Turnover at Knight Frank rises despite challenging markets

Knight Frank has seen turnover rise 3.3% to £476.2m against a backdrop of economic and political uncertainty.

For the year to March 31, the firm saw group pre-tax profit fall 4.5% to £145.7m but it reported a strong balance sheet with net assets at £224.7m.

Knight Frank has Yorkshire offices in Leeds, Sheffield and Harrogate.

Alistair Elliott, senior partner and group chairman, said: “I am delighted with our 2016/17 performance. With Brexit and the impact of recent stamp duty changes in the UK and political and economic uncertainties around the world causing hesitancy in our markets, there were moments when the outlook was bleak. To have increased our turnover and maintained our profit levels at a time of significant investment in developing our business is a great result for which our teams can be justly proud.

“In the UK, all our service lines performed well with record years for new homes, residential lettings, Knight Frank Finance, Industrial and Knight Frank Investment Management and resilient performances from our regional offices which grow from strength to strength. Our growth continues to be driven by our businesses outside the UK, notably Asia Pacific and the MEA regions and we are developing our main continental Europe operations, notably France and Spain. We had record years in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, the Middle East, Czech Republic and Poland.

“We have refreshed our group strategy to place a greater focus on our strengths around our global network. The volatile trading landscape over the past five years has been a major influence on shaping that strategy and evolving our model. Knight Frank’s enduring commitment is to provide a continuously improving service to our clients, both now and in the future, choosing medium to long-term growth over short-term profits and ensuring our success is sustainable. We plan to deliver that through continued emphasis on investment in people and technology ensuring that the quality of our service, supplemented by market-leading research, enables us to deliver an unrivalled client experience. We remain fiercely proud of our independence – we are not driven by the demands of shareholders and quarterly reporting and continue to take the long-term view.”