2015 has been an exciting year for the industry and Redwood.
The year was partly dominated by politics, with everyone holding their breath ahead of a ‘too close to call’ General Election, and we give our own political overview and look ahead to 2016 here. Following a result that shocked even the winners, the market sprung into full force with investment ebbing towards the regions as murmurings of infrastructure development and devolution gathered pace. Meanwhile the fledgling PRS market got a push forward, which looks set to continue if the buzz at MIPIM, followed by a packed room at the MIPIM UK seminar on the subject, were anything to go by.
It was also a positive year for the retail industry, as was evident from a successful BCSC Conference in Manchester, where Redwood were busy managing the press, followed by a packed BCSC Golds last week. Four eagerly anticipated new retail destinations also opened their doors, including the most recent – Friars Walk in Newport, which Redwood was proud to be involved with on behalf of Queensberry Real Estate.
The trend was also gathering pace on the continent at MAPIC, alongside the realisation of ‘Retailtainment’ – thanks to the industry and retailer’s digital improvements. Read our take on it and MAPIC here.
The positive vibe coincided with a number of client wins for Redwood, including Queensberry Real Estate, Hunter Real Estate Investment Managers, Bicester Garden Town, Alchemy Asset Management and the BCSC Educational Trust for their growing Retail Path apprenticeship programme.
Our team has also grown accordingly, with a new Account Director, two new Account Managers and a new Account Executive as well as a host of promotions this year. We have also welcomed Cyra Parkes, a Public Affairs consultant – to provide additional support to our fast evolving stakeholder engagement, pre-planning public consultation offering.
We’ve still found some time to let our hair down and were celebrating at the Redwood Christmas “do” down in Brighton this week, cracking out the karaoke and taking our organised treasure hunt exceptionally seriously by taking selfies with strangers, recreating a moon landing on the beach and even having a quick dip in the sea (we realise it’s December but we’re very competitive!).
With the new faces, we’ve had a modest refit of our offices at Greencoat Place with new banks of desks, some bright paint and new break out spaces and meeting spots – do pop by in the New Year and pay us a visit if you haven’t already.
That leads us to say we wanted to take a moment to thank clients and contacts, old and new, for your ongoing support. We take such pride in working for such an amazing roster of clients.
May we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and we look forward to working with you all in 2016.