A unique combination of global experience and local knowledge has seen JLL NZ’s Strategic Consultancy Team named Real Estate Advisory Team of the year by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors at the 2022 RICS Awards.

JLL’s Head of Strategic Consultancy, Jonathan Manns, says the award, which recognises excellence in the provision of industry-wide consultancy advice, is the icing on the cake after a year of successfully supporting clients through times of significant social and economic unpredictability.

“With 134,000 accredited members, RICS is the leading global professional standards and regulatory body for the real estate sector. So to be up against the best in the industry and win is testament to the outcomes we’ve supported our clients in delivering,” says Manns.

“As the only fully RICS accredited real estate advisory team within a global real estate services firm in New Zealand, we believe we offer a unique advisory proposition for our industry in that we are able to bring senior expertise and experience from within a business that lives and breathes real estate every day.”

The award in particular recognises the significant value the JLL team has brought to two very different projects, both of which were delivered during the 2021 COVID lockdowns. Manns says the first was for a Build to Rent model that doesn’t yet exist at scale in New Zealand; the second a workplace strategy for a large corporation facing significant changes in industry expectations.

“With no comparable schemes to reference in New Zealand, our ability to draw on expertise and insights from similar projects in other markets such as the United States, United Kingdom and Australia was key to the success of the Build to Rent initiative. With real world insights and data, we were able to deliver evidence-based strategic advice that give the client confidence in the decisions they were making and the expected outcomes,” says Manns.

“For the large corporation workplace strategy project, we started by gaining an understanding of the company’s values and culture, to inform how the workplace environment could meet the changing needs of the entire team including an increased desired for remote working, work-life balance and office flexibility.”

Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, Manns says that the team is excited to be working collaboratively with local communities, national organisations and Government to address some of the most pressing issues of today.

“From housing affordability and sustainability to hybrid working and supply chain management, we’re focused on helping to create great places which are inclusive, resilient and successful.”

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