精东影视

Are we now living in a post-globalised, post-liberal age? The past few weeks have seen Donald Trump turn the established world order on its head, attacking the principles of global free trade through import tariffs and rolling back diversity and inclusion programmes in government.

The US president is certainly shaking things up. He is also seeking to axe dozens of environmental regulations and taking action to remove any mention of the climate crisis.

To what extent will Europe eventually follow suit? Andy Hay, chief executive of 拢54.5m-turnover consultant Hollis Global, is reasonably confident this will not be the case 鈥�  when it comes to the sustainability agenda at least.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this is going to lead to European legislation or regulation stepping back. A lot of the drive for sustainability is coming from the European Union framework and I don鈥檛 see that changing. I think sustainability will stay a high priority. In fact, I think it will become more in demand,鈥� he says.

Hay will certainly hope so, given the emphasis he is putting on European work and sustainability as part of a plan to double the size of Hollis鈥� turnover to 拢100m over five years.

We join Hay on Teams for his first interview since taking charge last year to talk about what this strategy consists of 鈥� and about his career to date during a turbulent time for construction.

Hay kicks off by attempting to define what Hollis is. 鈥淪ome people describe us as a 鈥榬eal estate consultancy鈥�, I do not particularly subscribe to that,鈥� he says. For the record, Hollis鈥� own corporate website describes the company in this way, albeit stressing its independence.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 do things like investment management, we don鈥檛 do leasing, we don鈥檛 do property management. At our heart, we are technical advisors on anything to do with the fabric of the building, machinery of the building, or environment of the building.鈥�

For Hay, the fact that Hollis is an employee-owned trust and can operate independently of investors is a core part of its USP. 鈥淲e will never have to do a piece of technical due diligence in support of a deal, in order to make a deal happen,鈥� he says.

鈥淲e can be absolutely independent and give our view on the asset. I hear that quite frequently from clients 鈥� that they come to us because we are not backing the deal.鈥�

Hollis offers 28 different activities which Hay groups into distinct categories, namely services that support project management and development; those that support buying and selling of properties, including technical due diligence; services during the occupation of buildings, including dilapidations and service charges; and its consultancy business which is all about sustainability and innovation.

Getting the right offer for clients around sustainability is going to be critical for us

The latter, which currently accounts for around 10% of the firm鈥檚 income, is 鈥渋nevitably鈥� the fastest growing. 鈥淕etting the right offer for clients around sustainability is going to be critical for us,鈥� Hay adds.

Simply producing a one-off report on, for example, the sustainability of a building is no longer enough for clients. 鈥淚nformation is now consumed as the information is available over time, as intelligence is available,鈥� he says.

The key thing is that Hollis looks to help clients 鈥� who include large institutional funds and high net-worth investors 鈥� practically implement recommendations to improve sustainability of buildings, rather than producing a passive report. 鈥淲e are investing quite a lot of money in technology to ensure the recommendations can then happen. Clients are saying, 鈥榃e like this鈥�,鈥� he says.

For Hay, the fact that Hollis is relatively small means it is nimble enough to provide these joined-up services: 鈥淵ou imagine, we do a technical due diligence on an acquisition on the way in. The client buys it and then it typically transfers from the investment fund manager to the asset manager.

鈥淲e can then follow up with the asset manager and say, 鈥榃e can now help you manage this asset, because in the report that we produced it said you need to do these three things and here is the prioritisation鈥�.鈥�

Hay adds: 鈥淚 think the scale and the culture at Hollis allows us to do that in a way that it鈥檚 harder to do at larger, multi-disciplinary, big real estate consultancies.鈥�

So Hollis is big enough to be relevant, but small enough 鈥� with 500 staff 鈥� to mean Hay can 鈥済et his arms鈥� around the business.

Although around 85% of its staff are currently in the UK, Hollis operates in four other countries: Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. It鈥檚 European business accounts for around 9% of current annual turnover.

鈥淲e have provided services in pretty much all of the northern European countries, [but] we need to turn that from one or two opportunities into a more systematic, more robust business that goes out and wins business,鈥� Hay says.

He seems particularly animated about the potential for growing in Germany. The group is active in Berlin, but is 鈥渟ub-scale鈥� and wants to grow rapidly, with potential opportunities in other cities including Frankfurt and Munich.

Acquisitions of either businesses or simply a 鈥渢eam grab鈥�, whereby Hollis will recruit individuals, could be part of the strategy to expand into Germany and other parts of northern and western Europe. Hay knows Germany well, having lived there for a number of years while working as a financial controller at Adidas in the latest 1980s and early 1990s. He is fluent in the language, which would surely come in handy for doing business there.

While he is casting his eyes across the English Channel and North Sea towards opportunities on the continent, Hay is also not short of opinions on the domestic UK market. Of the Labour government, he says he wants ministers to announce policies to make it easier for firms to hire apprentices or graduates through some kind of tax break. 

Everyone understands the need for new regulation, especially around building safety, but there is immense frustration about turnaround times

鈥淗ollis loves bringing apprenticeships in, running internships, but make it easier for us to do that. Allow us to put funds into that, give us some kind of a break if we do that kind of stuff,鈥� he says.

He shares the immense frustration felt by many in the industry about delays to approvals of high-rise buildings by the building safety regulator (BSR). 鈥淚 think everyone understands the need for new regulation, especially around building safety, but there is immense frustration about turnaround times,鈥� he says.

It is obvious from speaking to Hay that he is anxious to grow the business and passionate about developing and providing services to meet clients鈥� needs. He says he learnt about the importance of this earlier in his career, before he joined real estate and construction.

Hay鈥檚 journey into the industry is certainly an unusual one. He studied business and French studies at Loughborough University, where he captained the athletics club despite not being a sports student 鈥� something he admits he is still 鈥渧ery proud of鈥�.

He joined the graduate scheme at International Computers Ltd (ICL) before it was bought by Fujitsu, and qualified as an accountant. He then joined Adidas and worked for six years as a director at the predecessor firms of multinational drinks giant Diageo, becoming the chief financial officer of the business鈥� operations in northern Europe.

But it was a move to join Lex Vehicle Leasing that 鈥� oddly 鈥� led to Hay entering the construction and property industry. 鈥淚t was asset-backed finance,鈥� he explains. 鈥淎t the heart of it was a vehicle 鈥� an asset that needed to be bought, needed some special fit-out, needed to be insured, needed to be fixed when it broke down, needed then to be renovated and could be resold.鈥�

When described like this, the similarities between looking after cars and looking after buildings are more obvious than might be thought. Hay was spotted and recruited to join CBRE, where he worked for 13 years, followed by a four-year stint in property management for real estate firm Colliers before joining Hollis last year.

Europe, then, has been a key part of Hay鈥檚 career and life and he is looking to it again to grow Hollis in the face of global market turmoil and uncertainty. The uncertainty that surrounds Trump鈥檚 tariffs plans 鈥渕akes it harder to value an asset and makes it more difficult when choosing where and when to invest鈥�.

There will be a period of adjustment, Hay predicts. He hopes the EU鈥檚 commitment to sustainability remains rock solid so that Hollis can expand by leveraging its USP.

鈥淭he real value add 鈥� making assets, improving assets, improving tenants鈥� experience of assets, all of that from an independent background 鈥� that鈥檚 the heart of what Hollis is about,鈥� he concludes.