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Bidwells is one of the UK’s oldest property businesses, well-known for its focus on life sciences, energy and natural assets. Yet far from resting on its laurels, the firm has made recent moves to amplify its existing capabilities, including advising on the growing market interest in operational real estate. Andrew Teacher speaks to chief operating officer, Kelly Bream, and Iain Murray, head of operational living.

Few businesses are able to celebrate their 185th anniversary, and still fewer make plans for their next 185 years, but real estate consultancy Bidwells is doing just that. To this end, it has launched a growth strategy designed to double the firm in size over the next five years.

Steering this ambitious plan is chief operating officer Kelly Bream. Bream studied property estate management at university and brings to her role experience at Berkeley Homes and a third party build to rent operator, as well as from co-founding a number of startup businesses.

Bidwells is perhaps best known for its work as the lynchpin of the science and technology clusters in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. Bream says: “We created Cambridge Science Park back in the 1970s with Trinity College, so our experience in innovation real estate is certainly part of Bidwells’ DNA.” Since 2021, Bream estimates that Bidwells has advised on “probably 80% of the life sciences deals across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.”

Bidwells’ hire of Iain Murray and his Cortland Consultancy team earlier this year boosted its capabilities further, with Murray joining as partner and head of operational living. Murray brings with him a decade of experience in the sector having advised on over £6.2bn in assets, alongside a wider 30-year pedigree across asset classes, including advising on £8bn worth of schools and hospitals while a Partner at G&T. The move comes as part of a wider firm focus on services relating to operational real estate.

Reflecting on the outlook for the living sectors, Murray says: “Of particular interest has been the sector’s adoption of whole life modelling and costing, with the industry gaining a longer view of procurement than it has traditionally had. Residential has been short termist, but we are now building a product that lasts.”

Murray believes that the key distinction between the build for sale and the build to rent markets lies in the latter’s “focus on the income side” and on “quality, environmental sustainability and safety.” He sees the benefit of Bidwells’ integrated expertise meaning it is able to transcend some of the siloed disciplines, avoiding friction between, for example, parts of businesses that focus on customer experience, cost management and sustainability.

He cautions against living sector operators focusing too much on the capital expenditure associated with meeting legislative requirements, such as the inclusion of second staircases: “What we are trying to do is make sure that people don’t focus too much on the capital side when really it is the revenue that generates the value in build to rent projects.” Beyond build to rent, Murray sees opportunity in specialist living sectors such as co-living and senior living. “They represent less than one percent of the private rented sector, but they have further to go in terms of their professionalisation, and the demand will increase owing to demographic tailwinds.”

Murray also considers housing a supportive sector for other asset classes, drawing on the example of work Bidwells completed for a large housebuilder. “The client had several sites around technology parks, including an automotive research park. Having interviewed the occupiers there, to get a sense of what was needed, we discovered that many employees transitioned in and out of the businesses over periods of 6 months to 3 years.” As a result, the co-location of single-family housing was supportive to the type of occupier within the science park and mutually supportive to the overall investment case. For Bream, Bidwells’ 180-year relationship with the areas around Oxford and Cambridge have given it an appreciation of the relationship between housing delivery, infrastructure and employment, delivered in a way that accommodates local sensitivities.

Alongside the living sectors and science and technology, Bream sees many other sectors that provide a growth opportunity for Bidwells, which has nine offices across the country including a major energy and renewable business in Scotland. Given the market and legislative imperatives to transition to net zero, advising on solar and wind projects will form a substantial part of Bidwells’ future.

Bream also points to natural capital as an area where Bidwells has already given itself a competitive edge, reflected in its recent achievement of B-Corp status. The introduction of biodiversity net gain and the establishment of natural capital as an asset class in its own right are driving expansion in advisory in this area. “It’s not just about scatter gunning, but following trends and market demand,” Bream says.

Bream acknowledges that delivering Bidwells’ ambitious growth plans will need the right people. For a firm that has a breadth of services, Bream considers it important that Bidwells attracts those who have “an entrepreneurial spirit and who are able to think a little bit outside the box”.

Why launch such a growth plan now? Bream responds: “At a time when other agencies are cutting back, we’ve spent a lot of time understanding our market and clients to identify where their needs and the demand are located.” By way of example, Bream says: “We have a significant client in Cambridge and we are supporting their major development in Leeds. We’ll be replicating there our service lines and support base for our clients.”

Accordingly, the growth plan leverages the agility Bidwells has shown in adapting to emergent opportunities such as the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. As Bream puts it: “This is not a deviation away from what we’re known for and what we offer. This is about adding complementary services and extending the geographic reach of existing services.”

“We are 185 years old; we want to be here in another 185 years. We want to build a hugely resilient business.”

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