Knight Frank has restructured its UK and European business into a single European partnership in a move which will see the firm assume full ownership of five offices across the continent.
The move is part of a three year plan by Knight Frank which will see a further four offices integrated into the partnership before the end of 2009.
The first five offices are in the west of Europe.
They are: Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Hungary and Spain. The second phase will include four offices in: Germany, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.
The move sees the heads of these offices become proprietary partners, increasing the firm’s overall number of proprietary partners by nine to sixty partners.
Chris Bell, managing director of Knight Frank in Europe said: ‘We reviewed our business model in response to client demand, which increasingly requires a broader integrated European business.’
Knight Frank’s European strategy also involves growing the business through purchases.
Bell said: ‘We have always been focused on growth and in the last few years, have opened new offices in: Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Budapest, Dublin, and Munich. Since then our turnover has increased to £60 million, and staff numbers stand at 820.’