Build March Issue

Build Magazine 13 Recognition Although GCP has been established for over a decade and grew from a small company to one of the largest real estate companies in Germany, their ethos has remained the same. “At our company, each and every employee can express himself or herself and make a difference. Creativity and innovation is what drives the team forward and the management still believes in always having an open door for all employees. Moreover, the company believes in always being eager to learn new things, providing ongoing feedback to employees and developing them in order to build up their confidence and working on their development needs. “We are strong believers in human capital, and we employ market leaders which have the motivation and desire to serve our tenants. A huge part of our success is down to our employees who are very important to us,” says Windfuhr. “We choose all of our staff in a highly professional manner where we can truly understand if the employee is suitable to our system and will add benefit as an individual and as a team worker. One of the key criteria is to find loyal employees which will stay for a long term period. As a result, the company invests a lot of time and resources in seminars, ad hoc courses and unique management programs in order to make the employee feel appreciated and in order to improve different abilities. We also have an incentive plan for the key management and senior employees in order to let them participate in the success and to enhance long term commitment to the company.” As a company that works in a highly competitive environment, Windfuhr believes that a key to their position as a market leader is their philosophy of innovation and creativity. “One of the aspects of our business that we are particularly proud of is our in-house proprietary and centralised IT system,” says Windfuhr. “This plays a significant role in enabling GCP to monitor the progress of the turnaround process as well as detect and follow market trends and tenants needs. Furthermore, it provides detailed information where staff can access on and off the road through their smart phones and tablets. This all-encompassing data processing enables the group to track and respond to market rent trends, to spot opportunities and manage re-letting on a daily basis.” In terms of their business model, GCP seeks to increase its cash flows from its portfolio through the relentless management of its assets by increasing occupancy and tenant satisfaction which result in higher rents. As Windfuhr explains: “We begin this process during the due diligence phase of each acquisition and develop a specific plan for each asset. Once acquired, and the initial development plan is realised, we regularly assess the merits of on-going improvements to our properties to further enhance the yield on our portfolio. We do this by increasing the quality and appearance of the properties and further increasing occupancy. GCP also applies significant scrutiny to its costs, and systematically review ways to increase efficiency and thus improving cash flows.” In parallel with this process, GCP create and execute tailor made strategies for each asset to optimally improve its operating performance, which is reflected in the significant value appreciation in its portfolio. According to Windfuhr, this process is hugely beneficial towards growing and sustaining their success. “Our continuous asset management efforts result not only in improved cash flows, but also in tangible value creation that is captured instantly as well as over the long run in the group’s financial performance,” says Windfuhr. “As a result, the group’s experience and in-house operational skills allow us to continuously maximise returns after the successful repositioning of the assets.” The company acknowledge the need for having a local knowledge of each area that they work in. “In order to facilitate the specific needs of our clients, GCP has built an operational structure which provides local presence in more than 50 locations throughout Germany. This service operates alongside the centralised support from the Service Centre and Headquarters in Berlin, and results in cross organisational synergies, on the one hand enabling direct contact with tenants and on the other delivering 100% availability through the service centre.” Looking towards 2016 and beyond, Windfuhr is very optimistic that GCP will continue to grow and expand their presence across Germany. “We will continue to keep conservative financial ratios and low risk, in order to serve the ongoing bonds holders and banks. Also the company will keep a balance between investments in the tenants’ home environment and the shareholder’s satisfaction by improving its cash flow and increasing its dividend per share from year to year. Furthermore, GCP will grow through further accretive acquisitions as well as improving the current portfolio by reducing the vacancy and the improving other operational ratios.” In terms of the award, Windfuhr believes that being named Best for German Real Estate Investments 2015 is a true testament to their success, and serves as further evidence for their presence as leaders in their industry. “We are very happy to be given the award and to be acknowledged,” says Windfuhr. “As I mentioned before, GCP’s success lies in the extraordinary service we provide our tenants and the endless efforts we carry out to maintain the highest tenant satisfaction in the market. As GCP’s business model is the turnaround of properties, which have been mismanaged or neglected by previous owners, we are perceived as a “white knight” in the eyes of our tenants. In combination with experienced and caring management, supported by state-of-the-art IT systems and the 24/7 Service centere, GCP is able to provide the highest levels of service at any time and addressing the needs of our tenants as well as our stakeholders.” Company: Grand city properties S.A Name: Katrin Petersen Email: [email protected] Web Address: grandcityproperties.com/de/ www.grandcityproperty.de Address: 24, Avenue Victor Hugo L 1750 Luxembourg Telephone: +352 287 787 86