Meet the riders: Robin Stevenson, Knight Frank
As part of our series of interviews with Knight Frank Cycle to MIPIM riders, we're talking to first-time rider, Robin Stevenson, Partner in the Property and Asset Management team at Knight Frank.
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I have been at Knight Frank for over eight years and I run a team managing individual office properties owned by high net worth individuals which ranges from large buildings such as 30 Fenchurch Street for Brookfield, and 88 Wood Street and assets under management for Pembroke. The portfolio is over 4m sq ft. and the team consists of seven at present. Our aim is to provide the best in class management to keep the occupiers in our buildings and our clients happy!
What are you most looking forward to about Cycle to MIPIM?
I am looking forward to challenging myself following not a lot of exercise during lockdown, meeting new friends and the team/peloton atmosphere.
How are you approaching training?
Getting out on my bike as much as I can at lunchtime, longer rides at the weekends with local cycling clubs and Club Peloton. I find the turbo trainer very boring and prefer to be on the road.
What would you most like to get out of the ride?
New friendships, a sense of teamwork, happy memories and completing the ride without any glitches.
What have been the biggest changes or shifts you have see in PAM over the past 18-24 months?
Firstly, recruitment has been very tough. We are understaffed and trying to find replacement staff is proving very difficult. This I believe is mirrored throughout the whole industry.
Secondly, losing the late Will Monk. As a boss, mentor and friend, the past seven months have been incredibly hard for me and the team. I have to take my hat off to my team as they have grouped together incredibly and worked through the hardest of times. Thank you all.
And finally, changing of the working environment. From the old view of having to be at your desk to being able to be much more flexible with your time and team. I see this as a massive positive towards mental health and wellbeing.
What changes do you expect to see in PAM over the next 12-18 months?
ESG – it will be interesting to see if positive actions are taken early or whether companies will look to delay environmental works on the back of COVID. The latter could lead to a huge build-up of work required from 2025 to 2030. On the back of COVID, there is more of an emphasis on retaining and working with current occupiers rather than trying to lease ‘second hand’ space. This is being led from an environmental perspective in that refurbishing office space every three, five or ten years is not that environmentally friendly and that it is easier to work with your sitting occupiers so that investment values are retained or increased.
