REGIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGER (SOUTH)
CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACK
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Founder’s statement
For over three decades, Downing has steadily built its education portfolio; developing, managing and investing in inspirational student accommodation and facilities in some of the leading university cities in the UK. With over £1.2 billion of developments successfully completed, Downing is now significantly expanding its presence and working in partnership with leading institutional funds and educational establishments to develop, operate, and invest a further £1 billion of new landmark schemes in the UK’s most prestigious student cities. The student accommodation sector has seen many changes over the last few years and has become an institutional asset with many new players entering the market. Since building our first purpose-built student villages in the early 1990s, we have always believed that the best product, sensibly priced, in the best locations will always succeed. It is a simple formula that continues to work. This wealth of experience, outstanding corporate governance, and our standing as a strong family business has enabled Downing to develop valuable partnerships withinternational institutional funds. Throughout thisperiod, all ourdevelopments have achieved double digit returns. Both debt funding institutions and investment funds continue to invest with us – buoyed by our ongoing success in the market. We operate in partnership with universities across the UK and have done for many years, enjoying long-standing nomination agreements with leading universities, alongside a strong profile driven by deep networks in a number of international student markets. Our market-leading portfolio and existing immediate pipeline of developments gives us a strong presence across the UK’s leading universities cities. We have a strong management team of experienced, dedicated and focused individuals in place and we are continually strengthening and expanding our senior fund management and property management teams, to ensure we’re well positioned as we enter further growth phases. We are a family business and we are proud to have stayed true to our family roots and hands-on ethos. I am confident that we can build on our vast experience to achieve even greater things in this sector. Our market-leading managed portfolio, and vibrant pipeline of developments are set to deliver outstanding returns; we are transitioning into our next phase of growth and look forward to forging new partnerships as we enter this exciting chapter. George Downing
Student lifecycle
Downing is a trusted development/investment/asset management partner that can deliver all aspects of the investment profile:
Planning Downing retains a dedicated development team and appoints tried and trusted consultants to deliver high-quality compliant design.
Sourcing Opportunities Downing’s dedicated team sources opportunities across the UK. We target specific locations with the supply demand dynamics that meet our requirements. Downing has built a national and regional network to secure prime sites in the UK’s premier university cities. Downing invests retained capital in acquiring investment opportunities across all risk profiles.
ABOUT US
Vehicle Management Vehicle manager for the major portfolios since 2013 and for a 50:50 development JV with a Downing affiliate since 2011. Services provided include capital management and debt arrangements, budgeting and planning, reporting, efficient structuring, audit and regulatory compliance oversight.
Design Quality and functionality are the key to all Downing developments. This eye for detail of managing student accommodation has resulted in a very strong and reliable brand offering.
Asset and Property Management Downing has strong asset management capability and long-standing experience. Sophisticated marketing and branding strategy enables high occupancy levels, while balanced letting strategy and operational efficiencies deliver optimised margins combined with institutional quality reporting and management. With an eye for detail that is rare in the student accommodation market, Downing is committed to working hand in hand with leading UK universities to create a world class student experience. Indeed, this commitment to partnership working means its schemes are often integrated into university campuses with nomination agreements in pl ce across the country. Operating Structure: • Central support office providing marketing, finance, IT, HR and facilities management. • Each site has an operational management team. Construction Downing retains an in-house construction team to deliver all Downing projects. Retaining construction in-house, enables us to ensure quality and on-time-delivery across the portfolio. 07 08 Downing, establish d for over 30 years, is an award winning, leading rovider of innovative, high quality student accommodation across the UK. With four and a half thousand rooms currently let and over three and a half thousand more en-suite rooms in th immediate development pipeline, an exciting opportunity exists to grow with this highly successful, dynamic company as it expands its operations. Downing continues to innovate and hone its offering, emphasising its commitment to delivering superior, sustainable student accommodation underpinned by award-winning design. It’s no coincidence that a company focused on delivering spectacular developments, thoughtfully conceived to encompass the needs of students, universities and local communities, has a presence in the most prestigious university cities across the breadth of the UK.
Working with leading universities
We have strong ties and long standing nominations agreements with universities in a number of locations across the UK, including: – University of Leeds – Newcastle University – Liverpool John Moores University – Anglia Ruskin University – University of Warwick – Coventry University – King’s College London – Edinburgh University
A CLOSER LOO
INSIDE LONDON
INSIDE LONDON
INSIDE LONDON
Holbrook
The Lyra
The Atlas
497 Student bedrooms. £100M total value.
Located next to Action tube this is ideally located for a number of universities.
Our newest building raising the standard of accommodation, this site is currently on nomination with Kings College.
AT THE SOUTH
INSIDE CAMBRIDGE
INSIDE EXETER
INSIDE COVENTRY
The Kingfisher
The Railyard
City Village
Conveniently situated on Western Way for all of Exeter’s academic institutions and is also a stone’s throw from the shops, restaurants & bars of lively Sidwell Street.
One of the newest student housing developments in Cambridge.
Located in easy access of the University of Coventry and University of Warwick.
THE ROLE
You will take responsibility for our student accommodation across London zones 1 and 2, Cambridge, Exeter and Coventry. We currently operate 2000 rooms in this region and have a number of further developments. The role will have responsibility for driving occupancy, achieving sales whilst delivering the best possible customer experience for our customers and increasing customer satisfaction.
Key Responsibilities:
Leadership:
• To provide leadership and direction for the regional teams in each student accommodation location and ensure that operational, financial and a range of other objectives are met • To ensure we exceed client and student expectations by delivering budgets and identifying and implementing actions to maintain and improve effectiveness and service levels
• This is a demanding but fulfilling role requiring the ability to manage change and motivate the teams around you in order to achieve results
• Ensure compliance with all agreements, leases and contracts
• Project managing all new refurbishments, operational change projects across the sites ensuring all involved have clear direction, see the value and ‘buy in’ to the changes.
• Ensure the teams remain compliant with all business related legislation, including Health & Safety, Data Protection and privacy
Relationship Management:
• Responsible for developing new and existing business relationships within both the pri- vate and academic sectors
• Working with all 3rd party contractors ensuring all contractual SLAs are measured, maintained and monitored regularly across all of the sites.
• Initiate and anticipate potential to enhance and grow client business identifying development opportunities and represent the business with a clear knowledge and understanding of external needs and internal capabilities
Financial Management
• Overall financial responsibility for all of the sites, circa 13m budget, driving year on year improvement on the bottom line performance.
• Fully responsible for the sales strategy alongside the marketing department ensuring all sites are 100% full and all sales drives are completed with success.
• Annually proposing rents at a level that will achieve full occupancy but will also aim to drive bottom line performance year on year RPI.
• Ensure that profitability is maximised, including with regard to summer income
ABOUT YOU
• Extensive experience in a senior leadership role in either university accommodation or build to rent environment with a proven track record of developing a team and delivering against objectives
• Experience in building, developing and maintaining partnerships and relationships with key stakeholders
• Considerable experience at senior level in operational roles with accountability for multi-site locations
• Experience in driving a broad range of operational, administrative and procedural functions Strategic thinker, able to assess complex matters and provide timely, relevant and succinct advice
• Articulate and influential, and able to communicate operational initiatives and outcomes
• Enthusiastic and driven with a desire to achieve outstanding results in a team environment and ensure the highest standards
• Creative and innovative approach
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in preparing correspondence, submissions, presentations and reports
• Full UK Drivers Licence
A design-led portfolio
HOLBROOK, LONDON
As one of the UK’s most experienced developers, Downing continues to innovate and hone its offering; delivering superior student accommodation underpinned by award-winning design. With an eye for detail that is rare in the student accommodation market, we work hand in hand with leading architects to create a world-class student experience in the UK’s leading university cities. Our portfolio of design-led developments enriches the cities and communities where they are located.
ATLAS, LONDON
MILES STREET, LONDON
BROADCASTING TOWER, LEEDS
WEST VIEW, GLASGOW
THE ARCH, LIVERPOOL
11,300 COMPLETED PBSA BEDS
+£1.2BN GDV COMPLETED BEDS
Key student statistics
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PARKWAY GATE, MANCHESTER
CENTRAL VILLAGE, LEEDS
RIVER STREET TOWER, MANCHESTER
CITY VILLAGE, COVENTRY
VERDE, NEWCASTLE
THE VIEW, NEWCASTLE
WEST VILLAGE, GLASGOW
3,138 BEDS IN PIPELINE
5,226 BEDS UNDERMANAGEMENT
>99% OCCUPANCY ACROSS MANAGED ASSETS
APPLICATION PROCESS
Closing Date for Applications: Sunday 3rd March 2019.
Applications should consist of covering letter and CV and sent to either Hayley Mintern or Charlotte MacGregor.
hayley.mintern@mrgpeople.co.uk | charlotee.macgregor@mrgpeople.co.uk
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