Stenprop rebrands to Industrials REIT

Listed property owner Stenprop is set to rebrand to Industrials REIT next week (21 September), as it continues its shift towards becoming a purely multi-let industrial warehousing business. The new name is intended to bring the company in line with its customer-facing “Industrials” operating brand and website. Stenprop, which is seeking to double the value of its portfolio to £1bn in the next few years, said it is on track to become a fully multi-let industrial business by March 2022. It initially began refocusing its portfolio away from an array of sectors, including retail and healthcare, in 2017. Since then it has completed more than £500m in non-core disposals while scaling up its industrial footprint. Multi-let warehouses currently account for 92% of its total portfolio, based on March book values. The company also aims to move to a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange next year, with its listing in Johannesburg becoming secondary. Managing director Julian Carey said: “The Industrials brand was growing in strength and value as we grew the portfolio and our serviced industrial model became more recognised with our customer base. It brings our brand house together as one family – Industrials remains our customer-facing brand, with Industrials REIT becoming our investor-facing brand. This isn’t something ‘Stenprop’ possesses, as a single word. “The name change is a good opportunity to outline that our transition to MLI is essentially done, that we are now an industrials business, and addressing the investors asking what Stenprop means and what it does, and why we are not calling ourselves Industrials REIT like Warehouse REIT and Urban Logistics REIT are.” The decision brings a 26-year-old brand to an end. Chief executive Paul Arenson founded Stenprop as a property management business for the Stenham Group in 1995. Arenson said: “It maybe speaks to the slow-moving nature of the property industry, but the fact that we could just come along and be able to pick up a sector as a brand name, it’s quite amazing that it was still available.” He added: “I am very sad to see the name go – it’s my baby. It’s something I have lived with since 1995. But one of the defining things I have come to appreciate in business is that you can never stand still. You have to keep moving and reinventing yourself and change with the times. If you are too wedded to the past you can atrophy. “I want the business to move forward relentlessly, and that means letting go of things that might be precious but have had their time.” See also: The EG Interview: Julian Carey on Stenprop’s multi-let industrial revolution   To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews