Jess Harrold quizzes Piers Wehner about his recent journey into a virtual world, and asks him to answer the crucial question: just what exactly is the metaverse?
Wehner paints a vivid picture of what he found in his exploration of Decentraland, how EGLSM listeners can pay their own visit, and the opportunities that are enticing investors to spend millions on virtual property.
But, while he's been spending all his time in a digital world, has he been keeping up to date with current events in real estate? Find out as he is put to the test in the quiz of the week.
![]()
An app in isolation does not equate to a smart building. And yet, over the past six months, activity around tenant engagement platforms has rocketed both in terms of adoption and investment. Following the peak of the pandemic, occupiers and landlords alike have raced to employ every tool in their armoury to attract staff back to offices across the globe. Seamless entry to your building at the click of a button? Done. Heating and ventilation tailored to your personal preferences? No problem. A free coffee and pastry one day a week? You’re welcome. Anything to lure people away from the comfort of their own homes.
It’s not really about complimentary croissants, though. The real currency here, and the one these engagement platforms will rely on when it comes to determining whether they ultimately fail or succeed, is data. And while an app may not a smart building make, mass adoption of an app linked to a smart building platform might. With the right technology in place, the more people you can encourage to sign up to your building app. This means the more insight you have into how they are using the space and, in turn, how your asset can be more efficiently managed. If a free hot drink can bring just a few extra users onboard, that’s well worth its weight in coffee beans.
At a time when workforce trends have never been in such a state of flux, this level of building intelligence has been upgraded from a nice-to-have to commercial real estate gold dust.
If there is anyone who understands the value of tenant app adoption, it’s Dan Drogman. Along with his team, the founder and chief executive of software platform Smart Spaces has integrated the company's software system into just under 40 million sq ft of real estate across the world. “Adoption is the key to those really useful data sets,” he says. “You need to have adoption within your platform and this is the biggest challenge that occupier engagement apps will have to overcome.”
So how do you drive that adoption? With over 8000 people already signed up to Smart Spaces’s workplace app at AXA IM Alts’ 195,000 sq m 22 Bishopsgate, EC2 mere months after the building officially opened its doors, Drogman is the man to ask.
Tune in to hear more.
![]()
Real estate firms and organisations must act as quickly as possible on adopting all of the changes proposed in Peter Pereira Gray’s independent report into investment valuations for the RICS, or risk facing another review down the line with a much tougher outcome for the industry, according to experts taking part in today’s episode of EG Property Podcasts.
Pereira Gray’s report has made 13 recommendations designed to boost compliance, after evidence of conflicts and their management were assessed. The RICS standards and regulation board has pledged to implement all of these at “different speeds”.
The new rules are also designed to be a “wake-up call” for the industry and establish a system fit for the “changing world”. But are they far-reaching enough to help build trust in valuations and solve the big issues facing valuers?
EG’s news editor Pui-Guan Man is joined by Andy Pyle, UK head of real estate at KPMG, Claire Magowan, head of portfolio valuation at Savills, Ollie Saunders, head of UK commercial valuation at alternatives at JLL and Charles Smith, chairman of UK and cross border valuation and advisory at Cushman & Wakefield to discuss what the industry needs to tackle next, as well as the report’s wider implications for real estate.
Jess Harrold is joined by Pui-Guan Man and Damian Wild for EG's latest weekly round-up podcast.
Man and Wild share their thoughts on the long-awaited Independent Review of Real Estate Investment valuations and what it means for RICS going forwards.
In addition, Wild addresses the recent announcement that he will leave EG later this year to take on a new role as managing director of PR and communications agency ING - including his personal reaction to the industry's response, and what he has planned for his last six months at EG.
But when our news editor takes on our director of market development in the quiz of the week, who will triumph?
The North East has powered through the pandemic thanks to the indomitable spirit of its people and is set to emerge with its streets reinvented with a flavour of continental Europe, believes Bradley Hall senior surveyor Nick Bramwell.
With 58 deals across the line in 2021, Bramwell is last year’s leading individual dealmaker for the North East, while Bradley Hall sits in fifth place overall in the Radius Rankings for Tyne & Wear and first in Northumberland in terms of transacted space.
Bramwell believes the rise of independent retailers – helped by developments such as Stack – gives people something different to try when they come to the cities of the North East, and this is helped by developments such as the pedestrianisation of Grey Street in Newcastle where a café culture can emerge and make it a stylish, European-style city.
He also explains how the recent takeover of Newcastle United could have profound implications for the city’s commercial property offering.
Jess Harrold and EG editor Sam McClary start the year by sharing their enthusiasm for Lego, and addressing her four major themes for real estate during 2022.
McClary shares her views on the importance of leadership, the need for better communication - particularly with the government - and the fast pace of transformation. But which is the fourth key word for 2022 that gives her the "warm and fuzzies"? Tune in to find out - and to hear her pitch the Lego Group for an EG interview.
Jess Harrold is joined by EG editor Sam McClary, deputy editor Tim Burke, head of content Emily Wright and news editor Pui-Guan Man to review 2021 in a very special episode of EG Like Sunday Morning.
From family festive traditions, discussion soon turns to some of the highlights of another challenging year - and, inevitably, some of the real estate disappointments along the way.
But what are the teams hopes for the sector in 2022? And, as the awesome foursome split into two dynamic duos, which team will triumph in the climactic quiz of the year, with questions culled from the EG headlines of each month?
Real estate companies large and small are mapping out sustainability strategies as the climate crisis escalates. For many the challenge is not just what tomorrow’s business must look like, but how today’s business can prove resilience in the face of growing threats.
In this podcast EG’s guests discuss climate resilience in the real estate industry; the social impact of sustainability strategies; how real estate companies, the businesses within their supply chains and their customers are collaborating; and the opportunities around data and analytics that can mitigate risks.
Joining deputy editor Tim Burke are Janine Cole, director of sustainability and community at GPE; TwinView’s Rob Charlton; and Samantha Carlsson, senior sustainability manager at Derwent London.
Legal & professional editors Sarah Jackman and Jess Harrold present their annual podcast round-up from the courts, counting down their top 10 property law cases of 2021.
From a raft of Covid-fuelled disputes - including CVA challenges, unpaid rent claims and the rise of pandemic clauses - to surveyor's negligence, empty property rates and service charges, it has been another busy year for litigation.
But which judgments will make EG's official list of the biggest and best? Find out together with Jackman, Harrold and a few very special guests, each offering their expert insights on the cases that defined 2021.
For the final EG Like Sunday Morning episode of the year, Jess Harrold is joined by editor Sam McClary and London & offices reporter Alex Daniel to round up the week.
Daniel reflects on his year covering the City and the office market, and how the sector is coping with the impacts of the Omicron variant, before taking the opportunity to look ahead to 2022.
McClary shares details of the inspirational speeches from EG's Future Leaders event, now available in video form on our website - and her joy at attending the similarly uplifting Story of Christmas, an annual festive fixture in the real estate calendar.
But who will triumph in the ever-competitive quiz of the week?
