OBREMS/Savills Prizes 2013

This year, OBREMS, with the support of Savills, have rewarded the efforts of the three Oxford Brookes University students who are taking a degree in real estate. The prizes are based on their performance in their valuation project.

The winning students: Marcel Goerlich (left), Chloe Hazell (middle) and Henrik van Bonn (right)

1st Prize (£250 + internship at Savills): Marcel Goerlich (MSc Student)
2nd Prize (£175): Chloe Hazell (MSc Student)
3rd Prize (£75): Henrik van Bonn (BSc Student)

For their valuation project the students were required to undertake a valuation of an office building in the City of London and then advise a hypothetical investor client on the worth of the property, relative to market value, based on a scenario analysis of potential economic outlooks.

William Newsom, Senior Director in the Valuation Division at Savills, came to the University to present the project to all the students. He gave an overview of the site, the valuation issues and the expectations of a hypothetical client given the brief.

The students were required to undertake a valuation of the property using real life market comparables. The students who produced the top six reports on the BSc and MSc Real Estate programmes were then short listed and a team at Savills decided upon the winners. The winning students, in addition to winning the prizes noted, were also entertained by Savills to a celebratory lunch in London. The Savills' committee was William Newsom, Harriet Evans, Anna Swan and Nina Rudarakanchana.

Nick French (leader of the MSc Real Estate) said "This was a really interesting and practical project. It is important that valuation is taught in a pragmatic way. Valuation concepts and definitions are important but, ultimately, the role of a valuer is to understand markets and estimate prices with reference to current market conditions and expectation. This project allowed the students an insight into the real world. All three winners are to be congratulated on very professional presentations".