Retail guru takes over at Savills as agency’s profits tumble

Retail queen Stacey Cartwright will succeed Nicholas Ferguson as chair of Savills from December 31 - but she inherits a company which has just reported a sharp drop in profits.

Cartwright has been an independent non-executive director of Savills since October 2018, and senior independent director since January 2021. 

She was Chief Executive Officer and subsequently Deputy Chair of Harvey Nicholls between 2014 and 2018, and had senior roles at Burberry plc and Egg plc. She’s also currently a non-exec director of a string of diverse companies.

Savills’ long standing CEO - Mark Ridley - says: “I greatly look forward to her continued contribution and guidance as we seek to deliver the Group's long-term strategic objectives."

Outgoing chair Nicholas Ferguson adds: ”I am delighted that Savills has appointed Stacey Cartwright to succeed me as Chair. Over the last seven years, the Group has made huge progress and I am proud of the strong platform for future growth that we have built".    

However, that “strong platform” has taken a knock in the form of a Savills trading statement to shareholders.

There’s been a huge drop in pre-tax profits over the first half of the year - down from £50.4m to just £6m.

The significant majority of Savills’ business is conducted overseas and in non-residential elements of the property industry, but even so the era of high interest rates appears to be bearing down on even the highest-end operators.

The agency insists that cash rich ‘prime’ buyers, particularly in the UK, are still transacting but “this is in contrast to those mainstream or residential new build markets which are more highly dependent on mortgage finance” the firm admits.

Mark Ridley says: “During 2023, global real estate markets have faced the obvious challenges associated with inflation and the related steep rise in interest rates. Different regions have varied in the pace of their adjustment to current conditions and all have experienced a material decline in trading volumes during that adjustment process.

“Market participants, whether investors or occupiers, seek greater certainty on the trajectory of interest rates over the next 18 months, something which has become somewhat clearer in recent weeks than for much of the period.

“Accordingly, our range of expectations for the year as a whole has reduced somewhat. We do, however, continue to anticipate a significant improvement in volumes of activity through the balance of the year, and into 2024.”