Vail Williams has reported increased revenues of £17.5 millon for the 2021 to 2022 financial year, a record amount and up close to 5% on the previous financial year.
A key contributor to the figure was from agency instructions generated by the "post-pandemic" flight to quality as companies sought workspace to attract and retain staff amid the UK’s severe labour shortages.
Vail Williams, which has its highest staff numbers at 174, including 16 limited liability partnership members, has 11 offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Reading, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Woking, Crawley, Heathrow, Brighton and London.
Managing partner Matthew Samuel-Camps said in a statement that the agency had a "very good year" in the industrial and office markets.
"We saw a continual resurgence in demand from occupiers, particularly with flight to quality in the office market where companies are taking less space but taking better quality space, and largely to ensure they can attract - and retain - high-quality staff back to the office following the pandemic."
There is also an ongoing shortage of industrial and warehousing across its regions and it has seen values and rents increase across both the industrial and office markets.
Samuel-Camps also highlighted the success of the Bournemouth operations following the merger with Cowling & West in March 2021.
“We have beaten all the key performance targets we set at the time of the transaction; the size of the team in Bournemouth has doubled and we are very pleased with the way it is going in Dorset.”
Looking ahead, Samuel-Campus said Vail Williams sees opportunities in the energy, environmental and sustainability markets, and wants to continue to grow its residential capability.
"We have ambitions to double our revenue in that particular sector, and the other area we are pushing hard on is town centre repurposing.
“There are significant challenges for local authorities; city centre and town centre stakeholders need to properly debate and bring together different strands of influence.
“How can we make centres more vibrant and better placed to perform in the 21st Century as most were formed 300 years or so ago, when they were heavily reliant on retail? That model is breaking because of the internet and working practices.
“Many centres have lost their identity – they are homogeneous. Can they prosper better, perhaps by harnessing their heritage as a destination differentiator?”
Samuel-Camps said ongoing initiatives at Vail Williams include the firm’s learning and development programme, improving environmental credentials and optimising operational efficiency.