Former JLL Employees Launch Real Estate Advisory Service

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22 October 2020

Four major players in the London commercial property sector, all former JLL employees, have launched a real estate advisory service, Situu.

Harry Murphy, Peter Hall, Dan Brown and Tom Leahy are all former senior position holders at JLL. 

Despite the unprecedented effects of COVID-19 on the central London office market, the business has managed over 50 deals across brokerage and lettings of both leased and Situu+ managed products since the beginning of the year. 

“Employees no longer need work in central London five days per week, but businesses still want to maintain a central London base with flexible, shorter leases. Crucially, operating as a small agency gives us a creative edge on how we can structure and adapt a deal to ensure all parties’ business interests are optimised, which is essential in this current mid-pandemic climate.”

–Harry Murphy

Co-Founder, Situu

Assisting Landlords in Delivering Flexible Solutions to Tenants

Situu was conceived when each of the founders wanted to pool their collective experience and create a new and unique business model that would make a positive impact on both tenants and landlords in the capital. 

Dan Brown, who was responsible for transforming JLL’s flexible office offering into a multi-million-pound revenue business from 2012 to 2019, elaborated: “Recent years have seen a significant shift in the sector. A huge growth in flexible offices, coupled with our vast experience in assisting landlords in delivering flexible solutions to tenants, presented us with an opportunity too great to miss.”

Co-founder, Tom Leahy, who has been involved in the serviced-office sector for ten years added: “With Situu, we have created a true, cross-discipline agency. With Harry and Peter’s 25 years experience in the leasing world, along with my own and Dan’s additional 25 years in the growing flexible office market, we can work with our clients to provide the appropriate advice across the spectrum - giving Situu a competitive advantage over commercial property firms which do not specialise in all aspects.”

Picture: photograph of Tom Leahy

Situu works closely with London landlords by encouraging them to re-look at their traditional way of letting a space, to make it more attractive for tenants. 

Harry Murphy, whose primary role is to expand the landlord side of the business, explained: “Employees no longer need work in central London five days per week, but businesses still want to maintain a central London base with flexible, shorter leases. Crucially, operating as a small agency gives us a creative edge on how we can structure and adapt a deal to ensure all parties’ business interests are optimised, which is essential in this current mid-pandemic climate.”

New Staff Via Kickstart Scheme

The four founders intend to extend their team by recruit a young person via the government’s Kickstart Scheme.  Peter Hall, who joined the team as co-founder in September 2020, specialising in tenant representation, commented on the recruitment approach: 

“Introducing new blood by training young people with vibrant ideas is just what this sector needs. It’s calling out for more diversity, which is why we are looking to recruit someone currently on universal credit, with no prior experience necessary. This represents everything Situu is about; challenging industry norms and looking at things from a different viewpoint.  

Dan Brown concludes: “When developing our brand, not only did we wish to bring a fresh perspective to the London commercial property market, we wanted to do something we enjoy, every day, and create something we can all be proud of.”

Picture: a photograph of Harry Murphy 

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 22 October 2020

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