Change: one of three things that never does

At Eurobuild’s Annual Commercial Property Conference at the end of November, I discussed (oh, all right, I gossiped) with an old acquaintance of mine about a mutual friend. She said: you know, I think he’s changed recently. Indeed, but we’ve ALL changed, because each one of us is constantly being affected by everyone we meet, everything that happens to us and everything new we learn. Change was a subject that came up during one of the discussion panels at the conference. In answer to the question, “What worries you most about 2017?”, the panellists unanimously agreed on “unexpected changes”... but in this case they actually meant changes to the law. However much you might enjoy the occasional surprise, in business they are not so welcome. But at the same time, if you are the quickest off the mark at adjusting to changes on the market you can emerge out of the whole process of change as a winner. One such person is Paul Gheysens, the founder of Ghelamco, who is this year’s recipient of the Eurobuild Lifetime Achievement Award and also the subject of one our features (‘More Perceptive than Poirot’). You can also find out who else has won Eurobuild Awards on the pages of this magazine, although we will devote much more space to them in our next issue. Have there been any changes in the identities of the winners since last year? Certainly, there are a few surprises. And what other new developments can you read about this month? Immofinanz has been implementing changes to its office portfolio. How is it doing this and why? You can find out in our cover story. Another change coming soon is the new year that lies ahead of us. I would like to use this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas time and the happiest of new years, while Santa’s team also send you their best wishes in our special seasonal feature (‘Ding-Dong Merrily on High’).