Simon Lee’s grandfather, Douglas Wade, leaves the RAF at the end of the WWII and takes a job with E. Pordage, a Norfolk-based fruit and veg trader with stalls and offices in the Covent Garden Market Hall.
After nearly 40 years Douglas retires from E. Pordage having worked his way to Managing Director. He shares fond memories with his grandson of trips to Covent Garden and tales of trading life in the Market Hall, staying in the Savoy hotel, and drinking with the traders in the pubs on Drury Lane.
Inspired by his grandfather, Simon accepts a job as a graduate surveyor with EA Shaw and Partners—a company synonymous with property in Covent Garden and the surrounding area. Here he meets long-standing clients Royal London, Soho Estates, and Shaftesbury. The first office building he works in is 9/12 Bow Street, a former banana warehouse owned by Royal London.
Simon successfully gains RICS qualification.
In one of the West End’s biggest deals of its kind, EA Shaw acts for CapCo on the purchase of the Market Hall and surrounding buildings in 2006, which was then valued at £421 million. Today the Capco estate sprawls 1.1m sq ft and is worth in the region of £1.7 billion.
Simon takes up a role as an Associate Director with global real estate advisor at DTZ.
Having experienced the corporate world and expanded his knowledge and client base, Simon returns to EA Shaw as a partner to grow their agency team.
CBRE purchases EA Shaw in 2012 and Simon remains with CBRE for a further 8 years.
Simon experiences a career highlight of pre-letting 100,000 sq ft to internationally renowned, BAFTA and Oscar-winning visual effects company Framestore at 28 Chancery Lane.
Costar gives Simon the Midtown Broker of the Year award for his letting at 28 Chancery Lane as being the largest Midtown deal.
Simon joins ex-colleagues at Tavistock Bow with a view to setting up a commercial service line alongside their successful residential niche agency.
Simon establishes Stage RE to focus on servicing clients and helping them solve commercial real estate challenges in Central London.
Play videoFirst letting completes under Stage RE with a pre let of the 4th floor at 25 Bedford Street in Covent Garden acting on behalf of landlord BlackRock.
Stage RE is appointed to provide refurbishment and leasing advice by the landlords of The Yards in Covent Gardens. The Yards is a 1.9 acre mixed-use scheme in prime Covent Garden consisting of 100,000 sq ft of workspace.
Stage recruits Max Chalk as a Graduate Surveyor to assist the growing list of Stage clients.
Acting for prominent West End landlord Shaftesbury PLC STAGE advises on the 3,000 sq ft letting of the 2nd floor at 77 St Martins Lane in Covent Garden.
STAGE advises independent furniture consultant Hunters Contacts on their relocation to the 1st floor at Charterhouse Buildings in Clerkenwell.
No14 The Yards is 100% let within 3 months of the refurbishment completed. Tenants include Pathway Capital, Heimstaden and Autotrader.
Play videoThe final letting at 51 Great Marlborough Street in Soho completes. Acting for BlackRock STAGE played a central role on all aspects of the workspace design and letting strategy of 25,000 sq ft which spanned six floors. Six new tenants were secured with the landlord delivering five of the six floors as Fully Fitted Plug and Play workspace.
Play videoActing for our old client friends Northwood Investors LLC, STAGE is appointed to re-gear and let 20,000 sq ft Frith & Bateman in Soho.
Another quick turnaround for STAGE and our landlord client Royal London Asset Management with the letting of the 3rd floor at 22 Old Bond Street in Mayfair. We identified and secured Omni Partners as suitable tenants within three months of taking on the instruction.
No10 The Yards is 100% let with lettings to Lee Copper and Clarity Capital Partners.
STAGE is appointed to advise private property company The Milton Group on the re letting strategy of a 10,000 sq former warehouse building on Charlotte Mews in Fitzrovia.
Work starts on 2x3,000 sq ft floors in No17 The Yards. STAGE collaborated on all aspects of the refurbishment and fit out with completion schedule for May.
STAGE is appointed by the JV partners as Joint Agents alongside Levy to help secure new workspace tenants on the final two units at City North in Finsbury Park.
STAGE is appointed by the private family on the workspace above former Shepherds Foods in Covent Garden. The building has been in the family ownership for over 50 years having operated out of the retail unit for 30 years between the 1970’s and early 2000’s.
Stage advises on the leasing of a fabulous fitted workspace floor close to Tottenham Court Road station for investor client Stage Street Global Advisors.
Stage advises SNRG, a NextGen energy infrastructure company, on the acquisition of flexible workstations in Farmington.
Stage continues to grow with the hire of Isabel Gill. Joining from JLL Isabel will enhance Stage’s consultancy capabilities and expertise in helping clients to create and deliver managed workspace solutions. Using her knowledge of the flexible workspace market Isabel will also assist our occupier clients with their flexible workspace searches.
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