黑洞社区

Tony Pidgley, chairman of housebuilder Berkeley Group, said the firm has 鈥済rounded鈥� its UK staff in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and that he had 鈥渘o doubt鈥� it would soon start to impact trading.

Pidgley told 黑洞社区鈥檚 sister title Housing Today that Berkeley had stopped flying executives to sell apartments overseas 鈥� an established practice at the business, which has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The veteran housebuilder, speaking yesterday just prior to prime minister Boris Johnson鈥檚 announcement of 鈥渟ocial distancing鈥� measures to suppress the spread of the virus, maintained that covid-19 had not yet had any impact upon trading.

The comments came as a number of construction companies and consultants, including JLL, announced plans for staff to work from home.

Pidgley said: 鈥淣ot yet we haven鈥檛 [seen any impact]. Most people reserve after long deliberations and they鈥檙e committed to their positions. We鈥檙e not getting fewer people to sites.

鈥淏ut I鈥檝e no doubt that in the fullness of time it will have an impact. At the moment, it鈥檚 business as usual but I鈥檓 sure that won鈥檛 last.

鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with an environment we have not seen before, so we鈥檒l have to take it as it comes.鈥�

Berkeley sells around half of its properties to investors, and in its most recent accounts said that, of these, overseas buyers continued to see relative value in the London market.

Pidgley said: 鈥淲e grounded people from travelling overseas three weeks ago. It would be irresponsible in the current situation. What鈥檚 encouraging is that technology has moved on to such an advanced stage that we鈥檙e able to run these events by video conferencing and laptops. It does work because we鈥檝e already got relationships in place.鈥�

Last week, Berkeley Group became the first major housebuilder to respond to the virus, announcing it was cancelling a planned 拢455m payout to shareholders because of the growing uncertainty. Shares in the firm have fallen 25% in the last 10 days, less than a number of other housebuilders.

Kevin Cammack, analyst at Cenkos Securities, said the coronavirus outbreak raised questions about whether Berkeley was over-reliant on Asian buyers, and how long Far East marketing road-shows need to be cancelled. He said: 鈥淎s global travel locks down, one can only fear for reservation rates at Berkeley over the coming months.鈥�

Pidgley said Berkeley had had a 鈥渇alse alarm鈥� of one employee who was initially suspected of having the virus, and was encouraging staff to work at home and meet via videoconferencing facilities.

Pidgley, who is 72, said the firm would deal with the issue of isolation for those over 70 鈥渨hen it comes along鈥�.

Berkeley last year made a pre tax profit of 拢775m on revenue of 拢2.95bn.