Compton, the City fringe office agency specialist launched in the pandemic, has taken the unusual step of opening a public-facing restaurant and deli on the ground floor of its new offices.
CoStar News visited the team in opening week to find out how the pioneering move forms part of a drive to rethink what property advisers should offer.
Shaun Simons, Michael Raibin and Elliott Stern grabbed headlines in May last year by leaving Colliers to launch Compton, an office advisory business.
The trio re-established themselves as an independent agency five years after they sold their Hatton Real Estate business to Colliers and took with them the global brokerage's City fringe team of 10.
The team is now 21 and already has a reputation for promoting itself and real estate via social media and technology, much as it did at both Hatton and Colliers. What it does not have a reputation for is running a restaurant business.
Simons explains the decision is a relatively recent one and has not been taken lightly, given the risk of failure and the challenges in a competitive arena. That said, the only challenge when CoStar visits on a Thursday lunchtime is finding a table.
When the trio left Colliers they took on the lease of their base in Old Street for the remaining six months while they planned a relocation to a new home at St John’s Square in Clerkenwell, the "Berkeley Square of Clerkenwell", as Simons calls it.
The group had been planning to move into a smaller building but, during the pandemic, the boarded-up building at 47 St John's Square where the Modern Pantry had been started calling to them.
"It was fitted as a restaurant and it was 4,000 square feet, so really too big for us. But we talked to the landlord Meritcape about it. We were really never planning to run a restaurant there but we loved the building as it is really the most prominent address on the square. We started to think we would put offices on top at first and on the ground floor have a barista and a reception for our clients with some pastries and coffees. Then we started to think that could be opened up a bit to the public as a local service for them, many of whom are our clients."
The thinking changed again when Simons and Stern, "the coffee men in the business" the former says, started considering what coffee they wanted. "We started looking at operators and one of these said why don't you have a brunch menu too. And then the next step was Michael Raibin in the team knew Alex Kaye, a leading restauranteur, and asked him for some advice. Alex really was very impressive and he pointed out we really needed someone to run the operation. So then we all realised it had to be Alex. I then just spent a lot of time begging him to consider it!"
Simons says the next turning point was enlisting BaxterStorey, the leading hospitality provider, to be operator. "It fell into place then. We own it, but BaxterStorey operates it and Alex is the conduit that runs everything."
But what on earth are office advisers doing opening a restaurant?
"It's a good question," Simons says. "Particularly during a pandemic. The fact is we will never earn a lot of money from running this, and it will never come close to the revenue from the real estate business. And then there is the associated risk to your reputation if it fails. But we took the view that it is really important for deeper engagement with the local audience and client base. We are ambassadors for the city fringe."
Simons says, since Hatton Real Estate, when the group became known for innovative social media use and being a "Facebook generation" of advisers they have been keen to embrace new ideas and disrupt.
"In 2021, launching again most companies are of course using social media well too. I think the restaurant launch helps to give us a different USP again."
Simons says the long-term knowledge of the area was critical, too, in understanding how much it was crying out for the restaurant and deli. The proof is already in the pudding.
"We have been open 10 days now and it is buzzing. Before that, as we soft-launched it we were doing a food tasting and a guy in Clerkenwell came in and started talking to us and it turns out he is an architect and it turns out he has 85 staff and his lease expires in August. That's a great example of how useful it is for meeting local clients in the area's most prominent building. We also knew the building was missing an affordable price point, easy dining restaurant with a deli attached at the back with artisan food. And we have a top chef producing the food."
Ultimately Simons says he is a believer that fortune favours the brave. "Even if it's not a rip-roaring success, and I think it will be, it will be a differentiator that we will be really proud of."
For the real estate business, Simons says Compton has big plans for growth.
"This is very much the first phase of growth. We want maybe two years under our belt up and running and settled well and then we want to grow our business and take our unique way of doing things and roll it out – across London and then further in the UK and ultimately internationally."
In terms of the London market, Simons says a very strong recent rebound has clearly been dented by the latest mix of downbeat economic headwinds in the UK and globally.
"There was a view that low supply coming into the pandemic had built in some resilience and that is true for some parts of the capital but for most of the UK and much of London that is not the case. Towards the end of last year and most of this year the floodgates re-opened and that buzz was consistent until May but that has clearly slowed on the back of the macro story. Parts of the market are paralysed because ultimately would you commit to something now? But I do believe there will be a very busy end to the year as there is so much pent-up demand. Equally so many businesses I know have spent the last 12 months on workplace strategy and I think those will be concluded in the summer and businesses and staff just want to get back in the office."
Simons says he is far from an advocate of working from home but that it is here to stay to some degree. "We have carried the hashtag not working from home, we just really have come into the office always. But I believe businesses and staff know there is a social responsibility for businesses to support the economic structure of our cities too, and ultimately they will drive a significant return to offices."
So what do Compton's peers think of the restaurant opening?
"Property is very competitive as well as friendly so I wasn't sure how it would be. But we have had a lot of support from the property community. Someone from another company has already done a deal in the restaurant – I am just sad it wasn't me!"