Independent real estate consultancy Hollis, which has offices throughout the UK and Europe, has created a new board structure as it focuses on succession planning and the doubling of its turnover in the next five years to £100 mln (€116 mln).
The consultancy has a team of 500 working out of 22 offices in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany and last year reported a turnover of £54 mln.
Founded just over 30 years ago, the business advises the largest institutional investors across Europe and the UK, as well as many of the biggest private and corporate real estate investors and occupiers.
Leaders across the office, retail, life sciences, residential, industrial and student accommodation sectors, Hollis’ clients include M&G, GSA, Legal & General Investment Management, SEGRO, The Crown Estate & Schroders.
Having appointed an interim CEO, Digby Flower, in September 2023, new positions have now been created for chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief technology officer, chief people officer, head of commercial and clients and six regional managing directors.
Said Flower: 'Our people are our business and Hollis is awash with incredible talent and leaders who have helped the business grow considerably whilst still being structured as an SME. My role is to change that mindset and structure so that we can scale the business even further.
'Our aim is to double our size and become a £100m turn-over business within the next five years. To do this we have created a new board structure from within the company.
'The majority of the team have been here since starting as graduates or in the early stages of their careers, the ‘Hollis Way’ is part of their DNA, and it is essential we retain this culture that sets us apart from others. This will also help maintain business as normal for our clients.'
In addition to the new board structure, each of the new regional managing directors will be putting in place regional leadership teams from within the business, which will include representatives from the four consultancy areas, supported by its 27 existing service heads.
Founded over 30 years ago by John Woodman, Hollis has grown from being a three-person team of dilapidations specialists, to being a 500 strong team with specialisms in building surveying, engineering, sustainability and energy consultancy, cost management and project management.
Said Woodman: 'For the last few years we have been working on establishing a sustainable succession plan that will not only secure the future of the business, but set it up for significant growth. This started with the move to being an employee-owned business two years ago. The creation of this new board continues this development and brings through the next generation of business leaders.'
