The Student Accommodation Podcast

Interview with Tim Daplyn- Managing Director, Red Brick Research

On our latest episode we welcome on Tim Daplyn, Managing Director of Red Brick Research. This specialist student, youth and market insight agency are on a mission to inspire smarter, faster and better decision making. The interview discusses their new report focused on lessons from a decade of student housing data and touches on subjects such as the student mental health debate and the upcoming annual Global Student Living Conference.

Tim has led a wide range of projects including behavioural change, corporate strategy, social marketing and student and youth markets and has appeared on television news and is also a regular conference speaker.

 According to Tim’s Linkedin profile he speaks fluent research geek, and is a  marketer, editor, designer, salesperson and technologist. Tim loves to talk business, politics and has a passion for Rugby.

Interview with Jorick Beijer- Director, The Class of 2020

On this latest episode, Nick welcomes on the show Jorick Beijer, the Director of The Class of 2020. The content focuses on the Pan-European perspective and the institutional relationships between universities and operators and also the fundamental differences in mainland Europe in terms of approaching partnerships. Also discussed is how quickly PBSA is blending quickly into other alternative investments like co-living/co working and even shaping entire urban campus districts.

In 2011 The Class of 2020 was founded to improve the situation of student housing markets across Europe. Through original research, informative events, and The Class Conferences, this leading thinktank and their network is committed to making student living efficient, international, and welcoming.

 

 

Interview with Nathan Goddard- CEO, Student Roost

On our latest episode Nick welcomes on the show Nathan Goddard, CEO of one of the largest operators, Student Roost. The brand is continuing to grow at scale within the UK spotting a unique opportunity to consolidate a portfolio of high quality student housing assets through acquisition.

Student Roost owns and operates purpose-built student accommodation across the UK and is headquartered in Birmingham. With 45 properties and growing, providing over 16,580 beds to students, with a further 4000 rooms in development.

Nathan has led many of the exciting well-known brands within the space having held senior director roles with UNITE, Greystar and Student.com before his most recent activity with Student Roost where he now leads the business. 

Interview with Tom Devaney- Global COO, Scape

With one of the largest international student populations in the world and some of the best institutions, London was the natural place to start for this company. The well-known brand Scape is now focusing on opportunities globally, starting in Australia with 5,000 beds under construction and more in the pipeline for cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.

On this episode we welcome on the show the Global Chief Operating Officer for Scape, Tom Devaney and discuss their growth plans and look in detail at operations in the Australian market.  With over 20 years in the hospitality, tourism and service industry, he brings a huge amount of experience to Scape. Having managed the openings and operations of hotels across Europe for brands such as Hilton, IHG and Marriott he makes sure everything Scape does lives up to the highest standards of the biggest names in the business. 

Interview with Richard Simpson- CEO, Watkin Jones PLC

On this latest episode, Nick welcomes on the show Richard Simpson, CEO of Watkin Jones Group PLC to discuss the Build to Rent (BTR) sector. Watkin Jones provides an end-to-end solution in developing large scale, multi-occupancy accommodation projects, with a primary focus on the student accommodation market.

 The Company is one of very few players that operate across the entire development lifecycle from site procurement, planning and construction to ultimate scheme management. Watkin Jones’s end to end solution is unusual and this combined with its considerable track record and existing relationships with investors could provide a degree of protection if competition in the sector continues to increase due to the attractive market dynamics that exist.

Richard has 15 years’ experience working in the property development and student accommodation sector, most recently as Group Property Director at Unite Group plc, the FTSE250 manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation. Prior to starting his career in the industry, he served for six years in the British Army.

Qualified as a chartered surveyor and a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors he has substantial executive experience in setting the strategic direction for all aspects of property portfolio management, as well as holding various Board level roles including seven years serving on the Board of Unite Group plc and two years in a Non-Executive capacity with CityWest Homes. He was also Chair of the British Property Federation’s cross-sector Student Accommodation Committee from 2013-2015.

Interview with James Metcalf- Founder & CEO, Crosslane Group

 

Crosslane is an organisation which seeks to discover business opportunities in a variety of different markets, sectors and countries. The Crosslane property development business was originally established in 2011 by James Metcalf and Michael Sharples specialising in the identification and development of PBSA in the UK & Ireland.

Over time, two parts to the business emerged: one that focussed on acquiring existing assets to convert to PBSA and the other that focussed on land acquisition requiring planning to create new build PBSA assets. These companies were subsequently renamed to Crosslane Student Developments.

On this episode we welcome the Co-Founder and CEO James Metcalf to discuss his viewpoint for the sector in 2019. James is the current chief executive officer of Crosslane Investment Management Limited, a director of Crosslane Property Advisor Guernsey Limited and also a director of the Victus European Student Accommodation Fund.

Interview with Paddy Allen- Partner, Cushman & Wakefield

On this episode, we will be continuing our mission of exploring a wide range of questions on the student housing market with the aim of getting our expert guests viewpoint on the sector for 2019. Looking in particular at some of the opportunities, challenges and key trends that are taking place.

Paddy Allen is a partner for Cushman and Wakefield which along with many other business divisions has a specialism in providing investment advisory for the Student Accommodation sector. His expertise has allowed Cushman & Wakefield to broaden its range of strategic advisory and transactional services within the European student accommodation sector as it has evolved to become a core asset class for global investors.

Paddy brings great experience and fantastic insight into this latest episode with recent experiences in transacting complex acquisitions, joint ventures, debt raising and strategic asset management of Purpose Built Student Accommodation portfolios.

Interview with Stewart Moore- CEO, CRM Students

Stewart Moore of CRM Students has been at the forefront of the sector for a number of years and has spearheaded growth where the group is now responsible for managing over 22,000 beds across the UK.

CRM Students continues to grow and partners with the very best universities, developers, funds and investment houses. Growing into Europe, as well as the management of build to rent and co-living, CRMs management portfolio is positioned to grow even quicker over the coming years after its recent acquisition by the European micro-living giant Corestate Capital Holding.

In our opening episode, we caught up with Stewart for a broad discussion on the sector, business growth plans and what the year ahead potentially has install for the sector.