The BBP has been providing a forum for property owners to discuss how to improve the sustainability performance of commercial property for the last eight years. 

It has produced many and varied tangible outputs, from case studies to toolkits that have become the go-to guides for those working in, or wanting to find out about the practical implications of, sustainability in the built environment.

I am fortunate enough to have been involved with BBP for a number of years, first representing Hammerson and now during my time at M J Mapp as the inaugural Chair of this new initiative, the Managing Agents Partnership.

While it is true that the managing agent sector has traditionally been a less collaborative group, due to the competition that exists for instructions, there is a definite benefit to property owners, our clients, in knowing that the fundamentals of sustainability are understood across our industry. In fact, the achievement of true ‘sustainability’ is impossible without collaboration and knowledge sharing.  

There is a growing demand amongst property owners for agents to understand, and report on non-financial indicators of property performance to support statutory frameworks, voluntary indices, and internal reporting requirements. 

However, the need to report in this way is still relatively new and agents must exercise caution when agreeing to meet these needs without being fully aware of the requirements.

Clients often work with a range of agents and differing standards can only make these reporting processes less efficient. Standardising these basic requirements should not be seen as anticompetitive, the data being requested to meet basic reporting requirements (kWh consumed, tonnes of carbon generated, etc.) is far from complex. 

The differentiation relates to how agents leverage this information to improve the service they are able to offer their clients, and in turn the impact this has on improving the performance of their properties under management in the medium term.  

Fortunately, this seems to be a view shared by the industry with 10 of the UK’s leading managing agents being actively involved in the development of this initiative, and now signing up as founder members. 

Between us we manage over 26,000 properties totalling over 1bn square feet of lettable space. As with the core BBP membership we hope that the outputs from this initative will spread far further and provide practical support for the benefit of the wider industry.

In establishing the partnership what has been most encouraging is the support from the core BBP membership, the property owners, our clients. There is recognition that managing agents play a crucial role in delivering a more sustainable built environment and a growing expectation that we fulfil that role effectively. 

Having the Managing Agents Partnership aligned with the core work of the BBP also ensures that the solutions proposed are agreed by owners and agents alike. 

Collaboration is absolutely essential in ensuring the solutions proposed are credible, and for the benefit of the whole industry.