Robert De Groot

Experience

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  Nelson Bakewell

  Jun 1995 - Sept 1998

  Surveyor

  The Co-Op Wholesale portfolio - retail valuation and management; New Look - retail business rates appeals; and Lambeth Council - industrial service charge management & auction disposals.

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  King Sturge

  Oct 1998 - May 2011

  • Promoted to Senior Associate to build and maintain effective client relationships through management of leasehold property portfolio. • Liaised with internal and external surveyors and specialists, advising on all aspects of real estate execution, procurement, asset enhancement and disposal. • Key clients included: Thales, Orange and Bank of Ireland. • Thales: Acted as Transaction Manager for UK’s 2nd largest defence electronics company. Succeeded in reducing portfolio from 100 to 35 properties within 5 years, resulting in cost savings of £20m p.a. and 50% increased staff optimisation. • Orange: Acted as Transaction Manager, for portfolio of 55 offices and call centres with full management of sub-lets. Contributed to budgets and FRS12 accounting provisions, led benchmarking and strategic review of South West England offices. • Bank of Ireland: Coordinated provision of specialist retail advice in rent reviews, lease renewals, sub-lets and disposals. Show less • Hired as Senior Surveyor to manage a range of occupier client property portfolios, reviewing performance and maximising economic return for clients in all aspects of Asset Management. • Clients included: Philips Electronics UK Ltd and The Insolvency Service. • Acted as Account Manager for Philips Electronics UK property portfolio, overseeing transactions for the whole portfolio and directly managing surplus stock. • Responsible for all aspects of property management, including rent reviews, lease renewals, surrenders and service charge arrangements and other landlord and tenant issues to ensure efficient management of client portfolios. • Philips Electronics UK Ltd: Led transaction management of client portfolio, including rent collection, handling tenant queries and ensuring compliance with lease terms. Additionally, coordinated disposal of surplus assets, reducing portfolio from 120 to 5 properties to enable relocation to Eastern Europe. • The Insolvency Service: Led leasehold event management for portfolio of 40 properties, including benchmarking analysis on service charges and consultancy project to develop INSS sustainability policy and action plan. Show less

  • Senior Associate

    Jul 2005 - May 2011

  • King Sturge: Senior Surveyor

    Jul 2001 - Jun 2005

  • King Sturge: Surveyo

    Oct 1998 - Jul 2001
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  JLL

  May 2011 - Jun 2015

  JLL Real Estate Advisors: Associate Director

  • Hired as Associate Director to manage key client accounts (public and private sector), delivering projects in line with client requirements. • Clients included: Honeywell, Land Registry, Legal and General, Brewin Dolphin and NHS Property Services Ltd. • Led delivery of outsourced transactions including acquisitions and disposals, business rate appeals, dilapidations, rent reviews, break options, lettings, lease renewals and surrenders. • Honeywell: Assisted on estate rationalisation strategy in South Netherlands to consolidate 3 sites into 1 to boost efficiencies and reduce operations costs. Considered quantitative and qualitive factors including employee commute times in order to produce a short-list of buildings. Honeywell arranged an online auction for 3 landlords to bid best terms. • Land Registry: Coordinated the provision of investment, leasehold and planning advice on 14 properties across 3 regions. Led disposal of 3 freehold assets and reduced rent payable from £12mp.a. to £0.93m p.a. in line with Government reduced expenditure requirements. • Legal and General: Provided a leasehold office management and disposal service for surplus estate, resulting in a reduction of 41 offices to 22 in 4 years. • L&G Estate Agents: Led transaction management and surrender negotiations to dispose of surplus retail leaseholds. • Brewin Dolphin: Acted as Transactions Manager for 30 offices across the UK. • NHS Property Services Ltd: Supported consultancy project team to improve quality of transaction management processes and reports to improve transparency and efficiency of merged real estate business with c. 3,600 properties. Show less

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  De Groot Real Estate

  Jan 2016 - Nov 2020

  Founder/Owner

  • Founded and manage real estate business, offering a range of consulting and contracting services, including commercial property management, residential property management, benchmarking, business rates management, energy performance management and surplus property management and disposal.• Coordinate clients’ property consultants, subcontractors and additional team members on diverse projects. • Devised and implemented cloud-based residential property management database to ensure efficient / accurate reporting of surveys and enhance planned and reactive maintenance on residential portfolio. • Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. • Capita Real Estate: Engaged as Property Consultant to support management of Severn Trent’s property portfolio. Led review of 120 head leases and c.300 leases to develop client database. • Capita Real Estate: Reviewed and significantly improved helpdesk processes, providing access to telecoms equipment on client sites. Additionally, delivered helpdesk handbook, resulting in improved training and efficiency. • Splash Community Projects: Led property survey to assess feasibility of converting office space into accommodation for ex-servicemen on behalf of Taunton Association for the Homeless. Succeeded in enabling Splash to assess works required, resulting in 8 studios being created for homeless veterans. • Capita Residential Property Management: Oversee compliance and reactive maintenance of 50 houses, including maintenance and energy efficiency standards. Show less

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  Lambert Smith Hampton

  Nov 2020 - now

  Property Asset Manager