DTZ has seen huge growth and today it is the mainland's largest real estate advisory company with offices extending over the 'Golden Hammer'
INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY consultants DTZ Debenham Tie Leung opened its first office in China a little more than a decade ago with a handful of staff and a tiny office in Shanghai. Today, with more than 500 employees, it is the firm's second-largest office in the world after London. Close behind is the Shenzhen office, with 478 staff.
'China has gone from practically nowhere to the fastest-growing area of our global business,' said executive director, David Watt.
With its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong, DTZ has become the mainland's largest property advisory firm, with offices across what Mr Watt describes as the 'Golden Hammer', a geographical footprint equivalent to the 'Golden Crescent' embracing Europe's wealthy economic heartland from Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, northern France and Germany to northern Italy.
Its network stretches from Beijing, Tianjin and Dalian in the north, to Shanghai and the Yangtze hinterland westwards to Chongqing and Chengdu, and down the coast to Hangzhou and the Pearl River Delta.
Opening soon are new outposts in Wuhan and Xian. DTZ's strategy is to expand at a rate of two new offices a year for the foreseeable future, with bases in 40 Chinese cities by 2020. 'We are extending our significant presence,' Mr Watt said. 'China is our major market focus in Asia.'