL (the property company of Transport for London), which controls significant amounts of land at strategic nodes, is particularly progressive and is entering into JV structures with 49 per cent shareholdings for developing sites, which is in part driven by the mayor’s commitment for the capital to be net zero carbon by 2030. Outside of London, the mayors of Greater Manchester and the City of Liverpool are championing a new rail link between the two cities by forming a railway company and actively seeking private sector involvement.
At Fisher German I’m pleased to see strong engagement, ambition and a sense of ownership from the ground up, enabling the business to devise joined-up initiatives and operate cross-functional teams. This approach would bode well for the growing number of government mandates that need to be delivered across the country.
