My Big Idea: commercial property investor The Harkalm Group

Hi Adam! What's your elevator pitch?

The Harkalm Group is an award-winning commercial property investor and developer. We work with some of the UK’s leading operators including Tesco, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Busy Bees and many others. We develop long term, trusted relationships with our operator tenants and our developments regenerate both land and vacant buildings in the retail, education, food stores and roadside sectors, turning them into community assets which benefit local communities across the UK.

Why does the market need it?

Traditionally landlord tenant relationships have always been uncooperative. However, at an early stage we understood that long term trusted partnerships would be key to our success. We wanted to work together with our operators rather than against them, as essentially we have the same aim, which is to be successful in business. Tenants can comfortably pay rent if they have a premium building that helps attract customers. If the building is compromised in any way, trade will dwindle and they will struggle to pay rent. We have in house retailer expertise and combine this with our partnership approach with a 5* service which reflects our standards of excellence and this has enabled us to stand out from competitors.

Where is the business today?

In 2005 when we set up the Company, I would have never thought that 20 years on we would have completed in excess of 300 transactions and 400 million pounds worth of commercial property investment deals in the UK. We now have 30 staff and an appetite to transact on 25 deals in a year, representing 50 to 60 million pounds a year.

In the early days it was different, but now it is no longer about the money. It is about building a growth business with a legacy. Most of all, I enjoy working with the team, upskilling them and putting them in positions of responsibility, to give them purpose and a pathway to success.

It is amazingly rewarding to see our projects help breathe life back into vacant buildings and disused sites for the benefit of local people. A highlight was recognition for our projects in the educational sector where we were named Educational Investor of the Year for 2025. We only entered this sector five years ago and to be given this prestigious award against established institutional competitors was an honour and a credit to our team. Overall, it has been an incredible journey both personally and for the company, through good times and bad. It really is my purpose in life and sometimes I think of the business like another child.

What made you think there was money in this?

My career started at a newly formed company that soon became the largest independent commercial property auctioneers in the UK. I spent my days travelling up and down the country seeing towns, inspecting buildings, advising clients on their property sale. I soon became an expert in valuation and knew the market inside out. It was fast paced and we turned over 200 million pounds worth of property each year. I loved it. After six years, my entrepreneurial spirit led me to set up on my own.

In honesty, there was no big strategic plan, we set up and with the backing of my uncle, Richard Jankel we decided to have a go and see how long it lasts. In the first year, we completed and traded on 15 transactions and it snowballed from there.

Having survived and learnt some amazing lessons in the 2008 financial crisis, by 2010 it was time to become more strategic. We began to focus on different sectors and started working with the biggest retailers in the UK. We now use our established relationships, prop tech and expertise to source properties for our retailers better than their own in-house teams.

What's your biggest strength?

My personal strengths are those that I also look for and nurture within my team. Building good relationships is at the heart of what we do. I have been lucky enough to deal and connect with many successful people over the years, but remain down to earth and I attract similar people to the company. Leadership skills are important and our ability to think of the future, always staying ahead of the curve. We use our experience in prop tech and AI too. Over the years, as I have become older and more experienced, I have learned to trust my gut and go with it if it feels right.

What is the secret to making the business work?

The secret to success in my view is in the culture of business and enjoying the journey, this is the invisible glue that holds everything together. We were recently awarded Gold accreditation by Investors in People which is testament to our culture. In terms of our core business, which is hugely complex, with a multitude of layers of challenges, the key is to try and keep our vision and strategy simple. Ultimately we are matching buildings with tenant requirements. Think of it like a property dating service. That said, it is a model that would be difficult to replicate. Our relationships, experience and reputation built up over time are what makes it all work. We do have competition but they are not doing exactly what we are doing and by the time they are looking at what we are doing, we are pivoting which keeps us ahead.

How do you market the company?

We are a twenty year old business with an established track record, embedded relationships and an excellent reputation for performance. Most people in industry will have already heard of Harkalm. When it comes to proactive marketing, I am naturally a low key person who does not really like to raise my head above the parapet, however for the past ten years or so, I realised the importance of marketing the Harkalm brand and we added an in-house marketing team. We mainly use LinkedIn which is great for B2B, we also have a quarterly newsletter which keeps everyone updated about important developments.

What funding do you have? Is it enough?

Over the years, I thought the funding question would get resolved but it never does. If you consider that our average property purchase is two million pounds and we complete 25 transactions per year, that is 50 million pounds per year in acquisitions with an additional ten million pounds for cost of development, Harkalm is a cash thirsty operation.

We now have an established balance sheet we use for our working capital and excellent relationships with various banks to enable growth. Is it enough? Not really given our ambition for significant growth over the next few years. We are currently in the throes of working out where that funding will come from, which might be institutional funding or a potential equity sale. We have recently taken on a CFO, specifically to assist in the process.

Tell us about the business model

For the past two decades, The Harkalm Group has acquired, asset managed and invested in the retail, education, food stores and roadside sectors across the UK. We aim to add substantial value to both vacant and tenanted commercial properties to maximise their value before recycling the capital for reinvestment. We source and buy empty or undeveloped sites and convert units for operator partners, our tenants.

Ultimately, we produce institutional grade investments we either retain or sell. Our agreed lease terms range between 15 and 25 years with fixed CPI rental increases. The investments we sell tend to be acquired by high net worth individuals, family offices and small funds. They are not get rich quick schemes but a wealth preservation product.

It is sector dependent but take education as an example. In 2024, we acquired 22 properties via sale and leaseback portfolios, redevelopments and developments which included Special Educational Needs and disabilities schools investments. We secured lettings to ten different nursery tenants. This reflected a significant investment with a total purchase cost of 32.87 million pounds and subsequently generating a combined annual rent roll of 2.7 million pounds. Our investments and developments in the past year have resulted in the establishment of educational facilities that accommodate over 1504 children.

What about tech?

We love tech and software having just revamped our CRM system. AI is the future and anyone who thinks they can avoid using AI is mistaken. AI is the equivalent to the World Wide Web 20 years ago, and if businesses do not embrace AI now they will regret it later. We have employed an AI expert to revolutionise every department in our business from legal department to acquisitions team. I constantly say to everyone that they need to understand AI and see how they can work with it or it will take over. We do not want to run an automated business, we are all about relationships but there will always be ways for tech to assist our team.

What is the future vision?

Any business that stands still is of course going backwards. Therefore, I have a vision to grow Harkalm to 100 million pounds by 2030. It is an ambitious plan and will require funding. However, growth is essential and we have the strong team foundations in place to make it happen.