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We asked him a few questions about his experience so far:

What has been your biggest learning point during your first year?

Getting to know the clients and their portfolios. We have a large number of clients, both big and small, and a varied portfolio profile that includes office parks, retail centres, and industrial estates. As an Asset Manager it’s vital to get to know each client, property and tenant, as our advice is driven by this knowledge and understanding. 

Is there anything you particularly enjoy about working at GJS Dillon?

There are lots of things that I really enjoy about working at GJS Dillon, for example its location focus, its goals and vision. But if I was to name one thing it would be the people. I am very much a people person, and the team at GJS Dillon is just fantastic. They all made me feel welcome from day one and I’ve been really lucky to build good relationships with them all. 

How has the pandemic affected your role?

Acting as an intermediary between Landlord and Tenant has always been a vital part of my role, but during the pandemic I’ve spent much more time doing this. We’ve had many enquiries from property owners previously unknown to us who needed help with tenant and landlord liaison. By encouraging and facilitating a frequent and transparent communication stream between landlords and tenants, we’ve been able to resolve a number of difficulties

 Have you taken up any new hobbies during lockdown?

I haven’t taken up any new hobbies as such during this period, but I have dusted off my road bike which had been neglected this year. The weather has been truly amazing so it has been great to get out into Worcestershire’s beautiful countryside.

What are your predictions for the commercial property market in the coming year?

Undoubtedly it’s going to be a tough year ahead for the commercial property market and the economy as a whole. The retail sector had already experienced a long period of decline and I can only predict this is going to be exacerbated by this latest crisis. The industrial sector had been the best performing sector over recent years and I believe this will continue to be, but perhaps not at the levels we have seen previously. Offices are much more difficult to predict as the effects on this crisis is up for debate. A number of people are predicting that due to government advice there will be a real shift towards home working, whilst at GJS Dillon we don’t feel that this will be as dramatic as commentators predict. There are so many benefits to shared working spaces, even with social distancing measures in place. 

Which business leader do you most admire and why? Elon Musk springs to mind currently, as he has been so successful in such a wide variety of industries and business (PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX etc). His latest achievement alongside NASA establishes him as one of the most influential and innovative business leaders today