RICS Modus - Global edition, April 2014

ON THE MENU Farming innovations to feed nine billion p14HOMELAND SECURITY Surveyors protecting land rights p24RICH HARVEST The rise and rise of rural land values p36

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HONEY, I SHRUNK THE SUPERMARKET

Does the shift to smaller stores mean more opportunities for surveyors?

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Find out morewww.cem.ac.ukemail [email protected] call 0800 019 9697

“ What I have learnt during my studies with CEM will now help to develop my professional qualifi cations, and I trust this will reinforce my commitment to become a respected member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS). Overall, CEM is a fantastic institution to develop your career and as such I would recommend it with the highest of praise.”

Shyam Visavadia, PGDip SurveyingGraduate Project Manager, EC Harris (An Arcadis Company)

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ENOUGH ON OUR PLATES?As the world population hurtles toward nine billion, our demand for food will

increase steadily. At the same time, fast-growing middle classes in India, China

and elsewhere mean that more of us are eating meat regularly – which means that

every mouthful of food is having a greater environmental impact. Add to this the

challenge presented by climate change – with more unpredictable and extreme

weather threatening to make it harder to deliver a reliable crop – and it’s clear

that innovation in food production will be one of the major challenges of the next

few decades. So in this edition of Modus, we’re going to be exploring some of the

key issues around food, including – perhaps most importantly – how we can

produce more of it, without putting an even greater strain on the environment.

OLIVER PARSONS EDITOR

04.14 // MODUS 03

Regulars04_FEEDBACKYour views on Modus and the surveying profession

06_INTELLIGENCENews, opinions, reviews, reactions

34_LAW ADVICEAvoiding breaches in good faith

41_BUSINESS ADVICEManaging your CPD on a budget

Features14_ARTIFICIAL AGRICULTUREIs indoor agriculture the key to greater productivity? 18_AN END TO PLOUGHING?A look at an old farming technique that is winning new friends

20_PRECISION FOR PRODUCTIVITYHow GPS is making every square inch of farmland work harder

24_THIS LAND IS MY LANDThe surveyor’s role in securing land rights in developing countries

28_THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING SUPERMARKETOpportunities for surveyors in the changing supermarkets sector

32_MEMBER PROFILEBlogger and rural surveyor Judy Pearson MRICS

36_A HIKE IN THE COUNTRYUK rural land values are rising steeply. What’s behind this trend, will it last… and how will it aff ect farming in the long run?

Information43_RICS NEWSNews, updates and a message from the RICS President

49_EVENTSTraining and conference dates

51_RECRUITMENTThe latest job opportunities from across the industry

58_THE MEASUREData on global levels of obesity

Contents

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18

Opportunities for surveyors in the Opportunities for surveyors in the Opportunities for surveyors in the changing supermarkets sectorchanging supermarkets sector

steeply. What’s behind this trend, steeply. What’s behind this trend, steeply. What’s behind this trend, will it last… and how will it aff ect will it last… and how will it aff ect

News, updates and a message News, updates and a message News, updates and a message

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Views expressed in Modus are those of the named author and are not necessarily those of RICS or the publisher. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the publisher. All information correct at time of going to press. All rights reserved. The publisher cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. RICS does not accept responsibility for loss, injury or damage or costs that result from, or are connected in any way to, the use of products or services advertised. All editions of Modus are printed on paper sourced from sustainable, properly managed forests. This magazine can be recycled for use in newspapers and packaging. Please dispose of it at your local collection point. The polywrap is made from biodegradable material and can be recycled.

Due to the volume of correspondence we receive, we regret that we are unable to print all letters or respond to every one individually.

the oil and gas industry, relying on [Global Sustainability Research president] David Hughes for your quotes, and your reference to tar sands oil.

There are a lot more geomatics opportunities available in oil and gas than alluded to in the article. Just think, all of the work offshore would not happen without surveyors being there during the planning, execution and development phases. There is no land – except on the seabed – nearby to reference what you are doing and surveyors are critical to all of that work.Bruce Calderbank FRICS

MISSING LINCOLNI notice that Robert Burns is now an Honorary Chartered Surveyor [March issue, page 4].

How about Abraham Lincoln? I understand that he measured and sorted out land boundaries in court prior to switching to become a lawyer and eventually President of the United States.Vic Ray MRICS

RIGGED COVERAGEI have just received the latest Modus and found that those four Canmar drillships in McKinley Bay [pictured] are all making hole, according to the caption [Q1.14 Americas edition, page 24].

They had actually been laid up for the winter and were being prepared for the next summer season’s work in the Beaufort Sea in the early 1980s.

As a Canadian and an Albertan, it is clear you don’t like the oilsands, by the limited – none, actually – remarks you sought from

@luisabillos @modusmag Reading about the house price jump foreseen in 2014, the UK should take notice of Spanish market. High risk of bubble!

@MrGeorgeBull Traditional metro planning is obsolete for future megacities. @PedroBOrtiz has the solution – my interview in @modusmag

@MunishDatta I’m nominating @modusmag for the #Ecobuild100 list of top 100 infl uential sustainability Twitter accounts.

@SkansenLtd Who will dominate London #offi ce space in 2014? @DeloitteUK Survey assigns 38% to Tech, Media & Telecomms ow.ly/uioJT @modusmag

@CausewayPhilUAE @modusmag @RICSnews – a good read! Interesting to see drive to having one global standard for measuring property is getting traction.

@amanda_clack Why do we need #IPMS? Between & within global cities such as HK reported size of offi ce varies by up to 24% #timeforchange #RICS @modusmag

@HooBraMeeCo @modusmag Great edition, especially article on offi ce productivity: occupiers should think revenue/m2 not cost/m2

@RICSnews // @modusmag

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COMING SOON:IN THE MAY ISSUE OF MODUS

Power play: Do ingrained behavioural legacies in the construction and property sectors threaten to stop Building Information Modelling from reaching its full potential?

Sporting chance: This summer’s Commonwealth Games brings signifi cant investment to Glasgow’s east end. We meet the professionals making it happen

Brush strokes: Can galleries and other arts-led regeneration projects halt the downward trend for UK coastal resorts? We assess the economic case for cultural investment

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Intelligence :news :reviews :opinions :reactions

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The province of Almería in southern Spain is renowned as the global capital of plasticulture. After China, Spain has the world’s largest number of greenhouses, and at Campo de Dalías, this low-altitude cape on the province’s south coast, is its greatest concentration – around 20,000 hectares under cultivation known colloquially as the mar de plastico.

The growth of plasticulture followed a nationwide poverty reduction programme, which in Almería offered mountain dwellers one-hectare plots of farmland on the plains. The first greenhouses appeared in 1962, and by 1983 the total area under plastic was 8,500 hectares. Today, that figure stands at more than 32,000, with large corporations, including Syngenta and Monsanto, increasingly involved.

Until the 1900s Almería was Spain’s poorest province, its desiccated landscape fit only for drought-resistant crops. Today it is the fifth most affluent. Not only have the greenhouses flourished, but so too have businesses that supply them – with plastics, seeds, irrigation systems, fertilisers and so on. And a modern transport infrastructure has emerged to send Almería’s produce to Europe and North America.

:mar de plasticoCAMPO DE DAlíAS, SPAIN

MODUS_APR14_P06-07_News opener_v1.indd 7 17/03/2014 17:39

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Climate change is aff ecting food security around the world, warns a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The threat from climate change could lead to a 2% drop each decade in the yields of such staple crops as maize, wheat and rice. This is especially serious, it says,

because demand for crops is projected to increase by 14% a decade as the global population increases. The report notes that the resulting rise in food prices will aff ect the world’s poorest countries the most, particularly those in tropical regions, and that major crops in temperate zones will also be aff ected.

Furthermore, rising food prices and unpredictable availability could lead to ‘poverty pockets’ in upper-middle to high-income countries and urban areas. Sue Steer FRICS, Chair of the RICS Countryside Policy Panel, said: ‘RICS members as land managers and their clients are in the position of both facing risks from

the impact of climate change and being well placed to contribute to solutions. Cutting emissions from agriculture, sequestering CO2 through good land use practices plus creating zero-carbon energy resources are all valuable contributions to mitigation and adaption and make good economic sense, too.’

Land WARMING THREATENS TO COMPROMISE FOOD SECURITY

Opinion

FARM REFORM MET WITH COMMON COMPLAINTS

European commissioner for agriculture and rural development Dacian Ciolo has only partially succeeded in his goal to ensure agricultural support

payments offer taxpayers better value for money.Rather than paying farmers to produce more food –

effectively subsidising production – this latest round of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform set out to reward those farmers who provide wider ‘public benefi ts’ by undertaking environmental measures on their land.

It has proved to be a controversial idea, not least because the world needs more food for a population set to reach 9bn by 2050. These reforms have been a long time in gestation because it has been hard to secure agreement from the European Parliament, as well as all 28 European Union member states.

An agreement was eventually reached by ensuring that the reforms are so fl exible they meet the competing demands of different countries. This means countries can decide – within given limits – the proportion of subsidy payments that will be spent on the environment.

Does this mean the Common Agricultural Policy is no longer common? To an extent, yes. The UK is switching more money towards the environment. Many countries are not. Some are even spending less. So farm payments across Europe will vary more markedly than before.

Conservation groups fear the reforms don’t go far enough. They want more money spent on the environment. But farm leaders fear UK growers and livestock producers will be left at a competitive disadvantage compared to their European counterparts.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary Owen Paterson is determined that farmers in England will fi nd it easy to comply with the new regime. But whatever one thinks of the fi nal reform package, it does not provide a simplifi cation of what went before.

Larger farmers will hardly notice a small dip in their total support payment, while in England small farmers will not receive special help. Those farming fewer than fi ve hectares will no longer qualify for any farm support.

Some farmers will benefi t. To encourage new entrants into the sector, farmers under 40 keen to get a foot on the ladder will receive extra payments to get established.

But intensive commercial arable farmers will fi nd the reforms inconvenient. They will be required to create ecological focus areas out of existing land – although the additional costs they incur in most cases will be small.

Overall, though, the benefits brought about by ‘greening’ the CAP – the main goal of the reform – will be hard to spot, while any progress over the last 15 years to derive better value for money for the taxpayer has been put on hold until the next reforms.

PETER FANE is principal consultant at Eurinco.

Peter Fane Eurinco

BREAK OUT BUNTINGNew policy makes greater provision to protect species, such as Yellowhammer, whose habitat is under threat

Intelligence //

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01.11 // MODUS 09

EnergyRENEWABLES JOBS BOOM IN SCOTLANDScotland’s renewable energy industry is employing a record number of workers, according to a new poll by Scottish Renewables. The expansion in renewables jobs has outpaced the increase in employment in the Scottish economy overall. Ian Thornton-Kemsley MRICS of Strutt & Parker said: ‘We’re experiencing increased interest in renewables in Scotland. As well as being in advanced lease negotiations for a major 48-hectare solar energy farm, we’re getting interest in wind turbines despite increased planning resistance.’

:ONE BIG QUESTION AT A SENIOR LEVEL, WHAT KEY SKILLS DO YOU THINK PEOPLE OFTEN LACK?

Take part in discussions by joining the RICS group at linkedin.com.

London Leadership is the one most often found wanting. As a profession we need to recognise that being a good surveyor is not enough and create industry-related continuing development courses to teach the skills necessary to run a successful business.

Hugh Tippett FRICS, Willett Tippett

West MidlandsTo get to this level you need focus and determination, so is it any surprise that people who succeed may not have the softer skills that make a good leader? This is why a balanced board is required and why training should be ongoing, even at this level.

Yorkshire The future will require new forms of inclusive leadership where true partnerships exist between employers and employees with no room for dictatorial archaic attitudes. There are no jobs for life now. Senior management should take note of this and adapt accordingly.

Martin Miller FRICS, City Chartered

Julia Herdman, Precedent Surveyors

CASH INJECTION: INVESTMENT IN UK PROPERTY 2007-2013 (£bn)

04.14 // MODUS 09

LandFARMLAND HITS RECORD HIGH The average price of farmland in the UK rose by 9% to a record level in 2013, when more than 48,000 hectares of land were marketed, according to research by chartered surveyors Smiths Gore. With a lack of volatility in recent years, farmland has become desirable as an investment. Giles Wordsworth, head of Smiths Gore’s national farm agency team, said: ‘Farmers continue to be the foundation for the current market with strong competition for good quality land in sizes aff ordable to their business. But now they’re competing with investors who regard land as an attractive longer term investment with tax relief incentives. There is no rule on when the two will clash, although bare land has tended to be more popular to both parties and has seen the largest rise during the past fi ve years. There is also the muted debate in the case of future investments about when an investor who has acquired land becomes a farmer.’

Hugh Tippett FRICS,

ResidentialIMPROVING HOUSING SAVES MONEY AND BOOSTS HEALTHImproving the housing of some minority ethnic households will increase residents’ health and life chances and save millions of pounds of public money, says a study by the Building Research Establishment and the Race Equality Foundation. It estimates that the annual cost of the 15% of England’s 2.2m minority ethnic households who live in poor housing is £129m to society as a whole and £52m to the NHS. Download the report at bit.ly/BetterHousing.

Source: LSH Research, Property Data, CoStar Group

£56

£24.8 £24.6

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£44.9

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the Solway Firth is Scotland’s

fi rst off shore wind farm


08 r ics.org

App of the month

HOURS KEEPERIt is: A free app for iOS and Android that keeps track of your hours worked and calculates your earnings.Who’s it aimed at: Anyone who needs to record their daily, weekly or monthly hours working for a client quickly and easily. The programme can also account for overtime and breaks, and the data can be exported as a PDF or CSV fi le for invoicing.

LandVINEYARD INVESTMENT INCREASINGLY POPULARDemand for ‘lifestyle’ vineyards as an investment is growing, according to Knight Frank. The fi rm’s Global Vineyard Index, which compares the prices of vineyard land across key winemaking regions, describes prices increasing by an average of 6.8% in the year to June 2013. Lifestyle vineyards are those of fi ve hectares or more, which are neither hobby purchases nor large commercial setups. In addition, the report notes that China has seen a 90% increase in vineyard area between 2000 and 2012, and that Chinese investment in Bordeaux estates has increased dramatically since 2008. Download the research at bit.ly/GlobalVineyardIndex.

Over the past few weeks, the debate surrounding the forthcoming referendum in Scotland has reached

fever pitch, with interventions from both the governor of the Bank of England and the chancellor complementing the increasingly vocal arguments from both the Yes Scotland and the Better Together campaigns. Surprisingly, the technical question about

Scotland’s future currency has attracted particular attention.

Now, I should say at the outset that I see no reason why Scotland can’t in the long run prosper as an independent nation; this outcome will ultimately depend on the policies of future Scottish governments and the ability to best harness the energies of the Scottish people. But when it comes to the currency, the truth of the matter is that there is no easy option.

If an independent Scotland wishes to retain sterling, it has two choices. It could participate in a formal currency union with the rest of the UK. Or it could adopt a currency substitution arrangement.

George Osborne has rejected the former proposal. But even if this or a future Westminster government could be won round, it would still present significant challenges. For example, how would Scotland be represented in a future central bank?

A shared monetary authority would also have to grapple with the question of moral hazard that has been so visible in the euro area over the past decade. Indeed, one of the lessons of the euro experience is that monetary union without some degree of political union raises all sorts of risks. In other words, if a Scottish government wanted to make the arrangement viable, it would have to introduce some sort of fi scal

constraint. But in doing so it would be undermining the country’s independence.

The alternative to a formal union would be currency substitution. Under such an arrangement, the Scottish government could adopt sterling as its legal tender without approval from Westminster – just as Panama, El Salvador and Ecuador have done with the US dollar. Although this is a legal and formal arrangement, it has a major fl aw: without recourse to a lender of the last resort – ie a central bank – there is no circuit breaker available in the event of a financial crisis. Given the size of the Scottish banking sector relative to that of its economy, not having this facility is like having a Formula One car without brakes.

If none of the sterling outcomes seem wholly satisfactory, the alternatives have their own problems. Locking into the euro area is no longer as attractive as it once appeared and carries many of the same arguments relating to sovereignty. On the other hand, going it alone would mean not only the introduction of transactions costs with the country’s major trading partner but also the prospect of increased volatility. The new currency could quickly become a ‘petro-currency’ and would require the implementation of (often unpopular) policies needed to help build credibility with fi nancial markets.

Simon Rubinsohn RICS Chief Economist

Intelligence //

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Column

NO SIMPLE ANSWER FOR SCOTLAND

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Explains how to interpret and apply cost managment rules, including how to quantify building works and prepare order of cost estimates and cost plans.rics.org/shop: 19800£39.99

Third edition, introduces the principles of property valuation theory by means of clear explanation and worked examples.rics.org/shop: 19845£29.99

Provides guidance on the quantifi cation of maintenance works for the purpose of preparing order of cost estimates and formal cost plans.rics.org/shop: 19866£45.00

The book considers the identifi cation, cause and diagnosis of common – and sometimes not so common – defects.rics.org/shop: 19860£39.99

We like

HANDS HQWhat’s that? A new online tool that promises to cut the cost of producing risk assessments and method statements, and make it easier for construction fi rms to comply with health and safety regulations. Available online and for use in the cloud, it enables users to create professional, site-specifi c assessment documents in a few minutes.In the cloud? This means it’s been developed specifi cally for online use, whether you’re on site, at home, commuting or between jobs. Multiple users can access documents from any computer, tablet or mobile device as long as they have an internet connection.Who’s it for? It’s suitable for contractors and other businesses required by law to complete risk assessments and method statements as part of their daily routine. Hands HQ covers a range of trade-specifi c activities and their hazards, from electrical installation to plumbing, glazing and bricklaying, and the user can customise each document to a particular project.

handshq.com

04.14 // MODUS 11

Project snapshotAPARTMENT BLOCK HITS NEW HEIGHTSLondon’s tallest residential building has been completed on a former brownfi eld site in Nine Elms. More than 180m high, The Tower, One St George Wharf includes 213 luxury apartments and features a number of energy-saving technologies, such as a ventilated cavity facade with motorised interstitial blinds to help cool the tower, and a 10m-high wind turbine on top of the building which generates enough electricity to light the common areas. The Tower was designed by architecture practice Broadway Malyan, developed by St George South London and built by Brookfi eld Multiplex.

InnovationAPPROVAL FOR WORLD’S LARGEST CITY FARMThe US city of Detroit plans to transform around 60 hectares of dilapidated land into the world’s largest urban farm network. Private company Hantz Woodlands paid around US$450,000 (£270,000) for the land after local government approval. After clearing the sites of rubbish and construction debris, the company will plant hardwood trees and food crops. For more details, visit hantzfarmsdetroit.com.

Is this a good solution for disused urban land? Email [email protected].

ConstructionUK ECOTOWN UNDERWAYWork is underway in Oxfordshire on the UK’s fi rst ecotown, North West Bicester. The plans include the construction of 6,000 sustainable homes and achieving a zero-carbon status for the community by spring 2015. Lead developer A2Dominion has started on the fi rst phase of the project, which will see 393 energy-effi cient houses built to the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 5. The houses will include triple glazing, rainwater harvesting and water recycling, and the wider scheme will retain 40% of green space. For further information, visit nwbicester.co.uk.

BOOKS


08 r ics.org

Rising tideThe UK construction industry grew for the third consecutive quarter, in Q4 2013, notes the Construction Products Association – the fi rst time in fi ve years. Meanwhile, the value of construction projects rose by 67.1% over 2013, according to Barbour ABI’s Economic & Construction Market Review.

Hotel demandChinese investors are set to increase their share of global cross-border hotel acquisitions from the current level of 4% to 10% by 2017, says Savills. As overseas Chinese tourism expands, Asia Pacifi c regions and the UK, particularly London, will benefi t the most, the fi rm predicts.

London 2020Knight Frank has made a video of what the central London offi ce market could look like in 2020. It shows how the development of new transport infrastructure and a new wave of demand led by tech and creative fi rms could transform 10 areas in the capital. Watch it at bit.ly/KF_London2020.

Mexico standardThe Building Research Establishment (BRE) has signed an agreement with the government of Aguascalientes, a state in central Mexico, to introduce the use of BREEAM and LPCB (Loss Prevention Certifi cation Board) standards. Mexico is experiencing unprecedented construction growth, and issues such as sustainability are high on the agenda.

Opinion

CAN INTENSIVE FARMING INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT?Rob Yorke FRICS Rob Yorke Associates

There’s no doubt that the intensifi cation of farming practices over the last 50 years has enabled most of us to enjoy

the luxury of a huge range of affordable foods throughout the year. But this has come at a cost. The inextricable link between our food and the environment means that agriculture has had a negative impact on the natural world. Can better farming help reduce this impact?

Many of us long for mixed farms with different crops and livestock enterprises on a rotating cycle, where wildlife has plenty of opportunity to thrive. But such a bucolic approach may be incompatible with the modern world – it might not produce enough food.

Proposed alternatives to intensive farming come with compromises. Organic farming, for example, works well with biodiversity, but research shows that as crop yields increase, biodiversity often decreases. And the idea of enabling more access to pasture for currently housed cattle is great in principle, but it doesn’t acknowledge that the larger areas required for pasture could put pressure on wildlife habitat.

Many believe the answer is to reduce waste and eat less meat. But considering our society’s addictive consumption habits, it is unclear how this will happen. With this and the increasing price of food in mind, we have to look at improving productivity (effi ciency value per input), not just increasing production (total output) – in other words, intensifying our production of ‘more from less’.

Contrary to popular opinion, such an approach might bring advantages to the environment. Farmers could adopt a more intelligent approach to the use of fertilisers, for example, 50% of which are currently wasted with negative impacts on the environment.

The low standards of pesticide and herbicide applications are symptomatic of a historically poor approach to intensive farming techniques. There is room, then, for the new generation of well-qualified profession farmers to raise standards and in doing so improve productivity, conserve and reduce inefficient use of resources and make more room for wildlife.

ROB YORKE comments on rural issues. @blackgull

LATEST NEWS

One thing I know...

LEAD WITH AUTHENTICITYHelen Gough FRICS, head of buildings and construction at Jones Lang LaSalle ‘There are many diff erent styles and approaches to leadership, and you need to be able to adapt to every individual and every situation. The most valuable insight that I can give is to be authentic and to lead by example – not just through rhetoric.’

What’s your business tip? Email [email protected]

12 r ics.org

FISHY BUSINESS: GLOBAL SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION

Source: FAOSTAT (2014) Fish to 2030 (2013)

VS

Farm raised

2009

Wild caught

2030

38%

62%62%45%

55%

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MODUS_APR14_P14-17_PlantLab_des4.indd 14 13/03/2014 15:32

04.14 // MODUS 15

T he Daily Mail issued a stark warning in 2008 about a new agribusiness on the Isle of Thanet. ‘Kent is often called the Garden of England,’ it said. ‘When this village of glass is complete,

it will be more like England’s factory.’ It was talking about Thanet Earth, the UK’s largest greenhouse complex.

Today, Thanet Earth’s 91-hectare site produces roughly 12% of the UK’s annual production of tomatoes, 11% of its peppers and 8% of its cucumbers. Its impressive yields go some way to shortening supply chains at a time when food security is rising up the agenda. So does intensive indoor farming offer a sustainable solution to food production or is it something more sinister?

While the scale of Thanet Earth is a statement in the UK (one of its four glasshouses has a larger footprint than Heathrow’s Terminal 5), this approach is common elsewhere in Europe, says Robert James, technical director at Thanet Earth Marketing. In the Netherlands, for example, hydroponic greenhouses account for 50% of all fruit and vegetables produced. ‘There have been more incentives for European farmers and growers to diversify and develop in this area,’ James explains. Also, indoor

Feeding the world //

Words by George Bull Illustrations by Patrick Hruby

DO WE EVEN NEED SOIL AND SUNLIGHT TO GROW OUR FOOD?

ARTIFICIALAGRICULTURE

THE FUTUREOF FOOD IS…

WITH CLIMATE CHANGE LOOMING AND THE GLOBAL POPULATION CONTINUING TO EXPAND,

HOW IS FARMING GOING TO ADAPT?

farming gives growers more control over the conditions: ‘You wouldn’t have British cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers if you didn’t grow them in a protective environment,’ adds James.

At Thanet Earth, crops are suspended from the ceiling in hydroponic rows. With no soil, the system provides crops with the correct quantities of water and nutrients. Detractors often claim this kind of system is industrial and inauthentic. James says this is a misconception. ‘Most tomatoes have been produced hydroponically for the past 40 years,’ he points out. ‘Growing in a more inert medium than soil means we can provide plants with a consistent environment. We can recycle whatever water or nutrients the plants don’t use. And because we’re recycling them, no fertiliser contaminates the water table.’

Pesticides are used sparingly: in the confi ned area, growers use predators to prey on pests, so most solutions tend to be biological. According to James, the tomatoes have been free of chemical pesticides for two years.

Judy Whittaker, communications manager at Fresca, Thanet Earth’s largest shareholder, says that a large area of the site is dedicated to rainwater storage. ‘If our rainwater reservoirs are full by the end of March, we have suffi cient water storage to fulfi l all our needs until September,’ she explains. As a result, around 55% of Thanet Earth’s water comes from rainfall, around 25% is recycled and the remaining 20% is from external supplies. ‘In a high rainfall year, we have no need for external supplies,’ she adds.

With such cutting-edge technology underpinning the operation, you could be forgiven for wondering where the traditional notion of a farmer or grower fi ts in. But James points out that each greenhouse might have as many as 100 people working in it at any one time. ‘It’s not a plug and play system,’ he says. ‘The grower has to manage the crop according to how much light is hitting it. Every tomato variety needs a different environment, and the grower will adjust temperature, feed and water to keep it in balance and ensure a good quality product.’ >>


16 r ics.org

According to Tim Benton, professor of population ecology at the University of Leeds, growing global demand for food in the coming decades will require higher yields from agriculture, and Thanet Earth does ‘as well as any modern system can to manage its environmental impact’. Far better also to concentrate the greenhouses into one complex on a site where the light is right and it can be most effective than to have hundreds of under-performing greenhouses all over the country.

Benton believes that an increasing need for resilience in food production and a desire from consumers for shorter, more transparent supply chains, will create more pressure to do smart things with fruit and vegetables. ‘They can be produced in quite high volumes without a large land area, as Thanet Earth shows. If we put these factors together, then I think we have quite a drive for indoor and even urban agriculture.’

However, we’re unlikely to see too many replicas of Thanet Earth’s success, in the UK at least, because there aren’t enough suitable spots. Benton explains: ‘There are relatively few places where the light makes economic sense. That’s why it’s in Thanet – because it gets the highest amount of solar energy in the country. The further you go away from that southeast corner, the more cloudy it is so the more you have to heat the greenhouse and the more your energy bills go up.’ The next advance in indoor farming will come with LED technology, Benton believes, enabling high yields of vegetables without the need for direct sunlight. Research is already underway at PlantLab in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and trials have taken place at Stockbridge Technology Centre in the UK to explore how manipulating the light spectrum can improve yield and crop quality. Reports suggest that lettuce yields could be improved by as much as 200%.

For fast-growing cities in the developing world unable to pay for long supply chains, the ability to produce high yields efficiently will pay dividends, suggests Benton.

Progress in LED technology will enable modern horticultural systems to be slotted onto brownfield sites. ‘The future of indoor farming is unlikely to be these wonderful glass structures where economy of scale is important, but basements or warehouses on brownfield sites,’ says Benton. ‘I can’t imagine in 10 years not being able to dispense with the sun for some horticulture.’

With plans for three more greenhouses at Thanet Earth, surely the business sees its approach to indoor farming as having a role to play in meeting food demand. ‘We’ve been held up as a good example, but we’re not the only solution. We are one of a number of options for how we can produce more from less,’ explains James. ‘This model has value because it helps to mitigate some of the risks around climate change. And, as there’s still such a high volume of imported product, there’s definitely room for more quality, UK-grown food.’

‘The future of indoor farming is unlikely to be in glass structures, but in basements and warehouses’

‘We need the means to supply enough Water for our oWn food security’DaviD Weight MRiCS, associate director, aecoM

The UK consumes so much embodied water in imported food and other products that 75% of our water needs is met by resources in other countries. We can’t assume that we’ll always be able to rely on long supply chains. We need to develop the means to supply enough water for our own food security.

British farmers already need more water than they can get, having lost around £400m from crop failures after the dry late winter and spring of 2011. As water demand increases with the population, and both climate change and restrictions on abstraction licences exert pressures on supply, water companies in the southeast may need to find 50% more water by 2030.

Although reservoirs refill quickly, aquifers and groundwater levels take longer to recover, and abstraction from these is essential for agriculture and cooling at power stations. If we can reduce the likelihood of rivers, canals and streams drying up, reasonable levels of abstraction can continue.

Aecom has proposed the construction of a canal to bring water from Kielder Water in Northumberland into our waterways. It could supply up to 900m litres of water a day and deliver a range of secondary benefits including improved communication and transport links, and the opportunity to create new ecotowns and villages.


Don’t gamble with yourfire risk assessment!...

Promoting Quality in Fire Safety

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If you are responsible for a businesspremises, the law requires that youhave a fire risk assessment. To find competent providers, you need BAFE.

Under the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (FireSafety) Order 2005, the Duty Holder or ResponsiblePerson for a building is required to make a Fire Riskassessment to clarify the fire precautions necessary toensure the safety of staff, customers and property.

At present there are no adequate means to ensure the competenceand reliability of a company commissioned to carry this out.

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Fruit Machine Ad 274x202 Modus:Layout 1 12/3/13 12:29 Page 1


Don’t gamble with yourfire risk assessment!...

Promoting Quality in Fire Safety

www.bafe.org.ukBridges 2, Fire Service College, London Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 0RH

Tel: 0844 3350897 • Email: [email protected]

If you are responsible for a businesspremises, the law requires that youhave a fire risk assessment. To find competent providers, you need BAFE.

Under the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (FireSafety) Order 2005, the Duty Holder or ResponsiblePerson for a building is required to make a Fire Riskassessment to clarify the fire precautions necessary toensure the safety of staff, customers and property.

At present there are no adequate means to ensure the competenceand reliability of a company commissioned to carry this out.

BAFE scheme SP205 has been developedspecifically to address this situation, andwill provide reassurance to theResponsible Person that they are doingeverything possible to meet theirobligations.

So don’t leave everything to chance.Make sure that your suppliers areregistered with BAFE.

Fruit Machine Ad 274x202 Modus:Layout 1 12/3/13 12:29 Page 1


Words by Caspar Van Vark Illustration by Patrick Hruby

18 r ics.org

In 1943, the American agronomist Edward Faulkner published a book in which he challenged the wisdom of something that farmers had been doing for thousands of years: ploughing the fi eld. Many take it

for granted that ploughing is what you do before planting. But why, exactly? ‘The truth,’ wrote Faulkner in the opening paragraph to Plowman’s Folly, ‘is that no one has ever advanced a scientifi c reason for plowing.’

Although abandoning the plough was a shocking proposition at the time, in recent years farmers around the world have been adopting the idea enthusiastically: between 1999 and 2009, the global area cultivated with no-tillage systems grew from 45m to 111m hectares. Rather than turning the soil to aerate it and bury residues, these farmers prefer to minimise soil disruption. They leave crop residues on the fi eld and plant the next crop in the undisturbed soil below with direct-drill seeders designed for the purpose.

AN END TO PLOUGHING? NO-TILL AGRICULTURE ALLOWS FARMERS TO INCREASE YIELDS AND REDUCE THEIR WORKLOAD. SO WHAT IS ITS POTENTIAL?

One of the original benefi ts of no-till farming was the prevention of soil erosion. Faulkner’s proposal came on the back of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, when soil that had been heavily ploughed in previous years simply blew away when drought hit because there was nothing to anchor it. No-till farming helps to prevent this happening because it leaves protective ground cover and maintains soil strength and structure.

The Dust Bowl itself may be history, but no-till farming is increasingly recognised for its potential to address issues other than soil erosion. It now sits under the broader umbrella of conservation agriculture, a concept the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) promotes to save resources, maintain profi ts, sustain production and protect the environment.

In other words, no-till farming can help to create a sustainable food-production system, because it’s a way of maintaining high yields with lower energy inputs and

THE FUTURE OF FOOD IS…

MODUS_APR14_P18-19_NoTillFarming_des2.indd 14 13/03/2014 15:35

Words by Caspar Van Vark Illustration by Patrick Hruby

18 r ics.org

In 1943, the American agronomist Edward Faulkner published a book in which he challenged the wisdom of something that farmers had been doing for thousands of years: ploughing the fi eld. Many take it

for granted that ploughing is what you do before planting. But why, exactly? ‘The truth,’ wrote Faulkner in the opening paragraph to Plowman’s Folly, ‘is that no one has ever advanced a scientifi c reason for plowing.’

Although abandoning the plough was a shocking proposition at the time, in recent years farmers around the world have been adopting the idea enthusiastically: between 1999 and 2009, the global area cultivated with no-tillage systems grew from 45m to 111m hectares. Rather than turning the soil to aerate it and bury residues, these farmers prefer to minimise soil disruption. They leave crop residues on the fi eld and plant the next crop in the undisturbed soil below with direct-drill seeders designed for the purpose.

AN END TO PLOUGHING? NO-TILL AGRICULTURE ALLOWS FARMERS TO INCREASE YIELDS AND REDUCE THEIR WORKLOAD. SO WHAT IS ITS POTENTIAL?

One of the original benefi ts of no-till farming was the prevention of soil erosion. Faulkner’s proposal came on the back of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, when soil that had been heavily ploughed in previous years simply blew away when drought hit because there was nothing to anchor it. No-till farming helps to prevent this happening because it leaves protective ground cover and maintains soil strength and structure.

The Dust Bowl itself may be history, but no-till farming is increasingly recognised for its potential to address issues other than soil erosion. It now sits under the broader umbrella of conservation agriculture, a concept the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) promotes to save resources, maintain profi ts, sustain production and protect the environment.

In other words, no-till farming can help to create a sustainable food-production system, because it’s a way of maintaining high yields with lower energy inputs and



04.14 // MODUS 19


fewer negative environmental outputs. For example, leaving crop residue in place can help conserve water in the soil. It also encourages soil fl ora and fauna, such as earthworms, which increase the quantity of organic matter in soil and create tunnels that funnel oxygen to roots and further help the soil to hold water.

A number of studies have found that no-till farming increases carbon sequestration in the soil. Organisations such as the United Nations Environment Programme now promote it as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. But evidence on the precise extent and soil depths at which this occurs is inconclusive, and one recent report by the German development agency Misereor even concludes that no-tillage makes ‘little or no contribution to carbon sequestration and does not prove to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in croplands’.

BARRIERS TO UPTAKEMaking the transition from conventional to no-till farming is still diffi cult for many. There’s a lot to take in, and yields don’t increase automatically. ‘In our case, in year one it was more or less the same,’ says Tony Reynolds, who farms 246 hectares in Bourne, Lincolnshire, and started converting to no-till in 2004. ‘In year two, we’d used up residual nitrogens and yields declined. In year three, they declined even more. But yields began to return, and after year fi ve we were pretty much back to where we started. Now we’re fi nding on one of the farms that we yield more than before.’

Weeds can also be a problem. One of the effects of ploughing is to turn the soil and bury weeds. When farmers practise a no-till system, they can become more reliant on herbicides to control weeds, and sometimes weeds become resistant. On the other hand, there are immediate savings to be made in labour and other inputs, because if you don’t have to plough the fi eld before planting it, you don’t have to make so many ‘passes’.

‘If you’re going through the fi eld to establish the crop in a single operation, it takes much less time than doing a more typical cultivation,’ says Nathan Morris, farming systems and soil specialist at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. ‘You might be looking at three operations on a more conventional site, because you do a primary then a secondary cultivation and then drill. There are large gains to be had by reducing the number of fi eld passes.’ This also means you need less fuel. Reynolds estimates that conventional agriculture uses 90 to 95 litres of diesel per hectare, whereas the no-till method uses 40 to 43 litres.

Reducing fuel consumption is useful in its own right. But paired with greater yields it makes no-till farming compelling from a sustainability point of view. The FAO estimates that by 2050 the world’s population will reach 9.1bn, requiring food production to increase by as much as 70%. If no-till farming can help us to produce more from the same amount of land, without additional inputs such as fertiliser and fuel, it seems like a winner.

There is already some evidence for this. In Zimbabwe, for example, an estimated 300,000 farmers have adopted no-till and are producing maize at a rate of around two tonnes per hectare, nearly triple the amount yielded under conventional agriculture. Such results are particularly relevant for resource-limited countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, where achieving food security for

growing populations will depend to a great extent on building the productivity of the millions of smallholders that account for most food production.

But although no-till farming is benefi cial in theory, there are also some specifi c barriers for smallholders in developing countries. Some of the farmers who rear cattle as well as growing crops, for example, use the stubble left after harvesting as feed, so they wouldn’t want to leave it on the fi eld as crop residue. This type of issue, as well as the need to train millions of individual farmers in the fi rst place, is a barrier to the widespread uptake of the practice.

Elsewhere, major food-producing countries such as the US, Australia and Brazil have embraced no-till, but they have structured support for farmers to encourage the transition. Brazil, for instance, adopted the national Agricultural de Baixo Carbone (Low Carbon Agriculture) plan, which explicitly promotes no-till cultivation, in 2011. Credit and training services help farmers invest in equipment like direct-drill seeders and learn how to manage different patterns of weed growth and pests that can emerge. The legacy of soil erosion in the US means that farmers there are also subsidised to practise no-till farming as part of conservation agriculture.

By contrast, no-till farmers are still relatively rare in the UK and Europe. With a range of longstanding farming traditions and a history of relatively high, stable yields, European farmers appear to have had less incentive to try this method. The Common Agricultural Policy has also historically rewarded production, although this has now changed so that subsidies under the Single Payment Scheme – the primary support mechanism for agriculture – are also linked to public goods and environmental objectives.

‘Of particular note in this arena is the Soil Protection Review, an annual requirement since 2010 to identify soils susceptible to erosion and compaction, and those areas where the loss of organic matter, which would

otherwise provide nutrients, is likely to occur,’ says Ashley Taylor MRICS of Townsend Chartered Surveyors. ‘Once identifi ed, farmers must then implement preventative measures at an individual farm level.’ Although this approach aligns with no-till farming, without more explicit policy support, more widespread adoption of the technique may only come gradually through farmer-to-farmer diffusion.

Will Scale, a Pembrokeshire farmer and founding member of the UK No-Till Alliance, is convinced of the technique’s value. ‘The aim certainly isn’t low input, low output,’ says Scale, who has held open days at his farm to try to inform other farmers of the benefi ts. ‘I’ve found that yields can be as good or better. You’re saving fossil fuels, it doesn’t take as much time, it’s better for soil biology, better for water infi ltration, and I see less erosion. But it’s a steep learning curve, and you’ve just got to decide you can make it work.’

AN END TO PLOUGHING?

‘In Zimbabwe, farmers who have adopted no-till produce maize at nearly triple the rate yielded under conventional agriculture’


20 r ics.org

When Lincolnshire farmer Malc Parr wants to measure part of a fi eld, he reaches into his pocket for his smartphone, opens an area-calculation

app and walks around the area in question. ‘It uses GPS, so it has pinpoint accuracy,’ explains Parr, who farms at Corringham, near Gainsborough. ‘When I get back to the start point, it tells me the exact distance I’ve walked, and the area my route has encompassed.’

Growers and livestock producers are increasingly embracing such cutting-edge technology as they strive to improve the effi ciency of their production. So-called precision farming techniques – which use GPS mapping systems, satellite-controlled steering, robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles and even driverless tractors – represent a range of new tools that enable farmers to increase agricultural productivity. At the same time, the adoption of these technologies is encouraged by their customers, including such major supermarket chains as Sainsbury’s, who are increasingly interested in how their food is produced and its carbon footprint.

With demand for food set to increase substantially in the coming decades, as the global population heads towards 9bn, the impetus for farmers to use new technology is greater than ever. ‘Agriculture must become more fl exible and effi cient,’ says Simon Blackmore,

Growers and livestock producers are employing smart technologies to improve the effi ciency of their processes

Words by Johann Tasker Illustrations by Patrick Hruby

PRECISION FOR PRODUCTIVITY

DO GPS, ROBOTICS AND SMART SOIL-ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGIES HOLD

THE KEY TO MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY?


MODUS_APR14_P20-23_PrecisionFarming.indd 14 13/03/2014 15:38

04.14 // MODUS 21


director of the National Centre for Precision Farming at Harper Adams University, Shropshire. ‘We need smarter farming systems to support smarter farmers.’

A wide range of equipment is already available, offering a variety of options to improve farming methods. GPS technology, for example, allows farmers to tailor their nutrient and agrochemical applications to suit crop requirements within the fi eld and to minimise overlapping cultivations when using machinery that can cause damaging soil compaction.

Precision farming techniques are not only seen as best practice, they also help farmers save money and reduce environmental impacts at various stages of production. A case in point is the work required to reduce levels of soil compaction caused by machinery. In conventional farming systems, up to 96% of a fi eld is left compacted by tyres, and addressing this problem accounts for up to 90% of the energy consumed during cultivation. Research has shown that spatial control of machinery – through auto-steer or controlled-traffi c farming, for example – can save 10%-15% in time, fuel, crop nutrients and other inputs.

Another way in which farmers can potentially save time and reduce costs is by using computer-controlled applications of expensive inputs such as fertilisers, which are also the source of the highest CO2 emissions when growing crops. At the Overbury Estate, near Tewkesbury

Researchers in the US have developed a driverless tractor. One person can control up to 16 of these machines, which were developed by the Autonomous Tractor Corporation (ATC) and the Automation Research Group. ‘No one has re-thought the [agricultural] tractor from the bottom up in probably 80 years,’ says LeRoy Anderson, ATC vice president of software development. ‘Currently available equipment has tried to meet the needs of farmers by incremental innovation over decades.’

Technology like this isn’t without its drawbacks. ‘One of the problems is that the more automation you put inside a tractor, the less involvement the driver has,’ says Simon Blackmore, director of the National Centre for Precision Farming at Harper Adams University, Shropshire. Farm workers

will need retraining, he adds, and some won’t necessarily make the grade. There is an upside, though. ‘Although these kinds of agricultural robots will eventually replace semi-skilled drivers, we’ll need an equal number of highly skilled agricultural robot engineers and operators to be able to supervise and manage these systems.’

Similar changes are taking place above the fi elds. UK-based URSULA Agriculture specialises in unmanned aerial vehicles designed to monitor crops. Director Steve Keyworth says: ‘The high-resolution multispectral imagery that we capture has numerous applications from weed detection to yield estimation and crop trial analysis. Data, once analysed, can inform farmers’ decision-making and deliver maps compatible with farm management systems.’

Rise of the robots

>>


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22 r ics.org

in Gloucestershire, farm manager Jake Freestone has been using smart technology to target inputs since 2006, when they started taking soil samples and analysing them for levels of phosphate and potash. ‘Rather than using a blanket approach and applying the same amount of nutrients across the field,’ says Freestone, ‘we tailor the rates according to the phosphate and potash already in the soil and what the following crop is likely to need, adjusting it to different areas of the field. We input the data into a computer program that creates a field map showing all the varying rates. Then we use the same sort of GPS that is in a smartphone to tell the tractor and fertiliser spreader where it is in the field and how much fertiliser should be applied at that point.’

Freestone estimates that precision farming methods like this have resulted in a 30% reduction in the amount of phosphate and potash used. ‘We are using less of a finite

resource, putting it where it is needed, reducing waste and being more accurate,’ he explains. He uses the same technology for liquid nitrogen. ‘A USB stick in the sprayer puts the variable-rate nitrogen where it is needed – giving us a better response. We’re probably not saving money on nitrogen, but we are targeting it more effectively.’

Freestone also uses a smart approach to sowing seeds at Overbury. After the soil has been scanned to assess its water-holding capacity, seed rates are adjusted as the seed drill goes across the field to produce a more uniform crop, making management and harvest easier. ‘The tractor has auto-steer on it,’ explains Freestone, ‘so it basically drives itself up and down the field, while the computer

Farmers are increasingly using GPS-guided systems to sow seeds and apply fertilisers and other inputs more accurately

‘The tractor has auto-steer on it, so it basically drives itself up and down the field, while the computer adjusts the inputs’

‘We can feed the World

on current arable land

capacity’Eifion BiBBy MRiCS, SenIor

conSultant, DavIS MeaDe ProPerty conSultantS

Historically, global demand for food has increased by an average of 1% a year, and since 1945 agricultural production has grown by about 2% a year. Feeding the world, then, could theoretically be achieved on current arable land capacity. But can this rate of progress continue?

UK farmers are encouraged to use less intensive systems but have to compete with demand for land for growing biofuels and building homes – as well as negotiating the challenges of climate change.

There is scope on many farms to boost yields with the adoption of new techniques. Indeed, in January, UK environment minister Owen Paterson warned that Europe ‘risks becoming the museum of world farming’ if it fails to embrace genetically modified crops. However, reliable assurances are needed that such production is safe, as short-term fixes aren’t the answer.

But does focusing solely on growing ourselves into food security obscure the wider issues? Perhaps we’re already growing enough – after all, in the UK 7.2m tonnes of food is binned every year at a cost of £12.5bn.

Some might say that we’re eating too much. Busy modern lifestyles have encouraged us to eat more (particularly cheap, processed foods) and move about less, to the extent that obesity is leaving more and more people at risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. If trends continue, and global diets change to favour meat and dairy products – as is already happening in India and China – demand for cereals will increase, augmenting the carbon footprint, and health concerns will continue to rise.

Politicians need to align food security with environmental and public-health agendas and establish the means for farmers to produce nutritious food at affordable prices.



04.14 // MODUS 23

adjusts inputs depending on its location. There are lots of savings in time and efficiency. There’s no overlap in cultivations either. So it reduces labour, input cost and wear and tear.’

New technology is also helping farmers to harvest selectively. In a conventional system, up to 60% of a harvested crop is wasted because it isn’t of saleable quality. But precision farming allows a farmer to harvest only the part of the crop that has 100% saleable characteristics, thereby minimising off-farm grading and sorting. At the University of Southern Denmark, researchers have developed a microdot sprayer that recognises the leaves of a plant in real time, putting chemical only where it is required on the leaf and saving 99.99% of sprays by volume.

Mark Little FRICS, director and farmland estate consultant at Savills in Norwich, believes that precision farming is one of the most significant agricultural developments in recent years. ‘You can certainly see the benefits on any farm that has improved in-field management using precision farming.’

network farmingOne of the biggest barriers to the widespread adoption of precision farming techniques remains the cost. Larger equipment – such as real-time kinematic (RTK) satellite navigation, a precise form of guidance technology – can be prohibitively expensive for individual farm businesses. As a result, farmers are signing up to networks that give them access to equipment and reduce associated costs.

In some parts of the world machinery manufacturers have established RTK networks. But in the UK groups of farmers have taken the initiative. In East Anglia, for example, RTK Farming’s Trimble network was formed when five farmers decided they wanted to benefit from the efficiencies and cost savings of precision farming without the large individual capital spend. With the aid of a government grant, the network has grown to cover eastern England, and there are plans to extend it from the Humber down to Kent.

It would cost an individual farmer up to £14,000 to set up his own system. But by joining RTK Farming, the same farmer can access the technology for a joining fee of £200 and an annual subscription of £500 per guidance unit. Early adopters of the system included vegetable growers who were quick to recognise that precision farming could reduce machine and driver fatigue and help to produce high-value crops requiring precision establishment with a high level of traceability.

‘The cost is far outweighed by the benefits,’ says Cambridge farmer and RTK Farming founder member David White. The savings achieved through precision farming stack up on their own, he adds, without considering other areas of improvement. ‘We recognised that the benefits needed to be affordable for the smaller farms, operated by an owner-operator with a single tractor doing all of the work, through to large multisite businesses spread over a larger geographical area.’

More farmers are realising the benefits of precision farming – including larger businesses with large budgets for machinery that are investing in the technology to capitalise on higher commodity prices and the need to make best use of expensive inputs. Just like the mobile phone, precision farming, it seems, is for everyone.

‘Can the UK inCrease prodUCtivity while proteCting the environment?’Jason Beedell MRICs, partner and head of research, smiths Gore

Global food production will have to increase dramatically if we want to feed the world in 2050. If this won’t be hard enough, it needs to be done by growing more from the land we already use, as there is little scope to expand into new territory. What’s more, it needs to be done with fewer natural resources – soil, water and carbon.

Can the UK increase productivity while protecting the environment? It’s a tough challenge, but not impossible, say the UK’s best brains. But only if farming and the policies that drive it change.

There’s no doubt we can improve the efficiency of production. Resources like water, pesticides and fertilisers can be used more accurately. The best UK producers already employ precision techniques to put the right amounts in the right places at the right times. And technology is improving all the time.

In addition, we need to recognise that at the moment the environment is ‘subsidising’ our food production – the cost of using up our natural resources isn’t reflected in the price of food. Unfortunately, the recent reform of European farm policies has failed to achieve a balance between sustainability and intensification, and environmentalists are rightly disappointed. Until we’re able to achieve this balance, we won’t be able to fix the food crisis.


24 r ics.org

frameworks, poor mapping and localised corruption means that many people in the developing world have a precarious hold over the land they may have lived on for generations and are constantly at risk of eviction. In Africa, for example, where around 90% of parcels in rural areas are undocumented, communities have become vulnerable in recent years to ‘land grabbing’, large-scale land acquisitions by governments, corporations or individuals who offer little or no compensation.

In the last 10 years, Rwanda has taken great steps to secure land-tenure rights for its people. Having instituted a law to determine the use and management of land in 2005, the government embarked upon a nationwide programme of land registration in 2009, which by early 2013 had approved and issued around 8.4m titles. Despite ongoing challenges relating to inequalities in the recognition of land rights in practice, particularly among women and young people, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) holds Rwanda as an example to other countries in the region for developing legislation to safeguard people’s rights to own or access land.

A NEED FOR PROFESSIONALSThe proper documentation of land is crucial, not only to protect communities who may have no formal evidence to support their claim, but also to provide security to legitimate investors whose work may boost local economic activity and reduce extreme poverty. The professional skills and expertise of chartered surveyors are a critical part of this process, and land professionals from such organisations as RICS, the International Federation of Surveyors, the FAO, the World Bank and the Global Land Tool Network are making a real difference.

With more than 20 years’ experience working in developing countries around the world, Andrew Hilton FRICS was part of an FAO team that documented the progress in Rwanda. He explains that the organisation’s land-tenure unit advises national governments, communities and other stakeholders on improving land rights in a broad sense, covering everything from national policies and laws to the recording and registering of rights, and property valuation and taxation.

‘One of our phone calls this morning was with the government of Namibia, discussing their requests for support for, among other things, developing a property taxation system and national valuation standards within the framework of the FAO’s new international voluntary

THIS LAND IS

MY LANDSURVEYORS haVE a Vital ROlE tO plaY

iN SECURiNG laND RiGhtS fOR pOOR COmmUNitiES iN DEVElOpiNG COUNtRiES

whO aRE OthERwiSE VUlNERablE tO laND GRabbiNG, SaYS Brendon Hooper

A map of Jatayvary Indigenous Land in Mato Grosso do Sul, southern Brazil Land tenure is a fundamental part of

a stable economy and, by extension, it is vital to the security and prosperity of communities all over

the world. An effective legal framework is the bedrock of all primary industries, whether agriculture, mining, forestry or oil extraction. Without such legislation, there is no incentive for an individual or a business to invest in land: a farmer, for example, will be reluctant to cultivate an area under the threat of eviction.

It’s estimated that only around 1.5bn of the world’s 6bn parcels of land have rights formally registered in land administration systems that determine, record and disseminate information about the ownership, value and use of land. Whereas a fair system of land rights is taken for granted in the developed world, a combination of inadequate legal

MODUS_APR14_P24-26_LandRightsdes3.indd 14 17/03/2014 14:03

04.14 // MODUS 25

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A worker on a sugarcane plantation established on contested land in Brazil Below: a land tribunal in Burundi, supported by the FAO, is considered an important step in alleviating poverty in the East African country

:AN eCONOmiC iNCeNTive CAN LAND RIGHTS PROVIDE A BOOST?

Ghandi Subedi, a PhD student at the University of Reading, is looking to identify a causal link between securing land rights and improvements in economic activity in developing countries. Since 2010 he has undertaken hundreds of surveys in rural districts of Nepal and Bangladesh, interviewing land professionals, landlords, policymakers, residents, farmers and business owners to see how their economic situation has been affected by securing land rights. A former employee of Nepal’s land ministry, Subedi has found that the introduction of an adequate land administration system leads to a significant increase in productivity. ‘One reason is because people are more motivated to invest in agriculture, such as purchasing improved machinery or new varieties of seeds,’ says Subedi. ‘They are able to use their secured land parcel as collateral, and therefore have greater access to institutional credit.’

guidelines,’ explains Hilton. ‘We also offer training for private sector investors on the implications of the FAO’s voluntary guidelines on international investment and large-scale land acquisitions.’

The work of land professionals from many organisations in helping to document and strengthen land rights continues all over the world. However, in some areas it seems there is not enough professional manpower on the ground to support a growing number of vulnerable rural communities. ‘Capacity is a critical issue, with fewer land professionals available to deal with an increasingly critical body of work,’ says James Kavanagh MRICS, Director of the RICS Land Group.

So what can be done to bridge this huge gap in on-the-ground capacity? Although the profession is already taking steps to increase the recruitment and availability of land professionals, practical and bold new ideas are urgently being considered to accelerate the recording of land rights for millions of people in rural areas in a race against time to help safeguard them against corrupt land activities.

A key tool in this challenge could be the widespread availability of cheap, modern technology – notably the mobile phone – to crowdsource information on land rights. Crowdsourcing is an innovative technique that uses connected modern technologies, such as mobile-phone networks or the internet, to enable citizen volunteers to gather huge amounts of data across vast areas that would otherwise take a limited pool of professionals years to gather.

Edinburgh-based Robin McLaren FRICS is a keen advocate of using crowdsourcing technology to bridge this gap. ‘The ratio >>

MODUS_APR14_P24-26_LandRightsdes3.indd 15 17/03/2014 14:03

26 r ics.org

Land rights //

of surveyors to citizens in many countries is around 1:200,000,’ he says. ‘In Tanzania, for instance, there are only around 100 surveyors in total. But the rise of mobile-phone use in Africa could provide an excellent channel for obtaining crowdsourced land information.’

As director of Know Edge, McLaren specialises in land reform and land information management systems and has worked extensively with aid agencies to implement national land registration and cadastral systems worldwide to strengthen land tenure in support of economic reforms. He’s currently involved with a series of groundbreaking projects that will employ in-the-fi eld citizen volunteers using mobile technology to capture evidence of land rights in Kenya, Tanzania and southeast Asia.

‘It’s a huge paradigm shift, and RICS has been very supportive of our work and the pilot projects over the past few years,’ says McLaren. He’s keen to emphasise that the whole land-professional community needs

to be involved in supporting such simple and scalable techniques, which have the potential to stop people from being unjustly evicted from their land. Collaboration is vital, he says, particularly if governments or regional administrations choose not to co-operate, either from a sense of being professionally challenged, or because they don’t want corruption exposed. ‘In the next few years, we hope to see a global infrastructure platform emerging, where citizens can safely and transparently

Judge Remy Nsabimana prepares to chair a land tribunal in Burundi

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THE MOBILE PHONE CAN BE AN EXCELLENT TOOL FOR OBTAINING LAND INFORMATION

The fall of the Soviet Union left 30 countries with the huge challenges of transferring to a market-oriented economy. Not least among these was setting up a system of land tenure.

‘These countries really had nothing – no land laws, no case histories, institutions or land professionals,’ says Gavin Adlington FRICS, a land programme team leader at the World Bank who has consulted governments in eastern Europe and Central

Asia (ECA) on setting up new land markets since 1994.

‘In many of these countries, we had to establish land management and registration agencies as we went along.’ In a way, he continues, the lack of established legislation was an advantage. ‘They didn’t have a legacy system they were trying to improve, and so could start afresh and make it work. A great example is Russia, which developed a single computerised

database with around 350m registered titles.’

The progress has been staggering, continues Adlington. ‘Under the Soviet system, there was endemic corruption and ineffi ciencies, and maps and land records were secret. Now, 11 of the world’s top 20 countries for registering property are in the ECA region. They have the most comprehensive, effi cient and modern land administration systems anywhere in the world.’

:POST SOVIET LAND TENUREESTABLISHING A COHERENT SYSTEM

record land rights data online to support their claims,’ he says.

For people all over the world, access and rights to land play a fundamental role in increasing food security and reducing poverty. ‘Surveyors and, by extension, land professionals are a key component of how we manage and sustain our future,’ says Kavanagh. And as the global population grows, their invaluable work in narrowing the security of tenure gap will become more important than ever.

Farmers in Bolivia are documenting their land using mobile phones

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28 r ics.org

Changes in consumer behaviour have led to a rise in the number of smaller stores with a local focus

MODUS_APR14_P28-31_Supermarket_des2.indd 14 13/03/2014 15:56

04.14 // MODUS 29

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING SUPERMARKETWITH THE UK’S LARGEST SUPERMARKETS CONCENTRATING ON INCREASING NUMBERS OF SMALLER STORES, SURVEYORS CAN LOOK FORWARD TO A RANGE OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES Words by Adam Branson Photographs by Gary Smith

to burst. The major supermarket chains were engaged in a space race to carve out the largest chunk of the overall market. Clearly the situation wasn’t sustainable, and the nation’s biggest grocer, Tesco, made the fi rst move, in April last year, announcing that it would mothball more than 100 sites and press ahead with expanding its Tesco Metro convenience stores. Then, in November, Sainsbury’s announced that it had ditched 15 planned superstores and would continue to open more of its Sainsbury’s Local outlets – around two a week for the foreseeable future.

So given that between them Tesco and Sainsbury’s control nearly half of the entire UK food retail market, how come the situation still looks as buoyant as it does? First, there is almost certainly a time lag in the statistics. And second, some of the smaller players, such as Lidl and Waitrose, have had a good couple of years and are continuing to press ahead with new store development.

However, the travails of Tesco and Sainsbury’s refl ect the wider state of the market in another way. Put simply, for the time being the rise of the big, out-of-town supermarket appears to be on the wane. ‘There has been a fundamental shift over the last two years, with the big supermarkets moving away from large new builds,’ says Peter Cummings, director of retail at

Turner & Townsend. ‘They’ve focused on the convenience market and are directing capital expenditure towards their existing estate.’

Recently the range of goods available in big supermarkets has increased hugely. But changing consumer habits, not least the rise of online retail, mean that the large-format stores now look increasingly out of date. ‘Although the days of people going in and buying big white goods and big TVs aren’t over, there is far less of that now that people can go online,’ says Grant Woollard MRICS, a director at GL Hearn. ‘I think they’re just trying to look at the space and what’s needed.’

The results are evident in a string of announcements made last year. Asda has done a deal with Barclays that will see bank branches opening in store. Tesco is opening Giraffe restaurants and other leisure facilities in some of its bigger units, while Waitrose is looking at introducing small garden centres.

DIVIDE AND CONQUERSuch changes may not lead to a lot of big new stores for surveyors to get their teeth into, but they still offer opportunities. Daniel Hunt MRICS, director and head of retail fi t-out at consultancy Aecom, says: ‘It still presents some good opportunities for work in terms of downsizing stores and splitting them up into units. Clients are defi nitely interested >>

T hroughout the recession, one sector stood out: supermarkets. While some publicly fi nanced parts of the construction industry benefi ted

from periodic cash injections, the picture for the private sector was one of differing degrees of gloom. From 2008 onwards, however, the number of planned supermarkets underwent what can only be described as a boom.

In autumn that year, the total pipeline for food outlets – those that had been proposed, had planning consent or were under construction – was more than 2.8m m2, according to research by consultancy CBRE. By September 2012, however, it had ballooned by more than 50% to 4.5m m2. After a slight contraction, it was almost back up to the 4.5m m2 mark in September 2013.

So business in the supermarkets sector is booming, right? Well, not quite. The sector is certainly healthy compared to the wider retail market, but last year two of the country’s biggest grocers informed investors that they were cutting back on large out-of-town developments and instead concentrating on the convenience-store market and renovating their existing estates. So why the change of direction? And what are the implications for surveyors working in food retail?

To a certain extent, the huge growth in the supermarket pipeline was a bubble that had

Retail trends //


30 r ics.org

Many of the major supermarkets are scrapping plans to build new large-format superstores in order to concentrate on smaller outlets

All figures are approximate. Store numbers provided by Retail Locations. Information on development plans based on company reports and/or public statements by chief executives or directors unless otherwise stated. Tesco figures do not include T&S Stores, a wholly owned subsidiary purchased by Tesco in 2002 and run under the brand One Stop Convenience

Retail trends //


04.14 // MODUS 31

the big four are adopting a ‘hub and spokes’ approach, where a large-format supermarket effectively acts as a central warehouse and distributes goods to their convenience network for consumer collection.

So does the emphasis on convenience stores represent a permanent move? Keen believes the market may change again for a number of reasons. First, the convenience market will approach saturation in the medium term. Next, within five years many first-generation, out-of-town supermarkets will be obsolete and need replacing.

Then there is the fact that the government is trying to increase the number of homes built each year, a strategy bolstered by the development of new communities on ex-military sites and new suburban extensions to existing towns, all of which will require new food outlets. Add to this the fact that huge swathes of the UK still have no access to a superstore within 20 minutes’ drive, and there is still plenty of space in the market to pursue. Finally, Keen argues, as long as profit margins remain higher on large-format stores, there will always be an incentive to return to this side of the business.

But whether or not the current trends prove to be temporary, the dramatic changes to the supermarkets sector seen in the last two years prove that surveyors need to be prepared to adapt their businesses accordingly. ‘Retail is an ever-changing environment,’ says Cummings. ‘You’ve got to be nimble. You’ve got to be flexible.’

TescoSupermarkets: 900Convenience stores: 1,600

In April last year, Tesco announced that it was shelving plans to develop more than 100 sites that it had purchased for large-format supermarkets, adding that it would concentrate on the convenience end of the market. The company said that it had identified sites for 830 new convenience stores.

AsdaSupermarkets: 550Convenience stores: 0

In a statement that accompanied its Q3 results in November last year, Asda reported: ‘Asda has set its sights on breaking into parts of the UK where its market share is low but where customer demand is high, with a particular emphasis on London and the Southeast. Plans will include expansion of its successful supermarket format.’

Sainsbury’sSupermarkets: 600Convenience stores: 600+

In November last year, Sainsbury’s announced that it had scrapped plans to develop 15 new superstores. However, it said, it would be opening an average of two convenience stores a week for the foreseeable future. Earlier in the year the company had said that it would open around 10 large-format stores a year for the foreseeable future.

MorrisonsSupermarkets: 500Convenience stores: 90

Morrisons has plans to open 300 convenience stores – dubbed M Local – by 2015. It opened 18 large-format stores last year and has plans to open around 15 such outlets a year for the next few years. It is concentrating its development efforts on gaining market share in the south of England where it is currently under-represented.

The big four: State of play

And then, of course, there’s the rise of the convenience market. It’s easy to see why the big supermarkets are interested. According to CBRE, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons account for just 5% of the convenience market, with the rest made up of firms such as the Co-op, franchises like Budgens and independents. The recession has facilitated the rise of the convenience store, says Woollard. ‘People tend to undertake more shopping visits, but they spend less in each.’

In addition to plans laid out by Sainsbury’s and Tesco, Morrisons intends to grow its convenience brand, M Local, aggressively. And although Asda doesn’t own or manage any convenience-size outlets – its pledge to price goods identically in all its stores makes convenience a difficult market in which to operate – it has announced that it will be concentrating on more small supermarkets.

SEEING THE LIGHTFor surveyors, the implications of this trend are that they can expect to work increasingly on multiple store programmes rather than on big, individual projects. It also means, contrary to expectations a couple of years ago, that the supermarkets will develop few, if any, so-called ‘dark’ stores – warehouses on industrial estates closed to the public and established solely to process online orders. According to CBRE’s director of retail lease consultancy Christopher Keen, there are only a couple of dark stores in the pipeline each year, led almost entirely by Tesco. Instead,

in what the hospitality element of a fit-out would cost compared to general sales floor.’

However, such work is unlikely to be of sufficient magnitude to demand the full-time services of a professional surveyor working on a single store. Instead, work is likely to be bundled up into programmes of activity. ‘We need to get into a position where we’re running at a programme level so that the client gets the benefit of a consistent approach across all their projects,’ says Cummings. ‘The key is how you engage and deal with the supply chain, procuring them on a framework across the programme rather than engaging them on an individual project.’


32 rics.org

JUDY PEARSON

Member pro� le

Blogger and rural surveyor

Interview by Cherry Maslen Photograph by Glen Burrows

MODUS_APR14_P32-33_MemberProfile_v3.indd 34 13/03/2014 16:06

In the � eld //

merchant Frontier in the summers. While I was on the British Horseracing Authority graduate programme, I worked as a journalist on the Racing Post.

I really enjoy what I do now – there’s such a huge variety. During any week I could be doing formal Red Book valuations, tax-related work for farmers or dealing with a compensation claim, such as the construction of an electricity line through farmland that has disrupted cultivation. I might have breakfast meetings where I’m presenting a talk on partnerships, for instance. Sometimes I’m out surveying in the morning and then in the offi ce in the afternoon doing research for the valuation. From our offi ce in Northamptonshire we cover a radius of about 50 miles but we’ll go further afi eld if we’re asked to.

My work tends to follow the farming calendar but in reverse – I’m busy when farms aren’t as we tend not to see farmers when they’re lambing, cultivating or harvesting. But I’m pretty busy most of the time because of the multidisciplinary aspects of the work, and there’s a lot of valuation in the rural sector that can be time pressured.

Since the fi nancial crisis, banks have been much stricter in their lending criteria, increasing the pressure on surveyors. Farmers often need loans or an increased overdraft for which you might have to value a whole farm. It used to be easier for farmers to secure funding but now surveyors can be sued by banks if something goes wrong and they believe a valuation is inaccurate. The buck stops with us. And farm valuation can be complex, especially when you consider renewable energy projects such as solar and wind farms, hydro energy and anaerobic digesters. These are relatively new and untested, so they can be diffi cult to value.

Being from a farming background has given me a good basis for what I do because farming is very much a way of life. The more mechanised it becomes the more isolated farmers can become, though, which is another reason why social media is so important for the future.blondeagadvisor.wordpress.comberrybros.com

‘Social media is an important tool

for farmers and can do lot for the

farming community’

04.14 // MODUS 33

I come from a farming family in Northants and still live on the farm. I didn’t have the opportunity to go into the family business, so decided to do something else connected with land and the agricultural industries. As an agricultural surveyor and adviser I spend about half my time out on farms and the rest of it working in the offi ce.

I run my own blog and Twitter account, offering professional information for farmers and rural landowners. Social media is the way forward. It’s an important tool for farmers and can do a lot for the farming community. People don’t think of farmers as being good with IT, but modern farming is already hi-tech. Many agricultural vehicles are driven using GPS, so the machine does the work and the farmer can use his smartphone or iPad to keep up with what’s happening in the industry.

I started using social media for business because I had to work hard to make myself known as a serious professional and to earn a reputation. The work doesn’t come to you: you have to be proactive and make sure you get it. As a young female working in agriculture – which is about as male-oriented a business as you can get – I needed to establish myself. We provide specifi c professional advice and you need a good reputation to attract new customers. Through my blog I can reach farmers all over the country. I have more than 1,300 followers on Twitter, so it’s very effective.

I had the opportunity to access IT training in my previous job in the rural department at Chesterton Humberts in Stamford, where I valued fenland and glasshouses. Before that I was at land and property consultant Samuel Rose near Northampton, where I completed my RICS qualifi cations and became a fellow of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers. As a young woman getting established, it was important to me to get my RICS qualifi cations and Registered Valuer status. Banks want someone accountable when they rely on surveyors for accurate farm valuations, and my MRICS designation gives me that.

I did my degree in rural enterprise and land management at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, working at grain

MODUS_APR14_P32-33_MemberProfile_v3.indd 35 13/03/2014 16:06

With no agreed defi nition of good faith in relation to commercial contracts, the courts have made various attempts to reach a consensus in recent years, but the results have depended on the type of contract. In CPC Group Limited v Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment (2010), the court said that a party must adhere to the spirit of the contract; observe reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing; be faithful to the agreed common purpose; and act consistently with the justifi ed expectations of the parties. What the law doesn’t require is one party to subordinate legitimate commercial interests to those of others.

Typically, a good faith clause would be tucked away at the end of the contract – a rather boring, ‘boilerplate’ provision, of interest only to lawyers, you may think. But consider carefully whether an obligation to act in good faith – or even ‘utmost’ good faith – is a good idea. It cuts both ways, circumstances change, and it may inhibit what

you can do later.Would the courts ever import

such a clause into a contract – because they think it has been accidentally omitted, or so that it makes better business sense? Traditionally, the English courts have been reluctant to do so, but there are signs of change. In a recent case, Yam Seng Pte Limited v International Trade Corporation

Limited, the court heard that Yam Seng had been granted exclusive rights to distribute certain fragrances branded ‘Manchester United’. Relations soured, and Yam Seng terminated the contract, claiming damages for alleged breaches, including a breach of implied good faith by providing misleading information.

The court said that what good faith requires depends on the context, but includes honesty and fidelity to the parties’ contract and not giving false or misleading information to the other party. It added that this is particularly important in ‘relational’ contracts – eg, some franchise agreements, long-term distributorship agreements and joint-venture agreements – where the parties need to co-operate closely. International Trade Corporation was held to be in breach for providing misleading information, among other grounds, and Yam Seng entitled to recover its net loss as damages for breach.

No contract can provide for every eventuality, as circumstances change. But the best way of avoiding a breach is to ensure that the contract is suffi ciently detailed

and that careful thought is given to what could change or go wrong. This may seem obvious, but the increasing number of court cases alleging breach of good faith obligations demonstrates the risks.

A good example of this is Mid-Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust v Compass Group UK and Ireland Ltd (trading as Medirest). The trust outsourced certain services to Medirest with a contract containing performance targets and payment deductions for failure to comply. Medirest claimed that payment deductions subsequently demanded by the trust were out of proportion to the breaches and terminated the contract, claiming Mid-Essex was in breach of the contractual obligation to act in good faith by demanding such payments for minor breaches. The court disagreed. The contract permitted such deductions, and Mid-Essex was simply enforcing its contractual rights. So, in this case, the good faith clause didn’t come into play.

It’s a good idea to consider all possible scenarios and remember former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s words: ‘There are known knowns; these are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.’ The fi rst two can be covered with careful thought. The rest is commercial risk.

It won’t be long before good faith is reconsidered by the English courts. Hopefully, we will get a defi nitive ruling. In the meantime the courts will continue to enforce good faith obligations in appropriate circumstances.

So if your solicitor offers a good faith clause in your next contract, don’t regard it as a minor issue. Think carefully whether it’s appropriate to your contract. It might be the provision that saves the day – or one you live to regret.

ANDREW WADE is a consultant at solicitors Farrer & Co LLP. farrer.co.uk

THE BEST WAY OF AVOIDING A BREACH IS TO ENSURE THAT YOUR CONTRACT IS SUFFICIENTLY DETAILED

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Law advice //

Good faith:

HOW DO YOU AVOID A BREACH?By commercial property specialist Andrew Wade

34 r ics.org

MODUS_APR14_P34-35_Law advicedes3.indd 34 13/03/2014 16:11

Advertorial //

What do designers Aecom, Aedas, BDP, TMA (UK), Grimshaw Architects, Pascall+Watson and John McAslan + Partners all have in common? They sit on the successful Early Design Framework (EDF). Set up in August 2012, the framework is the brainchild of Mark Henn, Head of Asset Development at London Underground (LU). The idea was to gain quick access to a list of imaginative designers who not only had one foot placed fi rmly in the reality of designing for an operational environment, but who also understood the commercial imperative for TfL and LU to generate more from its asset base.

To date, the framework has proved an excellent way of working, providing effi ciency and adding value. LU’s Asset Development team has demonstrated strong relationship management, working closely with the designers and managing 26 commissions leading to a spend of £1.9m.

‘With increased customer journeys, and the need to increase our revenue base, it’s

becoming increasingly important to be able to understand, explore and visualise what’s possible on a site to help unlock the potential that has been latent for too long,’ Henn explains. For example, a successful short study on a development at the existing Whitechapel station helped LU appreciate what could be achieved, informed local planning policy and has since become an important part of the jigsaw of the future vision for the Whitechapel area. Furthermore, the framework has formed the bedrock of an

array of designs for the next series of major capacity upgrades at key locations, such as Camden Town, Holborn, Victoria, Paddington and Elephant & Castle.

LU’s Asset Development team brings together the commercial and operational benefi ts that add business value and create opportunities to improve Tube infrastructure.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in working with the team or would like further information, please email assetdevelopment@tfl .gov.uk.

EARLY DESIGN FRAMEWORKFORWARD-THINKERS UNLOCK POTENTIAL

School of the Built EnvironmentThinking of doing your doctorate?Talk to us about studying for your professional doctorate with the University of Salford, the UK’s premier built environment research centre. Drop in for an informal chat with the teaching team between 12.00noon and 6.00pm at any of the following venues:

Cork, CIT, Main Reception, Admin Building, Bishopstown, Monday 12 May

Dublin, DIT, Bolton Street, Dublin 1, Tuesday 13 May

Manchester, MediaCityUK Campus, Salford Quays M50 2HE, Friday 30 May

London, RICS, 12 Great George Street, SW1, Friday 6 June

The Salford Professional Doctorate: An achievable, step-by-step route for busy professionals to achieve a doctorate in five years

Studied part-time with others from similar professional backgrounds

Reduces study time by drawing on existing expertise

Study at an internationally-respected research centre

Distance learning, supplemented by occasional Saturday workshops

Programme starts each October.

For more information about the course and the roadshows visit: www.salford.ac.uk/sobe/profdoc or contact Dr Paul Chynoweth at [email protected] or via course enquiries on 0161 295 4545.

MODUS_APR14_P34-35_Law advicedes3.indd 35 13/03/2014 16:11

A hike

in the country

A rush of investor interest hAs driven rurAl lAnd vAlues to An All-time high. so whAt Are the implicAtions for the fArming industry?

words by katie Puckett

36 r ics.org

Gold bullion, prime London real estate, muddy fields. If it sounds like there’s an odd one out in that list, there is: in recent years, the

muddy fields have proved to be a more reliable investment than the other two.

The staggering rise of rural land values during the last decade means that if you had invested in prime arable land in 2003, you’d have increased your wealth by 270%. Voracious demand and scarce supply have driven values to an all-time high. According to Savills, the average price of an acre of arable land in the East of England was £9,200 in December 2013, an increase of 22.2% compared to the previous year. What’s more, it predicts that values will continue to rise, with annual growth of 6% for the next five years. That was echoed by surveyors across the sector responding to the latest market survey carried out by RICS and the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, who said they were ‘very optimistic’ that commercial farmland would remain strong.

‘Land is a very firm market, and even through a difficult economic period it doesn’t seem to have suffered unduly,’ says Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist. ‘We’re

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MODUS_APR14_P36-39_LandValuesdes4.indd 36 17/03/2014 14:15

Farmland values //

now seeing gold turning down, but land is still strong and still attracting investors.’

As an asset, land has a unique set of characteristics. It is reassuringly tangible and durable, it is finite and it can be used in different ways by different types of investor. Land is also extremely illiquid, and it exerts a powerful psychological hold over its owners, which can foil economists’ best efforts to predict how it will perform. But how long can values continue to rise? And what does this rush of investor interest mean for the farming industry?

A sAfe hAvenAnnual returns from farming may be low – typically 2-2.5% – but in 2008 that looked a lot better than the double-figure drop in the value of commercial property. ‘In times of financial crisis, people go back to the old staples: gold and land,’ says Tom Raynham MRICS, head of agricultural investment acquisitions at Knight Frank. ‘Farmland may fluctuate in price but it can’t go anywhere. Stocks and shares can disappear overnight.’

Institutional investors and wealthy individuals alike perceive land as a safe haven. The latter also benefit from land’s exemptions from inheritance tax and capital

gains, making it a favourite way for moneyed families to transmit wealth down the generations. And it’s fun, too. Although the number of lifestylers leaving London for the country, permanently or just for the weekend, took a hit during the recession, they still account for around a third of buyers, according to Savills. ‘Land is a wonderful and flexible asset,’ says Richard Liddiard FRICS, head of rural agency at Carter Jonas. ‘You can touch it, feel it, appreciate it, ride a horse on it. You can’t do that with a bar of gold in a bank in Zurich.’

Then there are the farmers themselves, who make up half the market, says Savills. The last five years have been relatively profitable for British farming as commodity prices have soared, and it has remained one of the few sectors to which banks are usually happy to lend. Farmers have money to spend and are keen to pursue the economies of scale vital to modern farming: according to Savills, 97% were buying to expand.

On the other side of the equation, there is little land available to buy. In 2012, the supply of land coming to market hit a historic low, at half of the 2000 level, the continuation of a more fundamental shift. ‘Fifty years ago, 2.5% of farmland changed hands each year,’ says

Ian Bailey, head of rural research at Savills. ‘Now annual turnover is down to 0.25%.’

It’s easy to pinpoint the reason for sellers’ reticence: in 2012 the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy was undergoing a periodic review, a time when farmers traditionally wait and see whether they stand to benefit from the revised subsidies. With the outline of a deal agreed last June, supply increased in 2013, and it is expected to do so again in 2014. However, according to Dr Jason Beedell MRICS, head of research at Smiths Gore, it is unlikely to rise above 80,000 hectares again in the near future.

Investors aren’t buying just any land, though. Values are highest in the south and east, partly because of the demand for country retreats within a couple of hours of London. ‘Although investors represent a relatively small proportion of the market, they tend to set the prices,’ says Beedell.

Farming is not only influenced by the UK’s entrenched north-south wealth divide, but by a more fundamental geographical split between west and east, where the most profitable arable land is concentrated. In comparison to rearing livestock, growing crops is less labour-intensive and easier to manage. Cereals have benefited most >>

average UK prime arable

average UK grade 3 arable

average UK poor grassland £2,000

£3,000

£4,000

£5,000

£6,000

04.14 // MODUS 372010 2015

£8,000 per acre

£7,000


38 r ics.org

Farmland values //

from the boom in commodities, while livestock took a hit from soaring feed prices. As a result, a price gap has appeared between prime arable and poor grassland, and it’s set to widen. Compared to the 20%+ rise in the east, values of the grasslands in the north of England and the West Midlands grew by 5.2% and 2.7% respectively during 2013.

The rural market is also very localised: a farmer will pay considerably over the odds for the farm next door. Established landowners can keep pace with investors, but for young or aspiring farmers, the barriers are high. Fortunately, you don’t have to own land to be a farmer. Although an outright land purchase may be out of the question, higher land values have also brought opportunities, says Louise Staples MRICS, rural surveyor at the National Farmers Union. ‘If an investor wants to buy a whole estate, that’s what they’re interested in – they’re not interested in farming,’ she points out. ‘They want to let it out, often on long-term tenancies. They’re more interested in finding the right tenant than securing the highest rent. Higher values mean it’s worth doing that now, whereas it may not have been before. That’s good for young farmers.’

Investors who want to be involved may choose to sign a contract with a farmer – again presenting opportunities for those who want to get ahead in a modernising sector. ‘There’s great scope to work for a large business,’ says Catherine Penman MRICS, head of research at Carter Jonas. ‘Investors can afford technological advances and understand how important that is. There will be fewer farmers and less opportunity to own and farm in your own right, but you can be part of a vibrant global industry.’

An end in sight?With land values expected to increase further, can anything check their apparently unstoppable rise? An obvious catalyst is the recovery of other asset classes, such as commercial property. As confidence returns to the market, investors will search for a higher income elsewhere. For individuals, any change to land’s favourable tax status would likely prompt an immediate exodus, although this is not felt to be a high risk.

The abolition of the CAP would have a major impact on the profitability of British farming, but with the new deal, its future is assured until at least 2020. ‘Even after 2020, there will still be a CAP,’ says Beedell.

What about if the UK left the EU, after the government’s promised referendum in 2017? The UK government would pay farmers only for conservation work, not for production, says Beedell, so there would be a significant gap in farmers’ incomes. ‘That could knock land values down, though the probability of

it happening is low.’ Farmers do not just sell at the first sign of trouble, he adds. ‘They will only sell if they have to or if they’re forced to.’

A more likely trigger for a sell-off would be a hike in interest rates. Bailey thinks rates would have to increase to more than 2% before they have a significant effect. ‘Farmers sell because of death, debt or personal reasons,’ he says. ‘Family events tend to be static from year to year, but debt could make a difference.’ Indeed, debt pressure could be rising for some farmers after several years of bad weather and poor

harvests, he adds, leaving them vulnerable to a rise in the cost of borrowing.

The International Monetary Fund predicts that commodity price inflation will remain flat or decline in the next 12 months, which should dampen the market slightly. But in the longer term a growing global population, increased prosperity in the developing world and competition from crops such as biofuels are all likely to force up food prices, as is a shrinking supply of arable land due to urbanisation and climate change.

Gerald Fitzgerald MRICS, partner at Smiths Gore, believes that farmland is increasingly influenced by global economics – vulnerable to the vagaries of markets across the world. ‘There are site-specific factors, notably location, which are always most important when valuing a farm. However, the backdrop of global macroeconomics, and what happens in countries such as China, is feeding right down to individual farm values here.’ He is studying this topic for RICS and is due to publish his findings later this year.

Even without any obvious banana skins, Rubinsohn remains cautious. ‘Markets don’t go up in straight lines,’ he says. ‘It seemed like gold would go up forever, but then the economic picture changed and people said: “I’m not going to buy.” At some point, the valuation just gets to a point where it becomes harder to justify purchasing the asset. It can change very quickly.’

global economics, and what happens in countries such as china, is feeding right down to farm values here

Values of agricultural land have diverged significantly in recent years, with prime arable land outstripping grassland used for rearing livestock in the North and the West Midlands


TROUBLED INDEMNITYIndecent proposals and HoW tHeY can aFFect YoUr preMIUMs

the recently published Mcdonald report, commissioned by rIcs, focuses on the difficulties that surveyors have in obtaining professional indemnity (pI) insurance. In particular, it highlights the challenge for surveyors with a valuation exposure in trying to source affordable premiums and appropriate terms.

surveyors’ premiums have halved in value since 2004, whereas claims from lenders have increased as they seek to offset the impact of falling property prices. as a consequence, some insurers have elected to either increase their premiums or withdraw from the market altogether.

the tightening of the surveyors pI market is not all one-way traffic, however. the turn of the year brought with it new entrants seeking to provide alternative solutions. some new operators and existing markets are working to evolve their approach, following the expiry of the limitation period and improvements in risk management. the adoption of automated valuation models (aVM) is one example of a practice that is easing the situation, providing insurers with comparative data and record keeping.

INFORMATION IS KEYIn short, the information provided to insurers is key. Many surveyors are unable to receive terms at the premium level they deserve, simply because the information they are asked to provide to insurers is inadequate. ‘standard’ proposal and short- form proposal forms have been found – in many cases – to be out of date and to not ask the questions that will make a difference. the substandard information these tools yield might not do a surveyor’s risk management practices justice, which can lead to unnecessarily inflated premiums and inadequate coverage.

a surveyor should be able to feel confident that when they complete their proposal form, they are providing the insurer with the most informed view of their risk

management approach. In many cases this can be the difference between achieving competitive terms or not.

IF YOU wOULD LIKE TO DIScUSS your existing documentation with a professional indemnity insurance broking specialist, please contact Mark carver on 020 7031 2781, or [email protected].

Surveyors are advised to review their proposal documentation and ask the following: does it differentiate between home

buyer reports and structural surveys does it refer to the use of AVM

technology/comparable data does it ask about the adequacy of

surveying resources does it ask how far from the company’s

office the surveys are being undertaken?

If the documentation provided does not ask questions like these, it might result in inadequate cover or a poor return on premium spend.

:wHAT ARE THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?

Advertorial //


Advertorial //

Since the introduction in 2008 of energy performance certifi cates and display energy certifi cates for most public and private buildings, it has never been more important for surveyors to help clients make energy effi ciency improvements to their portfolios.

Poor-performing, outdated windows are a signifi cant drain on a building’s running costs. In response to this challenge, Eurocell has invested £3m in developing Modus, the UK’s fi rst fully integrated door and window system, designed to set new industry benchmarks in technical performance and value.

Modus’s design (box, right) meets benchmark performance standards at well below current target costs. This allows builders to take the savings and off set them against less effi cient areas of the building fabric – a huge benefi t to client contractors in the drive to meet zero-carbon targets.

Modus is off ered in three styles: a standard sash that provides an update on typical PVC-U windows; a slim rebate sash to complement contemporary architecture; and a fully fl ush sash option to echo the style of traditional

timber windows – a particularly cost-eff ective solution for older properties, as original frames can be prohibitively expensive to replace.

Surveyors have long been aware that ever-more stringent thermal performance requirements can create additional costs for clients. Eurocell has responded by developing a product range that off ers better value for money through better design.

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MODUS_APR14_P40-41_Business advicedes2.indd 40 13/03/2014 16:21

04.14 // MODUS 41

‘To be a good surveyor, you have to be a great sponge.’ Those were the wise words I was given on my fi rst day as an assistant surveyor. My boss had a point. Surveyors don’t stop learning once they become qualifi ed. They are required to absorb knowledge, theories and principles constantly and to apply them in their daily lives.

The government’s Construction 2025 strategy, which aims to improve the effi ciency of construction projects, highlights the need for well-qualifi ed professionals. Yet there is no doubt that over the last fi ve years, in the public and private sectors, budgets for training and development in the property realm have been affected. So how can surveyors ensure they remain up to date and fulfi l their CPD (continuing professional development) requirements?

Some fi rms take responsibility for the training and development of their staff. Deloitte Real Estate’s training, for example, comprises service-line sessions, broader courses organised by grade – held by internal specialists or external consultants – and mandatory IT training.

‘It’s no different to asset management,’ says Adam Rhead, assistant director at Deloitte. ‘The goal is to enhance performance and manage the risks to both the individual and our wider business. Today, the “syllabus” covers a broader range of subjects than during my time with Drivers Jonas [which merged with Deloitte in 2010], and I understand business

issues much better as a result.’Arguably, Deloitte has better access to such resources

than smaller fi rms. Yet the concept is still the same: by combining the principles of knowledge exchange with innovative and creative thinking, you have the potential for something exciting.

Perhaps the key, then, is to fi nd what topics you, your team or your fi rm are interested in and use this as a starting point. A surveyor with skills in financial management or a longstanding interest in financial matters may be able to summarise points from the government’s latest spending review as they relate to property. There may be colleagues with a knowledge of or an interest in economics, carbon reduction, CAD, fracking, bid writing, database management or writing sales particulars who would be open to discussing these with colleagues at lunchtime CPD sessions.

Such sessions offer opportunities to members of staff

to increase their confi dence and presentation skills or hold informal learn-and-tell sessions, while delivering cost-effective knowledge-sharing opportunities for colleagues. If there is only enough money in the pot to send one surveyor to a full day of external CPD, then perhaps that individual can subsequently summarise the interesting points for the benefi t of their colleagues.

The idea of bringing a number of professionals together into a room and sharing expertise for training and development is not a new one. Yet we don’t see it as often as the full-day-lunch-included courses that many surveyors attend to help meet CPD requirements.

David Cohen MRICS, director of Amicus and an APC Assessor and Chairperson at RICS, employs this format. The fi rm arranges for a company to present a technical overview of its business to an audience including architects, engineers and surveyors and follows this up with networking sessions. It’s a training event and an innovative business development activity in one.

Some might think that this approach couldn’t work in the public sector. But Stuart Knight, director of strategic asset and property management at Nottingham City Council, has done just that. Adapting ideas from the private sector, the council sought to source its own CPD for professionals among its staff. Its events have enabled planners, surveyors and engineers to share their expertise and to exchange ideas with the private sector. All at little cost to the taxpayer. This approach has been extended to other councils, where the costs were shared.

CPD is not just a regulatory activity. Ideally it encompasses knowledge exchange, networking and business development and is made possible by innovative, entrepreneurial thinking. All of which are, arguably, the hallmarks of being a chartered surveyor.

RACHEL MOAN MRICS is a chartered management consultancy surveyor for Cheshire East Council and the CAD author for isurv.For more information about CPD, go to rics.org/cpd.

Business advice //

CPD: How do you meet yours?

TRAINING ON A BUDGETBy management consultant Rachel Moan

FIND WHAT TOPICS YOUR TEAM OR YOUR FIRM ARE INTERESTED IN AND USE THIS AS A STARTING POINT

Illus

trat

ion

Vesa

Sam

mal

isto

MODUS_APR14_P40-41_Business advicedes2.indd 41 13/03/2014 16:21

:rics news :diary :benefits :resources

Residential Surveyors – Time for a change?Feeling undervalued? Pay review not quite what you’d hoped? Earnings and/or recognition not reflective of the effort and hours worked in 2013?If so, do you now seek: - An improvement in earnings, be that basic salary or a bonus scheme that offers greater incentives - A reduction in hours / a move to part time or zero hours working - A reduction in the volume of work you are expected to handle (i.e. number crunching) - An improvement in the general quality of your instructions or fee levels

We can help!Our diverse national client base urgently seeks: - RESIDENTIAL SURVEYORS ALREADY WORKING IN THE SECTOR - RESIDENTIAL SURVEYORS WHO LEFT THE SECTOR POST 2008 BUT WOULD LIKE TO RETURN

WITH REFERESHER TRAINING - SEMI RETIRED SURVEYORS (with residential experience) KEEN TO KEEP ACTIVE ON A PART

TIME/FLEXIBLE BASIS - FREELANCE SURVEYORS KEEN TO SECURE ADDITIONAL FEE SHARING INSTRUCTIONS - MRICS QUALIFIED SURVEYORS WITH RELEVANT (THOUGH PERHAPS NOT DIRECT) INSPECTION

OR VALUATION EXPERIENCE

Our vacancies change daily, but in general (and currently) we have urgent needs in the following: All London Postcodes (N,NW, W, SW, SE & E), Essex (SS, CM, RM, CO, IG & E), Hertfordshire (AL, SG, WD, EN), Bedfordshire/Luton (LU, MK), M4 Corridor Generally (SL, RG, OX, SN), East & West Sussex (BN, TN, RH), Dorset (DT, BH), Hampshire (SO, PO), Surrey (CR, BR, KT, SM, GU), Kent (ME, TN, CT, BR, DA), Plymouth/South East Cornwall (PL, TR), East & West Midlands, Gloucestershire (GL), Bristol (BS), Cardiff/South Newport (CF, NP), Chichester, Basingstoke

Area/patch not mentioned? We welcome confidential enquiries/speculative applications from Surveyors across Yorkshire, Tyne & Wear, Lancashire and Cheshire, as well as the West Country and East of England.

REMUNERATION Subject to location, experience and fee income for your given patch, permanently employed applicants can expect basic salaries ranging from £35-60k plus bonuses (as either a percentage share of fee income after threshold or based on “points” amassed), a car/allowance and benefits. Zero hours and Freelance Surveyors can expect fee sharing arrangements from 30-60% depending on organisation, location and terms.

If you would like to discuss or express your interest in one of our immediate needs or indeed register your details for

future requirements please call or write direct in absolute confidence:

Greg CoyleHead of Property RecruitmentDirect: 0208 514 9116Email: [email protected]: www.bbltechnical.co.uk

FOR OPPORTUNITIES

WITHIN INDEPENDENT

PRACTICESSEE PAGE 56

MODUS_APR14_P43-50_Informationdes2.indd 42 13/03/2014 17:19

01.11 // MODUS 09

Information :rics news :diary :benefits :resources

The UK construction sector is beginning to show signs of recovery after one of the deepest recessions in the country’s history. As a result, however, skills shortages are starting to emerge. Our outlook for UK construction in 2014 forecasts that the sector can expect to record output growth of around 4% by the end of 2014. Last year construction output grew by more than 2.5% in both the second and third quarters and this looks likely to continue over the coming months. rics.org/construction

recovery position useful numberscontact centre +44 (0)24 7686 8555

General enquiriesAPC guidanceSubscriptionsPasswordsLibraryBookshop

regulation helpline +44 (0)20 7695 1670

confidential helpline +44 (0)20 7334 3867

dispute resolution services +44 (0)20 7334 3806

switchboard +44 (0)20 7222 7000

despite some financial constraints and skills shortages, the outlook for uk construction is positive

RICS Chief Economist simon rubinsohn

04.14 // MODUS 43

new orders for private housing were 34%

higher in the first three quarters of 2013

than in 2012

34%

Phot

o ge

orge

rex

Residential Surveyors – Time for a change?Feeling undervalued? Pay review not quite what you’d hoped? Earnings and/or recognition not reflective of the effort and hours worked in 2013?If so, do you now seek: - An improvement in earnings, be that basic salary or a bonus scheme that offers greater incentives - A reduction in hours / a move to part time or zero hours working - A reduction in the volume of work you are expected to handle (i.e. number crunching) - An improvement in the general quality of your instructions or fee levels

We can help!Our diverse national client base urgently seeks: - RESIDENTIAL SURVEYORS ALREADY WORKING IN THE SECTOR - RESIDENTIAL SURVEYORS WHO LEFT THE SECTOR POST 2008 BUT WOULD LIKE TO RETURN

WITH REFERESHER TRAINING - SEMI RETIRED SURVEYORS (with residential experience) KEEN TO KEEP ACTIVE ON A PART

TIME/FLEXIBLE BASIS - FREELANCE SURVEYORS KEEN TO SECURE ADDITIONAL FEE SHARING INSTRUCTIONS - MRICS QUALIFIED SURVEYORS WITH RELEVANT (THOUGH PERHAPS NOT DIRECT) INSPECTION

OR VALUATION EXPERIENCE

Our vacancies change daily, but in general (and currently) we have urgent needs in the following: All London Postcodes (N,NW, W, SW, SE & E), Essex (SS, CM, RM, CO, IG & E), Hertfordshire (AL, SG, WD, EN), Bedfordshire/Luton (LU, MK), M4 Corridor Generally (SL, RG, OX, SN), East & West Sussex (BN, TN, RH), Dorset (DT, BH), Hampshire (SO, PO), Surrey (CR, BR, KT, SM, GU), Kent (ME, TN, CT, BR, DA), Plymouth/South East Cornwall (PL, TR), East & West Midlands, Gloucestershire (GL), Bristol (BS), Cardiff/South Newport (CF, NP), Chichester, Basingstoke

Area/patch not mentioned? We welcome confidential enquiries/speculative applications from Surveyors across Yorkshire, Tyne & Wear, Lancashire and Cheshire, as well as the West Country and East of England.

REMUNERATION Subject to location, experience and fee income for your given patch, permanently employed applicants can expect basic salaries ranging from £35-60k plus bonuses (as either a percentage share of fee income after threshold or based on “points” amassed), a car/allowance and benefits. Zero hours and Freelance Surveyors can expect fee sharing arrangements from 30-60% depending on organisation, location and terms.

If you would like to discuss or express your interest in one of our immediate needs or indeed register your details for

future requirements please call or write direct in absolute confidence:


FOR OPPORTUNITIES

WITHIN INDEPENDENT

PRACTICESSEE PAGE 56


08 r ics.org

facts, stats & surveys

RICS news //

44 r ics.org

Illus

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ions

Osc

ar B

olto

n Gr

een,

Ber

nd S

chiff

erde

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of farmland purchases are ‘lifestyle buyers’, compared with 48%

a year agoof farmland purchases

are by farmers, compared with 39%

a decade ago

annual growth in average farmland

prices

17%

Property in Business’s rightmove rightmove has become the latest supporter of rIcs’ Property in Business campaign. More than 3.9m commercial property searches are run each month on rightmove.co.uk and, from this month, the site will promote the rIcs small Business Property Guide to its visitors

and monthly newsletter subscribers. through the newsletters alone, rIcs can reach nearly 240,000 commercial property owners, tenants and investors. rightmove is the sixth most visited website in the uK, so this link enables rIcs to promote the services of

chartered surveyors to a much wider audience. Boasting more than 23,000 visits since its launch, the rIcs sMe property website highlights the increasing awareness of the value of surveyors to sMes. rics.org/smallbusinesshub

Conscious of the considerable growth in woodland values over the last few years, rIcs has published a briefing paper for members on the type of taxation and valuation intricacies and inconsistencies that might arise when valuing woodland for capital taxation purposes. the capital taxation treatment of woodland can depend on whether it is classed as commercial or agricultural property.

Where woodland has been managed commercially and held in an ownership structure that makes it eligible for 100% business property relief, the entire value of the asset is relieved from inheritance tax. agricultural property relief can provide the same benefit up to the limit of agricultural value if the woodland has served an agricultural function, for example as a shelter belt.

More complicated valuation requirements can arise if the woodland is neither a business nor agricultural asset for inheritance tax purposes. capital gains tax also draws a distinction between commercial and other woodlands.

Download the briefing from rics.org/land.

a coalition of leading professional bodies from across the world assembled at rIcs HQ in London in february to formulate an International Property Measurement standard (IPMs) for offices. During the two-day meeting, representatives from the 31 member organisations of the IPMs coalition discussed plans for the launch and implementation of IPMs across international real estate markets. the first of its kind, IPMs seeks to standardise the way office space is measured, creating transparency and promoting market efficiency. the rise in cross-border property investment and expansion by global corporate occupiers underpins the demand for transparency amid myriad measurement practices. ipmsc.org

STANDARD SET

WOODeN actION

68%19%


01.11 // MODUS 0904.14 // MODUS 45

more surveyors reported an increase in tenant demand, rather than

fall, the highest since H2 2007

current rental yield on

farmlandaverage cost of an acre

of bare farmland (in England and Wales),

up from £2,293 a decade ago

Taken from the RICS/RAU Rural Land Market Survey H2 2013.

Contribute to the next report by emailing [email protected].

Michael Newey FRICS RICS President

CPD is a recurring theme with members. Although many have engaged, misunderstandings still persist

My thanks to the overwhelming majority of members who have complied with the now long-passed 2013 continuing

professional development (CPD) deadline. You have all helped to cement our reputation as professionals who keep up to date, and give the best possible advice. This makes me feel immensely proud, and I hope members everywhere will feel the same.

As we are already well into 2014, I have begun to record my own CPD activities for this year. It really does take just a few minutes using the online tool on the RICS website.

CPD is a recurring theme in my conversations with members. Although many have engaged with the issue, a few misunderstandings persist, which I shall now attempt to dispel.

All members are expected to complete 20 hours of CPD (including 10 hours’ formal CPD) each calendar year. The only groups exempt from undertaking CPD are student members or current Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) candidates; retired members who are not practising; and non-practising members who are not undertaking any work, part-time or otherwise, and who do not intend to return to work in the near future.

There are consequences to not meeting CPD requirements. Failure to comply will be treated as a breach under RICS Disciplinary Rules, and will incur a sanction. RICS Regulation will also monitor CPD records throughout the year to review the quality and appropriateness of the activities recorded.

Networking, social events, team meetings or informal planning events and involvement on boards, committees or clubs that have little or no relevance to your professional role, cannot count towards your CPD requirements. Any activity undertaken needs to demonstrate a clear learning purpose to qualify.

Finally, CPD is not too expensive. Many activities cost nothing but your time, and members may already be undertaking such activities through their organisations. RICS also provides many low-cost and free CPD options. We offer free CPD through roadshows and we have recently launched a series of events through our SME Hub. And, of course, RICS is not the only CPD provider – members are free to shop around.

More information, including case studies, is available on rics.org, or from RICS Regulation. Call +44 (0)20 7695 1670, or email [email protected].

Farmland prices hit yet another record high during the final six months of 2013, after jumping around 15% in the space of a year, reports the RICS/RAU Rural Land Market Survey H2 2013.

Growth in prices has been driven by the ongoing surge in demand from farmers who want to expand their operations, outstripping the amount of land coming up for sale. However, the

impact on the price and saleability of farmland in the many areas struck by the recent severe flooding is yet to be quantified.

Surveyors predict prices will continue to rise over the

year, given the significant supply-demand imbalance. That said, transactions and prices in the flood-hit southern regions could be significantly affected. rics.org/ruralmarketsurvey

faRMlanD PRICeS ReaCh hIgh wateR MaRk

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

1.6%£7,754

21%


08 r ics.org

It starts innocently enough: ‘Can you do a building survey?’ The answer is yes (obviously), and the usual desktop enquiries begin. Then comes the visit, and this is where is gets interesting. Cracks, dampness, rot and infestation are all part of a day’s work – but then you find a door that opens to reveal a brick wall, beautifully built and flush pointed. Why? Because it’s cheaper to hang a door than to plaster and decorate the wall, of course.

Next, a new central heating system, complete with boiler, balance flue and radiators. But the flow and return from the radiators terminates just below the floorboards, and the pipework from the boiler doesn’t quite make it through the stud partitions forming the enclosure. Funny thing is that the owner is convinced that the radiators get warmer when the valves are turned up.

Back to doors, and I find one with a sign on it: ‘The stairs to the cellar are not here’. They’re not anywhere else, either. In another house, a hatch leads to open air, as the roof has been removed to facilitate sunbathing – which, given the female student occupants, explains the telescope turret on the house behind.

But enough about the properties, what about the people? In one house, I was escorted into every room, locked in and told to knock when ready to exit. And in a small two-up two-down, the survey took six hours because the elderly gentleman, who doesn’t get many visitors, locked the door, pocketed the key and ‘enjoyed my company’. On a landing in another house, a hanging picture spoke to me: ‘Are you there, Arthur?’ it said. Arthur, the vendor, swiftly ascended the stairs and moved the picture to reveal a hole in the party wall. ‘We like to talk,’ he explained.

Then there’s defect analysis: ‘The roof is leaking,’ said the data hall manager, and true enough there was a puddle on the floor. Investigations on the roof revealed nothing, but back inside the office junior was watering plants on top of the server. He overfilled them, and water ran down the cabinet on to the floor. The report was four pages; the recommended action two words.

Sometimes, I think I’ve seen everything. But I sincerely hope that’s not the case.

If you are interested in being a secret surveyor, email [email protected].

‘ON THE LANDING, A HANGING PICTURE SPOKE TO ME: “ARE YOU THERE, ARTHUR?” IT SAID’

Secret SurveyorRICS has been asked by the UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK Trade and Industry department to provide assistance to the Cambodian government on the development of building standards and better regulations.

RICS Professional Groups visited Cambodia in March to research building control systems used in factories and the wider building sector. Martin Russell-Croucher MRICS, Director of Special Projects, is leading the project with Alan Cripps FRICS and they will present a report outlining their recommendations to the Cambodian government.

Russell-Croucher commented: ‘The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Trade and Industry department asked RICS to work with the Cambodian government and provide advice on introducing building control and fire safety regulations, particularly in factories which produce clothes for the ready- made garment sector.

‘We visited Bangladesh last year to investigate the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse and, like Bangladesh, garment manufacturing is a very large part of the Cambodian

economy, contributing 80% of foreign currency income worth approximately US$4.5bn and providing clothing to many major brands in the UK and beyond.

‘Although factories in Cambodia tend to be single storey, which reduces the risk workers face, there is a general need to enhance factory safety. The introduction of building standards will help to protect employees and improve investor confidence in the Cambodian manufacturing sector.’

Thankfully, Cambodia has not suffered the factory disasters and massive loss of life that have occurred recently in Bangladesh. However, in both countries the ready-made garment sector is the primary contributor to their economies.

Cambodia is not able, at present, to develop its own building standards codes without foreign assistance, whereas the UK has a long and successful history of developing and implementing building standards and in supporting better regulation more generally.

Russell-Croucher and Cripps will offer advice and assistance on producing codes and putting in place a building control system that will be of benefit to not just the garment factories, but the wider building sector.

46 r ics.org

CambodIan Code wordS

RICS news //


01.11 // MODUS 09

Advertorial //

Benefitsrics.org/benefitsplus

In a survey carried out by RICS preferred partner Aon and Aviva, more than 65% of business responded that they either did not have, or did not feel the need to have, a business continuity plan.

Statistics compiled by the Federation of Small Business indicate that 80% of small businesses affected by a major incident close within 18 months and 90% of businesses that lose data from a disaster are forced to shut within two years.

These statistics alone would prompt the prudent organisation to ensure that an effective business continuity plan is high on its list of priorities. There are clearly sound risk management and business

practice reasons for writing and updating your business continuity plan. For sole practitioner surveyors, there is also RICS’ regulatory requirement to consider.

The general ethical principles for all RICS-regulated firms are set out in the Rules of Conduct. RICS Rules of Conduct for Firms state: ‘Arrangements to cover the incapacity or death of a sole practitioner … 12. A Firm which has a sole principal (ie a sole practitioner or a sole director in a corporate practice) shall have in place appropriate arrangements in the event of that sole principal’s death or incapacity or other extended absences.’

RICS Regulation assures that RICS members are meeting common standards of professional competence and this promotes consumer trust and confidence in the services they are buying.

Complying with the rules helps promote sound business practice and demonstrates to your clients that you not only embrace best practice but that your firm’s processes are monitored and audited to provide extra client protection.

However much you plan ahead, as a small business owner juggling multiple priorities, there will always be unforeseen circumstances that may occur. This is why it’s important to consider how insurance can help provide you with further safeguards against operational risks.

Aon is the RICS preferred partner for office insurance. Aon works with select insurance providers to arrange office insurance designed for professionals, which includes business interruption cover. Correct business interruption cover alongside a robust business continuity plan could prevent your business from going under should the worst happen. Aon also offers a number of free business continuity planning tools which are available to RICS members insuring with Aon.

To speak to one of Aon’s client managers about your office insurance, call 08455 912 593*.

*Calls charged at local rate. FP8690.02.13. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is an appointed representative of Aon UK Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

Safeguarding your business

To view all the latest offers, new partners and monthly and seasonal promotions, visit rics.org/benefitsplus.

04.14 // MODUS 47


08 r ics.org

Membership

ANY QUESTIONS?The RICS enquiry service can help you find answers to business, technical and professional queries. If you have a question, fill in the online enquiry form at rics.org/library and a staff member will investigate and respond to you.

This service is particularly helpful to members in small firms or sole practitioners. Recent enquiries answered by the team include building

costs of an aircraft hangar, the requirements for displaying EPC ratings on property adverts, and if there were any recent court cases on Section 20 notices.

This resource forms part of the RICS information and archive service, which provides members with access to the very best information on surveying from around the world. For more information email [email protected].

MAKING THE MOST OF RICS

ConductDisciplinary panel 29 January 2014

Whittaker childs (firm), MiddlesexSummary of finding: contrary to Rule 8 of Conduct for Firms 2007Penalty: reprimand/condition on firm’s continuing registration/costs

Disciplinary panel 29 January 2014

Greenslade Taylor Hunt (firm), somersetSummary of finding: contrary to Rule 3 of Conduct for Firms 2007Penalty: no penalty/costs

appeal panel 4 February 2014

simon edwards, londonSummary of finding: contrary to Bye-Law B5.2.2(d) of RICS Bye-Laws 2009. Finding: appeal dismissed

Disciplinary panel 26 February 2014

nicholas procter, york Summary of finding: contrary to Rule 3 of the Rules of Conduct for Members 2007 Penalty: expelled/costs

Whether they are a partner, director or employee, all RICS members have the right to use the logo on personal stationery, such as letterheads and business cards. This applies to all qualified members – Fellows (FRICS), Professional Members (MRICS) and Associate Members (AssocRICS) – no matter what type of organisation they work for or activities they carry out.

Download different versions of the logo in various formats, along with guidance on usage, from the Small Business Hub at rics.org/smallbusinesshub.

48 r ics.org

We’re calling for RICS members to help strengthen our surveys. RICS’ market surveys are highly regarded across the industry, widely reported in the press and media worldwide, and have proven to be leading indicators for the property industry. The strength of our surveys is based on member input and their ‘feel’ for the market, based on local knowledge, rather than official views of company research departments. Contributions require just two to three minutes on a regular basis, and will, in most cases, ask for

simple answers (up, down or the same) to a range of straightforward questions about market demand, prices, etc, compared to the previous month or quarter. All participants receive full accreditation in these regularly produced reports, and the time spent completing the surveys and reading the resulting report can count towards your informal CPD (continuing professional development). If you would like to contribute to any of the following surveys, email [email protected]. UK residential market UK construction market

UK commercial property market Global commercial

property market India construction

market China construction

market Hong Kong construction

market Singapore/Malaysia

construction markets rics.org/marketsurveys

Share your local knowledge


01.11 // MODUS 0904.14 // MODUS 49

RICS Dilapidations RoadshowMay to July, various locations Refreshers on case law, diminution valuations, break clauses and R22. Sessions have been designed to help you understand the practical implications of dealing with dilapidations disputes. £150 + VATrics.org/dilapsroadshow

RICS South West CPD Day22 May, ExeterSix hours of CPD in one day with a choice of 18 break-out sessions. Among topics are construction procurement methods, high street planning and regeneration, plus updates on asbestos, dilapidations and flood assessments. £135 + VAT – full day£80 + VAT – half dayrics.org/southwestcpd

RICS Property Leaders’ Summit5 June, LondonAn exclusive event for leaders in property and construction management to discuss some of the most pressing political, economic and social dynamics facing the UK and

their impact on real estate and construction. Followed by a drinks reception with guest speaker Alastair Campbell, former Downing Street director of communications. £195 + VATrics.org/plsummit

RICS Rural Conference 201419 June, CirencesterEnsure you are up to date with the latest developments and opportunities in the rural economy, such as diversification, agriculture, genetic modification, infrastructure, food and water, biodiversity and renewables to help you fully grasp and prioritise the plethora of relevant considerations for you and your clients. £125 + VATrics.org/ruralconference

RICS Strategic Facilities Management Conference 26 June, London Strategies for risk-free FM delivery. Examine aspects of workspace culture and behaviour, creative and efficient transitions of inefficient spaces, procurement models, information management, estate flexibility for business requirements and the practical aspects of leading your facility and estate. £225 + VAT if booked before 1 May, £250 + VAT thereafter rics.org/strategicfm

RICS Aberdeen CPD Day19 June, AberdeenSix hours of CPD with a choice of break-out sessions. Subjects are tailored to cater for your business in Scotland with updates from local speakers on building regulations, housing and planning reforms, infrastructure and an opening address from RICS president Michael Newey. £135 + VAT – full day, £80 + VAT – half dayrics.org/aberdeencpd

WalesRICS Wales CPD Day5 June, CardiffEssential updates on the Cardiff Local Development Plan, a case study on Neath town centre redevelopment, plus updates on building regulations, financial viability and public sector asset management. £135 + VAT – full day£80 + VAT – half dayrics.org/walescpd

americasSummit of the Americas 4-6 May, Toronto A must-attend event for anyone looking to draw from timely, in-depth market knowledge that will be shared by local and international experts in the land, property and construction sectors.toronto2014.rics.org

middle eastCityscape Abu Dhabi22-24 April, Abu DhabiAbu Dhabi’s most significant annual gathering of UAE real estate professionals and investors.membersME@ rics.org

Cityscape Qatar2-4 June, DohaA platform for real estate professionals in Qatar to meet and do business. For more information, visit cityscapeqatar.com.membersME@ rics.org

EventsscotlandRICS APC Prep Day Scotland15 May, StirlingPresentations and workshop sessions to provide candidates with guidance on the APC process with invaluable insight into what they should expect in the lead up to the interview and on the day itself. £130 + VATrics.org/apcprepday

RICS Scotland Annual Dinner12 June, Glasgow Celebrate the achievements of the past year with colleagues and entertain clients.Sponsored by CoStar and CCG (Scotland).£85 + VATTable of 10 £800 + VATTable of 12 £960 + VATrics.org/scotlanddinner

RICS quantIty SuRvEyIng and ConStRuCtIon ConfEREnCE 20 may, london

Gain insight into the demands on the QS profession at a time when cost

efficiency is a dominant concern for the construction industry. Hear from those leading the way in low-carbon, sustainable construction solutions and understand how BIM and the NRM suite of guidance can support the industry in meeting government targets. £220 + VATrics.org/qsconference

englandRICS Awards Regional CeremoniesApril to May, various locationsJoin the celebrations and be among those to discover the successful projects in regional categories and the Project of the Year in each region. Lunchtime ceremonies from £45 + VAT; evening ceremonies from £70 + VATrics.org/awards

Spring CPD Series April to July, various locationsGain formal CPD hours at more than 250 seminars across the UK. Topics are tailored to individual regions. Get started on your CPD for 2014 and ensure you are up to date with market developments, risks and opportunities.£30 + VAT (£25 + VAT for three or more bookings)rics.org/cpdseries

RICS West Midlands CPD Day9 April, BirminghamEssential updates on topics such as the impact of HS2, changes to building regulations, planning reform update, along with legal issues and the Green Deal. £135 + VAT – full day£80 + VAT – half dayrics.org/westmidlandscpd

04.14 // MODUS 49

Book RICS eventS onLIne rics.org/conferences For enquiries, call +44 (0)20 7695 1600

Imag

e Gr

oupe

Can

am


East MidlandsGeoffrey William nuelle FRICS1944–2014,Brackley Frank William Rushmer FRICS1924–2013,Burton upon Trent

EastERnWilliam R Bannister FRICS1935–2013,FelixstoweEric Cully MRICS1922–2014,DunmowJohn Barry Fynn AssocRICS1935-2013,IpswichGlyn lambert FRICS1947–2013,Harpenden Gary anthony Powell FRICS1955–2014,Henlow

londonsimon alistair layfield FRICS1964–2014,London

noRth WEstBrian William allison FRICS1930-2014,Oldhamivor lewis FRICS1916-2014, Wirral

south EastRoderick John hutchings FRICS1926-2013,Newbury

south WEstEric stanley dugmore FRICS1944–2014,Somerset William stone FRICS1935–2014,Weymouth

WEst MidlandsJohn andrew Jones MRICS1946–2014,Stoke-on-TrentKenneth Vaughan hodgett FRICS1948–2014,Telford

sCotlanddouglas Richard hamilton MRICS1949–2014,Edinburgh

WalEsJoseph P steele FRCIS1931–2013,Wales

noRth aMERiCaRichard a neustein FRICS1943–2014,Los Angeles

south asiaJagathnarayanan angyan MRICS1944–2014,Chennai

noRth asiasui sang Charles leung AssocRICS1951–2013,Hong Kong

Please email obituary notifications to RiCs, including membership number if known, to [email protected] or call +44 (0)870 333 1600.

If you are facing hardship following the loss of a family member, or if you are considering leaving a legacy, please contact LionHeart, the charity

for RICS members and their families.Call +44 (0)24 7646 6696, email [email protected] or visit lionheart.org.uk.

ObituariesPaul Bentley FRICS 1952-2014

Co-founder of Downing Bentley Chartered

Surveyors of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Paul died on the 16th January 2014. Educated at Oakham School in Rutland, Paul graduated in Estate Management from the Polytechnic of Central

London (PCL) in 1973 and became an Associate Member of RICS in 1975. A fellowship followed in 1992.

Paul learnt his profession working for the Greater London Council, Bairstow Eves, United Drapery Stores, Wimpy, Clarks, and Coats Viyella before joining Pete Downing to form Downing Bentley Chartered Surveyors in 1991. As a specialist in retail property, Paul was renowned for his knowledge, integrity and skill in advising clients throughout the UK.

He was an excellent sailor, keen golfer and determined cyclist and will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues.

More than 300 people turned out for Paul’s funeral in the Cotswolds village of Bisley. Paul leaves a wife, Jane, and two daughters, Charlotte and Harriet.

RICS news //

50 r ics.org

Anticipating and managing your cashflow is vital if you are to thrive in today’s challenging but improving markets. In reality, few organisations pay more than scant attention to property cashflow planning but you would be wise to be aware of what it entails.

Occupation of a property brings with it many responsibilities, most of which can be anticipated. While there will always be the occasional curve ball, sound planning will make it easier to absorb the impact. As a small business holder, it is your responsibility to be aware of the

commitments you are making, because it is likely you hold personal liability for them.

As an occupier, there are several areas of opportunity that could help you reduce costs.

If you have a break clause or expiry, or want to carry out works but need a longer lease to justify the expenditure, then your landlord may be happy to consider a restructure. This is a topic that needs close thought and consideration, but if your local property market is weak, a landlord will usually prefer to have a tenant he knows signed up to a longer lease. If both sides can get something out of this, it is a win-win situation.

It is always worth hiring a specialist to explore whether a business rates review would be successful. You can always call the RICS Business Rate helpline on +44 (0)24 7686 8555 for a free consultation.

Surplus space is a burden, so consider how you might be able to release this to reduce your overheads.

Capital allowances are often forgotten in the process but should be considered. Some fit-out works are eligible so, again, talk to an expert to see if there is anything that might qualify.rics.org/smallbusinesshub

PRotECt youRsElF FRoM Cost FRiGht


Recruitmentricsrecruit.com // To advertise, email [email protected] or call +44 (0)20 7871 2667

The May issue will be published on 5 May

Recruitment copy deadline Wednesday 9 April

89,820 average net circulation 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2013

Residential Valuation SurveyorsDo you want to work for a private firm with a corporate attitude and national coverage - a firm that is quality driven.

A firm that has a strong tradition of VALUING its surveyors as INDIVIDUALS.

Valunation is growing rapidly and we’re looking to further expand and strengthen our national team of residential valuation surveyors.

This is your opportunity to make a positive change and join a leading name in the residential surveying marketplace where we pride ourselves on the emphasis we give to the quality, rather than the quantity, of what we deliver.

We have immediate vacancies for experienced, highly motivated individuals who are RICS qualified and a registered valuer. We are happy to consider part-time or flexible working.

If you are interested in joining us we would be delighted to hear from you.

Please email your CV, including your RICS membership number, directly to [email protected] or call Paul Lancaster on 07974-090113 or David Atter on 07973-543010 for a confidential chat.

Helping you find the right opportunity!Residential Valuation Surveyors

Full-time and part-time positions exist in: ALL areas of London, M25 and Home Counties, plus Aberdeen, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Essex, Galashiels, Kent, Liverpool, Northampton, Oxford, Petersfield-Billingshurst, S.Manchester, SE.Norfolk, Pembrokeshire, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, St Austell, Warwickshire, East+West Midlands, Yorkshire. Also, Staff Surveyor Milton Keynes/Northampton(premier employer, top package), Also Zero Hours Surveyors for building surveys required in most locations.

Existing or past experience of undertaking mortgage valuations and Homebuyer reports is preferred. Also MRICS with sound knowledge of building pathology and defect analysis may be considered. The high demand for surveyors is reflected in the excellent remuneration packages.

We are experts at finding you the right job in the residential surveying sector. We discuss your objectives and advise you with the most relevant and widest choice of opportunities. We then take away any pressure by arranging job applications and resulting interviews for you.

To discuss your goals or register for future requirements, call Jeff Johnson on 07940 594093 or email your CV to: [email protected] www.mlarecruit.com

04.14 // MODUS 51

PHWarrplcSEEKING SURVEYORS ON ALL LEVELS

We are seeking client-focused individuals to join our friendly teams acting for a multitude of client and project types, ranging from small schemes to £100,000,000+ mixed-use projects.

Please visit our website for further details and to apply online: www.phwarr.com

Cathedral GroupBromley South Central


At e.surv Chartered Surveyors we understand that it takes all kinds of people to make a successful business, and our team is as diverse as our customer base. One thing is consistent, and that is our approach to providing customers with outstanding levels of service.

e.surv Chartered Surveyors is the UK’s largest distributor of valuation instructions. Our business is growing, and as it does we need to employ high calibre, passionate people to grow with us. We are currently recruiting for M/FRICS/Assoc RICS qualified Valuers and Chartered Building Surveyors to work across both our private and lender client-base.

We are looking for additional full and part time professional people throughout the UK.

When you join e.surv you’re guaranteed:

Excellent rewards including a first class salary, pension and holiday entitlement

Help and advice to further your own continuous professional development

A supportive working environment with open and honest communication

We’d love to hear from youSend your CV and covering letter [email protected] call us on 01279 658920National Operations Centre, Lahnstein House, Gold Street, Kettering, NN16 8AP

Join the UK’s largest distributor of survey and valuation servicesM/FRICS/Assoc RICS qualified Valuers & Chartered Building Surveyors

Part of the LSL Property Services plc Group

Visit www.esurv.co.uk to find out more about us

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Send your CV and covering letter [email protected] call us on 0191 233 4002


We are looking for additional full and part time professional people throughout the UK. Current vacancies include roles in Birmingham, Manchester, Hereford, Northampton, Norwich, Swindon, Bristol, Portsmouth, Slough, Dorset, Cornwall, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and London.

Generous relocation packages are available.


Untitled-2 1 07/03/2014 00:27

To view more jobs online visit ricsrecruit.com

52 r ics.org

MODUS_APR14_P52-57_Recruitment.indd 52 13/03/2014 17:23

find inspiration in rejectionBy Linda Whitney

Applying for a job always carries with it the risk of rejection, but adopting a positive mindset can turn it into a useful experience. ‘Every interview is a training ground that will teach you things you can learn no other way,’ says Wendy Campbell, who, as managing consultant at recruiter Beach Baker Property Recruitment, has found jobs for chartered surveyors at all levels. ‘You get used to answering questions, which makes you more polished, and experience different interview styles.’

Rejection is easier to bear if you understand the market. As Greg Coyle, head of property recruitment at BBL Technical explains, agencies start by managing candidates’ expectations: ‘Given a candidate’s work history, skill set and qualifications, we can generally give them an idea of their chances based on knowledge of our clients. As a result, a rejection isn’t too difficult to deal with.’

Agencies do routinely follow up calls on behalf of candidates. ‘We always ask for feedback, and especially in surveying, employers will give it,’ says Campbell.

Knowing what went wrong means you can take action. For Coyle, this involves furnishing candidates with constructive feedback: ‘A gentle pointer or tweak in approach can be the difference between unsuccessful interviews and unlimited job offers.’

Many companies now interview against a stated set of competencies, so it is easy for human resources staff to explain where a candidate fell short.

seLf assessmentIf you are applying for jobs yourself, rather than using an agency, close research of the details of available vacancies should help you evaluate your chances, and you can improve the odds by targeting vacancies that more closely fit your skills and experience.

If you are not successful, consider asking the company why.Julie Verity, head of HR services at engineering, IT and facilities services business NG Bailey, says: ‘We offer feedback to all unsuccessful applicants, as it allows us to give feedback and remain in contact. Just because they may not have had the right attributes for the role they applied for, it does not mean they would not be suitable for another role within the company.’

NG Bailey bases feedback on its competency and technical-based interviews: ‘We also give tips and advice on how to enhance future applications to us, or elsewhere,’ Verity adds.

Graduates potentially suffer the most rejection because they face more competition for each vacancy. Matthew Metcalfe, 22, a graduate quantity surveyor at Faithful + Gould, is studying for his APC while working on the redevelopment of London Bridge railway station. He did not get the first job he applied for. ‘It was disappointing, but I knew I’d done my best,’ he says. ‘I did not call back to ask why I did not get it, even though people advised me to, because I thought it would be awkward for the company and unsettling for me.

‘It hurt a bit, but it was valuable to find out what companies expected of a graduate, and it was good interview practice.’

Ultimately, Coyle concludes: ‘If you are unsuccessful, don’t take it personally. Remember the employment market is very competitive.’

04.14 // MODUS 53

Recruitment //

Who says you can’t

have it all?

You want to earn money, yet you want control of your life. You’re told you can’t have both. Well, now you can!

You have the qualifications, you have the experience and now it is time to use them to your best advantage in a way that suits what you want from life.

We’re looking for motivated chartered surveyors, for contract/consultancy positions, who can work to the highest requirements. In return, we will reward you accordingly and respect a work-life balance.

Our clients demand the highest standards of work, so this is no soft option. But if you want to control your earnings and your lifestyle, then let’s start talking.

It may not be all – but it’s a start!

Please forward your CV and contact details by email to:[email protected]

Careers advice


54 r ics.org


MANAGING DIRECTOR

A Managing Director is required to run the Yattendon Estate in Berkshire. Yattendon Estates Limited is a significant business within Yattendon Group Plc.

The Estate amounts to 9,000 acres in Berkshire together with property in Scotland. The Managing Director of the Estates business is responsible for 25 people and reports to the Group Chief Executive.

The successful candidate is required to be RICS qualified, have excellent general management skills, have a strong commercial background, have experience in farming, be energetic, “hands on” and an ambassador for the Estate.

Benefits will include a salary commensurate with experience, an incentivised bonus scheme and a house on the Estate.

To request further information about the post and an application form, please send an e-mail to [email protected], or call Julie Smith on 01722-426852. The closing date for completed application forms is Friday 24th April 2014; first interviews are scheduled for week commencing 12 th

May 2014.

Managing Director

A Managing Director is required to run the Yattendon Estate in Berkshire. Yattendon Estates Limited is a significant business within Yattendon Group Plc.

The Estate amounts to 9,000 acres in Berkshire together with property in Scotland. The Managing Director of the Estates business is responsible for 25 people and reports to the Group Chief Executive.

The successful candidate is required to be RICS qualified, have excellent general management skills, have a strong commercial background, have experience in farming, be energetic, “hands on” and an ambassador for the Estate.

Benefits will include a salary commensurate with experience, an incentivised bonus scheme and a house on the Estate.

To request further information about the post and an application form, please send an email to [email protected] or call Julie Smith on 01722 426852.

The closing date for completed application forms is Friday 24th April 2014; first interviews are scheduled for week commencing 5th May 2014.

savills.co.uk

● Interesting work ● Decent fees ● Great camaraderie ● Quality, relevant training

‘I find there’s nothing more motivational or supportive than working in a strong team of quality people. So, if you’re a good surveyor capable of producing HBRs and residential building surveys and would like to be part of something a bit special, call us to check if there’s a consultancy or employment opportunity in your area.’

Peter Bray Managing Director, Spencer Bray Limited

Some Building Surveying roles also available. Send CV and coverage to [email protected] Or call 020 7416 6059 / 01367 241151

Who says it’s not like the old days?

Estate Chief ExecutiveSavills is seeking to expand their management team; this post will be based in Lulworth, Dorset and is a great opportunity for the right candidate to run a multi-enterprise business extending to approximately 12,000 acres of which 2,500 acres are in-hand. There are a number of commercial properties and approximately 170 houses. The Chief Executive will provide leadership to the organisation and the management team, achieve added value through development opportunities, and provide sound advice to the Board.

The diversity of the role requires applicants to be able to effectively communicate with people of all backgrounds and adapt well to change. You must have good attention to detail skills.

The salary package, including suitable accommodation, will reflect the experience of the candidate and the importance of the position.

For a copy of the background information, a Job Description, Employment Package, Skills List and application form please send a request by e-mail to [email protected], or call Julie Smith on 01722 426852. The closing date for completed application forms is Friday 22nd April 2014.

savills.co.uk


04.14 // MODUS 55

Recruitment //

Residential Valuation SurveyorsLONDON and:

Aberdeen, Ashford, Basingstoke, Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bolton, Bromley, Bristol, Canterbury, Cardiff, Colchester, Dartford, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow,

Gravesend, Guildford, Harrow, Hastings, Haywards Heath, Hull, Ilford, Ipswich, King’s Lynn, Kingston-upon-Thames, Leatherhead, Leicester, Leeds, Liverpool, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Newton Abbott, Norfolk, Oxford, Penrith, Plymouth,

Poole, Portsmouth, Ramsgate, Reading, Richmond, Romford, Sevenoaks, Shrewsbury, Solihull, Slough, Southampton, Swindon, Taunton, Truro, Tunbridge Wells, Uxbridge, Walton on Thames,

Watford, Weymouth, Windsor, Woking, Wolverhampton, York.

High basic salary plus generous commission and benefit package.The housing market is growing in confidence and therefore the shortage of Surveyors is becoming

more evident all the time, therefore please be aware that the above list of areas is changing constantly.

My client list is constantly growing, giving you the Surveyor, more choice. We are seeking MRICS qualified Surveyors with experience of Mortgage Valuations, Homebuyers reports and ideally Registered Valuers. However because the requirements are so high, there are opportunities for Surveyors wishing to return to the industry, following the recession and Surveyors with relevant experience and a small

training need will be considered, in some geographical areas.

Consultants and zero hours also needed

Please call Sheila Difford or Danielle Mynard on 01233 643422/ 07436 583005/07776 117003 for further information or email your CV to [email protected]. Out of hours calls welcome.


56 r ics.org


If you would like to discuss or express your interest in one of our immediate needs or register your details for future

requirements, please call or write in absolute confidence:


Residential surveying opportunities UK WIDE - Top employersWhether you seek a route into the residential sector from a related field, a step up having proven yourself as a fee earner over time, a route out of corporate life or simply a more traditional service-focused role in independent practice, we fully understand that “one size doesn’t fit all” and as such, carry a wide range of vacancies for local, regional and independent firms.

Full time standard permanent positions exist in the following locations for a range of employer types and in some locations training is offered: All London Postcodes (N,NW, W, SW, SE & E), Essex (SS, CM, RM, CO, IG & E), Hertfordshire (AL, SG, WD, EN), Bedfordshire/Luton (LU, MK), M4 Corridor Generally (SL, RG, OX, SN), East & West Sussex (BN, TN, RH), Dorset (DT, BH), Hampshire (SO, PO), Surrey (CR, BR, KT, SM, GU), Kent (ME, TN, CT, BR, DA), Plymouth/South East Cornwall (PL, TR), East & West Midlands, Gloucestershire (GL), Bristol (BS), Cardiff/South Newport (CF, NP), Chichester, Basingstoke. Remuneration includes a basic salary of £40-55k (depending on location), bonuses (based on fee income), a car (or allowance), healthcare and pension.

WE ALSO CARRY NON-STANDARD, NON CORPORATE AND TRAINEE ROLES OPEN TO SURVEYORS FROM THE BUILDING AND GP FACULTIES AS WELL AS (IN SOME CASES) THOSE WITHOUT PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:

Staff Valuers - West London, Northampton, Bedford, Enfield and Surrey – Our client is the surveying arm of a wider financial services group undertaking top tier valuation work (no building surveys) on an exclusive basis in select locations UK wide. Offering surveyors the quality workload of a staff valuer with the earning potential of a residential surveyor their proposition is one that should appeal to those seeking the best of both worlds. Outstanding package and supreme OTE

Residential Surveyor – York – Our client is a traditional, multi office private practice with a well established, diverse client base across Yorkshire. Covering a predominantly YO and HU patch they require a valuation surveyor to undertake (predominantly) Mortgage Valuations on behalf of main lenders and private clients.

Remuneration includes a high basic, company car, benefits and a company profit share (as opposed to individual bonuses) to encourage a longer term quality view.

Party Wall Surveyor – North London – Our client is a multi disciplined private practice offering professional and valuation services within the inner M25. They require a Party Wall specialist to assist with their ever increasing workload across London. An outstanding package is offered, full company and job details on request.

Trainee Residential Surveyors – Slough, Gloucester, Evesham & Winchester – Our client is an independent, well established and growing firm of chartered surveyors undertaking the full range of survey and valuation services for main lenders and private clients. They are able to train enthusiastic chartered surveyors from most backgrounds so previous residential surveying experience is NOT ESSENTIAL. Remuneration will include a basic salary of £40k, a generous mileage allowance and uncapped bonuses calculated as a percentage of fee income.

Freelance and Permanent Residential Surveyors – Essex (CM, RM and CO) – Our client is the well established surveying arm of an equally established regional estate agency chain. They seek Residential Surveyors throughout their areas of coverage and offer extremely flexible working terms. Their workload is predominantly private instruction, partly through in house referral and partly through repeat local business. Their private work is lucrative with very high average fees across the reporting spectrum (HBR’s, MV’s and BS’s). Our client is keen to hear from residential surveyors keen on part time, full time and zero hours arrangements.

WE WELCOME ENQUIRIES FROM FREELANCE / ZERO HOURS SURVEYORS AS WELL AS SURVEYORS OUTSIDE OF THOSE LOCATIONS LISTED.


04.14 // MODUS 57

Recruitment //

41771G01 CountrywideModusAd_FullPg.indd 1 11/03/2014 09:35


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58 rics.org

Illustration by Ian Dutnall

OFF THE SCALESCOMPARING GLOBAL LEVELS OF OBESITY

Measure //

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We now have opportunities nationwide and are especially keen to recruit Surveyors covering these postcodes: AB, B, BD, BS, CA, CM, CR, DA, DT, E, G, GU, HA, HX, IP, LA, LS, LU, M, N, NR, NW, OX, PO, PL, RG, RH, SA, SE, SO, SS, SW, TW, W, YO

About you

We are seeking MRICS/FRICS/AssocRICS and trainee Surveyors, ideally with recent experience of carrying out Mortgage Valuations, Homebuyer Reports and Building Surveys. We will consider applications from those working outside the Residential sector but with the desire and commitment to make a career change. You will need a sound understanding of residential building pathology and defect analysis.

We are also extending our network of Consultant and Zero Hours employed contractors.

Area Directors

We have vacancies for Area Directors, in South London and East Angliaor Bucks/Beds/Herts. This is a rare opportunity to join the managementteam of a leading national company in a combined managementand fee earning role. You will be an experienced surveyor witha background in corporate residential work. You should haveprevious management experience or with the right skills anddedication to quality and service to make the step up.

About Us

Our track record for first class service is recognised by all our clients and has helped secure many new major Lender contracts. We are now recruiting more Residential Surveyors throughout the country to service this work and the significant Private client work available to us.

To register interest or for more information, please contact Tim Jones:

by email [email protected]

visit our websiteconnellsgroup.co.ukor scan the QR codeor scan the QR code

The UK’s premier Chartered Surveying and Valuation Panel

Management company

Residential Surveyors

What we can offer you

First class employment package including: • substantial salary + bonuses + car/allowance• full technical and administration back-up• excellent CPD + career prospects

So if you share our passion for delivering quality service and believe you have the right skills, then we want to hear from you.

MODUS_APR14_P59_Connels ad.indd 58 11/03/2014 15:54

Property

Experts in property insurance

Cover

JLT Specialty Limited is the preferred Real Estate Insurance Broker to RICS members.We have a wealth of experience, recognised within both the insurance market and real estate sector. This expertise and our insurance market influence has helped us developsuperior policy coverage, competitive premiums and insurance solutions.

As the RICS preferred specialist real estate insurancebroker we can offer:

• Enhanced cover limits and extra features included at no additional cost*

• Access to a dedicated 24/7 claims administration

• Updates on current insurance market issues and advice on how this will impact you

• Innovative web based platform which allows you to manage your real estate portfolio online

For more information about our services and an exclusive offer to RICS members visit:

www.jltgroup.com/ricsTel: 01202 446450

*Terms and conditions apply

JLT Specialty Limited. Lloyd’s Broker. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A member of the Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group. Registered Office: The St Botolph Building, 138 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7AW. Registered in England No. 01536540. VAT No. 244 2321 96. © March 2014 • 268097

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Documents

RICS Modus - Global edition, April 2014