A snapshot of what SHB got up to in 2019…
After a superb 2018, we started the year off with a well-deserved ski trip to St Anton — an incredible 5 days in the Tyrolean Alps as a celebration for hitting target. The whole company took to the slopes and celebrated the deals we had completed for the year.
We hit a company PB of revenue billed for the year 2018–2019, with a 35% increase on the year before. This was a huge achievement for SHB and as we headed in to our seventh year with confidence and strength, we found ourselves in a healthy and positive position with pipelines, team members and future events in hand.
With Business Development a massive focus now and forever, 2019 has been a big year for this team not just for figures and targets but for positive movement and change in management. Promotions took place with Matthew Teasdale Brown being made Director and heading up our in house systems. This in turn led to taking on a new and fantastic Head of Business Development, Mr William Goode…take a bow.
Beyond this, we have worked hard to improve and roll out new processes in the Business Development team and as a result have seen the numbers increase. We have invested in new systems and data software that has provided copious opportunities and with this we have found a need for a Data Manager to maintain and develop this. We reached out to the reputable WhiteHat and hired an apprentice — we are very excited about this additional hire and look forward to seeing what this becomes.
SHB X MYLA X COPPAFEEL
As the summer months were in sight, us ladies of SHB decided to host a charity shopping event in June. We raised awareness for the incredible charity, CoppaFeel with huge help from Myla London. We hosted a discounted shopping evening at the Myla boutique in Brook Street where we enjoyed the company of women not only from market but from the sector and not forgetting our fabulous clients. We are looking to host another one very soon — stay tuned!
BIGGER BASH
Then the countdown clock began for the Bigger Bash on 11th July. Teams were confirmed, spectator tickets were selling fast, the charities were rounding up their groups of volunteers, the Oval were prepping a mega feast of delicious street food, our umpires were briefed and we were all completely ready to hit the ground running — I can definitely say Oktra hit the ground running with triumph and took home that shiny, silver, 11kg trophy!
The day ran seamlessly with help from many and we managed to raise an astonishing £22,000 for Make-a-Wish and Save The Rhino — both who we have confirmed will be working with us again for 2020’s Bigger Bash. You can catch the highlights below!
You can now enquire about entering a team or sponsorship for this years event — Get Involved here!
By August, our new Head of BD was on board and we hired two more Surveyors , and later came an additional Business Development Manager. By the end of 2019 we were a team of 13 (with three new starters for this month).
Towards the back end of the year we took on a new agent of famous name in Freddie Proctor and naturally to celebrate we attended many socials, conferences, and seminars, continuing to open up that network and enhance the business growth. We have seen a steady increase in Serviced requirements as well as repeat business coming in, ultimately a reflection of the market and dare I mention the hideously boring ‘B’ word. Naturally we have opened up areas of focus to cover these demands enabling us to organically grow.
Leading into November, the festivities started a little early and by the end of the month (we weren’t messing about) we successfully hit up Winter Wonderland with some of the Agents from the market — great Fun had by all. Same again next year?
Whilst we were prepping for the festive period, Simon was running 268 km across the Namibian dessert over 5 consecutive days in severely hot conditions with highs of 50 degrees. Simon raised over £2000 for Save the Rhino, his determination and motivation is beyond us all and he is now looking to sign up to another this year. Crazy but amazing is what comes to mind!
December hit and we took part in the London Santa Run (Victoria Park) and raised over £1300 for St Georges Hospital Trust. This was a great team day out and what a fantastic cause we had the opportunity to support. Fitness out the way, let the reeaaaal festivities begin (aka copious amounts of mince pies & mulled wine).
We held our Christmas party at Boisdale Belgravia, attended numerous catch up’s’ conveniently located at the pub and spent lots of time with clients discussing plans for the future mainly over breakfast at Dishoom on Kingly St.
On Christmas Eve we sent presents to the young patients at St Georges, Addenbrooke’s and Kettering General Hospital for those staying over as well as delivering a shed load of dominoes for the nurses on duty. The nurses and doctors in these hospitals are absolute heroes and we have further plans to support them in the future.
Gold star performance!
The BD team booked over 250 meetings with a rising conversion rate.
Surveyors transacted on over 312,000 sq. ft. of Acquisitions, Lease Re-gears, Rent Reviews and Serviced Office Acquisitions.
We completed on deals with over 45 clients, new and existing and handled over 75 transactions.
Our team of Surveyors walked (on average) 2640 km throughout the year.
We hired 8 staff members across the board.
We were instructed by Checkout and Anglia Ruskin University both of which are our biggest deals to date. Checkout acquired over 60,000 sq. ft. in Old Street whilst Anglia Ruskin University occupied a floor comprising of 32,500 sq. ft. at the Import Building, East India Dock. We have also been instructed on our largest Rent Review to date for ARU! Fantastic work team.
We continued to work with organisations from all sectors such as finance professional services, creative and charities.
Mr Blair increased his tab spend on couriers delivering his lost property from London to Cambridge.
A steady influx of “Man flu” hit the office and sickness numbers increased by 40% in November.
We spent (on average) 1,456 hours on the phone across 104,000 calls.
SHB collectively raised over £25,800 for charity!
What next?
We have big aspirations for 2020 with some projects already underway. It’s going to be an even busier and bigger year for SHB. We are expanding in all ways imaginable. We are targeting an office move in June, we have three new starters who have just joined us, plans to hire a Marketing and Events assistant, Senior staff and continuing to grow both the Surveying and Business Development teams. Pipelines are looking increasingly promising so we welcome 2020 with open arms, with optimism and belief. Furthermore, our push towards events will increase and our drive towards raising money and awareness for a multitude of charities will carry on and grow.
We would like to thank you all for your support and business over the past year and beyond and wish you all a successful and prosperous 2020!
