As the values-driven property advisory firm joins Future of London, we talk to directors MARK BYLES and SARAH HISCUTT about the London Plan, supermarket development and the “Newsteer neighbourhood”.
At a Newsteer meeting, you may find senior team members take your coffee order, while a more junior colleague chairs the meeting. They call this the “Newsteer neighbourhood,” and these inclusive behaviours are baked into the company’s values.
The property advisory firm was founded on a commitment to team development and a model designed to balance the autonomy of the individual with the strength of the collective. This culture of personal development is a primary reason the firm joined Future of London.
“If you look at the Covid generation of young people, networking is more difficult for them,” says Newsteer director Mark Byles. “They have not had the foundational experiences of going to events and talking to people, and we are learning how to manage that. We want them to grow their soft skills, not just their technical skills.”
Mark finds that young team members are often comfortable on Zoom or at larger events where they can lean back. But the transition to physical networking is a challenge.
“Future of London offers them a chance to mix with more senior people and shape their own network. The fact that the organisation helps facilitate those introductions is invaluable and stops them from having to wander over to a room full of strangers.”
Founders embrace collaboration to launch new firm
Newsteer was launched in 2019 by former GL Hearn senior executives Brian Sloggett and Alastair Crowdy, the chairman and managing director. In six years, the firm has grown into an award-winning multidisciplinary team of 40 surveyors and planners.
Before joining Newsteer in 2022, Mark was a development manager and principal commercial surveyor for local authorities, latterly the London Borough of Waltham Forest. His colleague Sarah Hiscutt joined Newsteer last year as planning director, having started her career at GL Hearn as an assistant planner.
“I like to learn and collaborate with other people,” she says. “Those positive business values that I admired have been translated to Newsteer. I feel very fortunate to still be working with some of these individuals.”
Mark and Sarah are keen to discuss this collaborative culture, in part because they feel that technical expertise should be a given in a competitive market. The firm’s mantra for working with clients is “beyond advice”, and the Newsteer neighbourhood concept embraces its emphasis on client collaboration.
“We’re trying to answer the same question that local authorities are trying to answer so they can deliver for their community,” says Sarah. “That’s how a collaborative joint venture really should be, because we’re all seeking the right outcomes. If we can find consensus and discuss those issues openly, then we’re more likely to get them.”
Planners sit next to our investment agents and asset managers, enabling “ a very agile approach to multidisciplinary engagement,” adds Mark.
Integrated team creates multi-disciplinary service for clients
This multidisciplinary approach is currently being applied to several high-profile projects. At the start of the year, Newsteer forecast opportunities for “regeneration-led growth, supported by public-private partnerships… particularly where housing, infrastructure and community uses are integrated.”
One such project involves acting for Asda on plans for the supermarket’s first residential development with Barratt London at its Park Royal site. The plan for a new town centre, including a superstore and 1,500 homes, was unveiled in 2024 and remains subject to planning.
Newsteer’s involvement with major food store operators has provided the firm with deep market intelligence on how supermarkets have led the development of many major sites in London.
The mosque and community hub in Newham
This experience was a decisive factor in the firm winning the instruction for a major mixed-use redevelopment opportunity at Abbey Mills, near West Ham station. Plans for major residential development, a permanent mosque and community hub have been stalled by decades of legal and planning wrangling, including initial opposition from Newham Council and appeals to the Secretary of State.
“We’ve been supporting our client’s objectives and identifying how the site can be positively brought forward for the last three years,” says Sarah. “We’ve been working in collaboration with the local authority and the Greater London Authority to shape the best strategic site allocation.”
Mark adds that their progress was down to a combination of market intelligence and planning relationships.
“Our advice was that you need more than just a marketing approach for the site,” he says. “We needed to work collaboratively with Newham Council to promote the form of development that they could support. This involved making active representations during the new Local Plan’s call for sites to secure a favourable allocation.”
Retrofit or regenerate to tackle the real viability challenge?
In West London, Newsteer is working with the London Borough of Hounslow on the regeneration of the Convent Way estate. Newsteer is helping the council address the business case of “retrofit vs regeneration” at a time of extreme viability challenges.
“Both options can represent massive gaps in terms of funding,” says Mark. “The amount of money you need for gap-funding and retrofitting can often be remarkably similar.
“However, it often makes more holistic sense to pursue the regeneration case because of the non-financial benefits – delivering place-making benefits and new homes rather than propping up buildings with inherent structural defects that will be 100 years old by the end of the investment period.”
The London Plan and the challenge of justifying demolition
Mark notes that current policy adds a layer of complexity. “The London Plan now allows you to apply for 100% grant funding to replace obsolete social homes, but you have to justify demolition by going through other options that are often entirely impractical.”
Sarah is familiar with these frustrations from her previous experience in the sector. “The realities of moving development forward are still being reckoned with. How safeguarding works when sites are deemed not to be viable is a critical factor for policy reform. There is an opportunity there, but it is not yet being fully realised.”
Despite the policy hurdles, Mark is keen to end on a high note regarding the future of the capital’s built environment.
“We love being and working in London, and we want to be part of the solutions to its unique challenges. We’ve got to promote London as the place to live and work. It’s the economic powerhouse of the country, and if London stutters and falters, so does the whole.”
With that sentiment, Newsteer will find many friends in the Future of London network!
Find out more about Newsteer’s expertise in housing-led development and regeneration.