Property takes a stand

COMMENT A little over a year ago, the real estate industry found itself in hot water following the President’s Club scandal. The story had a profound effect on the reputation of the industry – a reputation which, let’s face it, has never been the most glowing. The industry’s response to the President’s Club furore was, I believe, lacklustre. Very few actually took a stand against those responsible for fostering behaviour and a climate that should simply have no place in the modern world. Only one story broke of a major investor supposedly pulling funds and support for one of the founders of the men-only dinner. Even we, the property press, didn’t really stand up. But, refreshingly, encouragingly and heart-warmingly, the same can no longer be said. When news broke that the Sultan of Brunei had implemented laws making gay sex punishable by stoning to death, I was immediately contacted by David Mann, founder of LGBT+ networking and support forum Freehold, saying the industry could not stand by and be OK with this. We as an industry hold so many events at The Dorchester – the Park Lane hotel owned by the Sultan’s Brunei Investment Agency – that we could, we should, use our collective power, and vote with our feet, to say that the Sultan’s interpretation of sharia law is not OK. And the industry is doing just that. Soon after speaking to David, an e-mail pinged into my inbox from Shaftesbury’s Brian Bickell announcing that the West End landlord would no longer be holding its Christmas party at the hotel. And so it continued. Pretty much every business leader I spoke to who had held, attended or supported events at the hotel said they could not look idly on, that they needed to show that persecution of the LGBT+ community would not be tolerated. I, personally, want to commend the industry for that. It takes guts to stand up – and to potentially jeopardise some relationships with potential fee-payers. But sometimes doing the right thing is so compelling that the potential cost of it has to be moved right to the bottom of the importance rankings. Working with Freehold, EG with the support of  CoStar News UK and others, will also stand up for our people, and together we ask you, if you haven’t already, to lend your support, to show that property is for people. Click here to find out how to pledge your support. intu the deep end Changing tack for a moment – just so you have a minor break from me as a campaigner for the improvement of the industry’s soul – let’s talk about the new man in charge at intu (p19). Now, I’m sure that having a finance man in charge is a strength during times of economic uncertainty, but intu surely needs a little something more, a little something different, if it is to evolve and thrive in a rapidly and dramatically changing retail landscape. We’ve had many finance types run UK REITs successfully, but what has happened to all the property people, all the occupier and customer-focused people, the leaders who can work in human figures, not just financials? Where have all the personalities gone? Intu owns some of the biggest shopping centres in the UK; it also owns some of the most at-risk shops, being landlord to a large number of brands that are either already in various stages of rescue or high up on the at-risk lists doing the rounds. To be able to turn those at-risks around and transform shopping centres for the next generation of consumers will require something different. It may be something that Matthew Roberts plans to do. I hope to be pleasantly surprised. To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette