The fall-out from the burst dotcom bubble had resulted in rising vacancy rates, falling rents and lowering office values in Central London. In early 2003, we anticipated an improving market and so raised a five-year investment fund for Central London offices from a pool of high net worth investors and family office groups.

During 2004 and 2005 we acquired a portfolio of assets across the City and West End and witnessed a strong rise in the market. Our portfolio rose in value more quickly than we had anticipated, partly due to market conditions, but also down to our highly active asset management programme. This included planning, refurbishment, existing tenant negotiation and leasing.

By the second half of 2006, the portfolio was ripe with capital gain and the market appeared strong, so we elected to sell the majority of the portfolio. We sold the final asset in February 2008 and achieved a portfolio IRR of 41% net of all costs and a return on equity of 90%.