Property Focus: The Interview

ELDON Stevens is property manager for Loxley Land and Property, the development division of Euro Dismantling Services.

EDS, which has turnover of around £50m, is a decommissioning company specialising in high risk sites.

LLP was launched earlier this year to allow EDS to acquire sites for decommissioning as well as rehousing and relocating tenants to within the LLP property portfolio, which already has an estimated gross development value of around £60m.

Established in 1994, EDS is best known for its global decommissioning business, specialising in working on high risk sites for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries with projects ranging from demolition of oil refineries, chemical process structures, pharmaceutical production lines and highly contaminated buildings to controlled explosive demolitions of multi-storey office blocks and other on site structures.

1. What are your views of the current state of the commercial property and property development markets?

“Currently, there is a lack of speculative development and I view this as a positive thing as it allows potential purchasers and occupiers to focus on the existing and nearly completed stock available within the market.

“The lack of pipeline speculative development speeds up the decision making process as people are not waiting to see what is around the corner.”

2. What key challenges and pieces of legislation do you think will most affect your sector over the coming months?

“At the risk of being unoriginal in my response, it has to be empty rates. Although from a positive point of view, companies that are not committing to long term leases will be looking for easy-in easy-out property options and as a developer, we are well equipped with our portfolio to cater for their requirements.”

3. Why do you think Yorkshire is a good place to do business?

“Working in Yorkshire, we experience an open, honest attitude from people. Northern companies tend to make decisions more quickly, whereas

organisations based south of Watford have large boards and subsequently seem to take a long time to reach decisions. Northern companies are much more ‘yes’ or ‘no’. There are also the advantages of being based in the middle of England as connectivity to the rest of the country, and in fact the world, is very good.”

4. What is your favourite building/development in Yorkshire and why?

“As a structure, the mirrored wall at Sheffield train station is fantastic. It has the right kind of impact for people entering the city by train.”

5. If you could improve anything in the region, what would it be?

“It would be the re-opening of Sheffield Airport.”

6. What barriers have you had to overcome during your career and how have you overcome them?

“A major obstacle has been getting planners to understand commercial objectives. This has been overcome by having more frequent, informal meetings and involving them greatly in the design and landscaping stages of development.”

7. What was your first job and how did you enter your current line of work?

“My first job was as an expediter sourcing and purchasing materials for Hepworth Industries. After this I worked for BMW before setting up a residential lettings website called ‘The Artful Lodger’. It was while working on this that I met property agents, developers and architects and learnt a lot about the industry from the people I was dealing with.

“It was a sharp learning curve but I was fascinated by the whole industry and wanted a piece of the action. After selling the business I moved to Velocity Estates in Sheffield as development director and joined global dismantling organisation EDS earlier this year to establish its property division, Loxley Land and Property.”
 
8. What do you most enjoy about your job?

“Undoubtedly, I most enjoy the diversity of the job. I can be doing anything from dealing with the purchase of small cottages in the Peak District to valuing 50 acre plots of land that have housed chemical plants. In one week I was on the French Riviera viewing properties before going to a recycling exhibition the next day in Birmingham. There is never a dull moment.”

9. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

“The best piece of advice is that profit is not a dirty word providing it is in moderation. By this I mean that you should always leave something for the next person and not be greedy.”

10. And the worst?

“The worst piece of advice for me personally was to stay on for sixth form and go to college to do business studies. If I hadn’t taken it I would be three years further along in my career.”