Abstract/Summary

Property advice to business occupiers needs to be linked to the core functions of the business and valuers need to appreciate the implications that property has for business processes. This paper publishes some of the findings of a research project that examined whether valuers and valuations have a role in the provision of more strategic property advice to business occupiers. The research consisted of a postal questionnaire survey of over 250 businesses that examined the role of property and the use of valuations in strategic business decisions. The survey was supported by the findings from 18 structured interviews and an analysis of over 70 sets of company accounts. The results revealed that increasing demand for strategic property advice is synonymous with an increased demand for appraisals, and that valuers have the opportunity to use their property skills to help assess the worth of alternative property strategies on behalf of business occupiers. However, despite valuers becoming increasingly involved in measuring corporate efficiency and valuations being used for this purpose, business occupiers do not recognise valuers in a strategic role. Instead, many firms see valuers as providing a single valuation service, the estimation of market value for purchase/sale decisions and corporate disclosure. The research suggests that valuations do have a role to play in the provision of more strategic business advice but the valuer will need to understand the clients’ wider business needs and how property plays a part in the client’s business. Competition from more business-orientated consultants such as large accountancy firms means that the valuation service needs to be considered from the client perspective to a greater extent. Valuers need to convince clients that they are not overly technical in their outlook, have broad business skills that include strategic thinking and an awareness of business issues.