Real Estate Advisory

Board-level guidance for REITs, listed property vehicles, family offices, and institutions navigating UK property markets.

When you've built, scaled, and exited multiple listed property companies—including a £173m exit to Delancey and growing Palace Capital to a £259-280m portfolio—you don't theorize about real estate strategy. You've lived it.

Neil Sinclair FRICS - Real Estate Advisory

Track Record

£173m

Milner Estates exit to Delancey (Soros-backed), 1999

£259-280m

Palace Capital portfolio at peak, CEO 2010-2022

9 Cycles

Major economic shocks navigated, 1973-2024

Notable Transactions & Positions

• 1987: Led flotation of Sinclair Goldsmith on LSE (one of first UK commercial surveying firms to list)

• 2010: Co-founded Palace Capital plc via AIM shell acquisition, grew to Main Market listing

• 2013: Sequel Portfolio acquisition (£39.25m, 24 properties, reverse takeover)

• 2013-21: Hudson Quarter, York (£33.5m mixed-use development, 160k sq ft)

• 2015: Sol Central, Northampton acquisition (£20.7m debt assumption, leisure repositioning)

• 2025: Executive Chairman, Pristine Capital plc (cash shell targeting distressed opportunities)

• Agency: Acted for Gerald Ronson's Heron International, Nick Leslau (Henrietta House/CBRE HQ)

"
Markets change. Behaviour doesn't. Understanding both is the only hedge that works.
"

Advisory Services

REIT Formation & Governance

Guidance on structuring REITs, establishing governance frameworks, board composition, and operational best practices. Having taken multiple property companies public and navigated Main Market listings, Neil understands what actually works versus what consultants recommend.

• REIT structure design & regulatory compliance

• Board composition & governance frameworks

• Management incentive alignment

• IPO readiness & listing strategy

• Investor relations & market positioning

• Operational KPIs & reporting

Public Company Scaling & Strategy

Strategic advisory for listed property vehicles navigating growth, capital allocation, portfolio strategy, and shareholder expectations. Built on experience scaling Palace Capital from AIM shell to Main Market listing with a £259-280m portfolio.

• Growth strategy & capital deployment

• Portfolio composition & geographic focus

• Acquisition criteria & due diligence

• Disposal strategy & capital recycling

• Shareholder communication & alignment

• Board dynamics & governance friction

Distressed Assets & Opportunistic Investment

Deep experience navigating downturns and identifying opportunities when others retreat. Current role as Executive Chairman of Pristine Capital plc (distressed property focus) reflects a career-long pattern of doing deals when markets are scared.

• Distressed asset identification & valuation

• Capital structure arbitrage opportunities

• Workout strategy & value creation

• Counter-cyclical acquisition timing

• Risk assessment in distressed situations

• Exit strategy & repositioning

Institutional Portfolio Strategy

Advisory for family offices, pension funds, and institutional investors on UK property portfolio strategy, asset allocation, and manager selection. Understands the long-term ownership mindset because he's worked with institutions that measure performance in decades, not quarters.

• Portfolio composition & diversification

• Geographic & sector allocation

• Direct vs. indirect investment strategies

• Manager selection & oversight

• Performance benchmarking

• Long-term value creation strategies

Capital Markets & M&A

Fluency across IPOs, reverse takeovers, strategic exits, and M&A structuring. Multiple successful exits including the £173m Milner Estates sale to Delancey, and experience navigating shareholder alignment, market timing, and transaction execution.

• IPO strategy & execution (LSE, AIM)

• Reverse takeover structuring

• Strategic exit planning & timing

• M&A advisory & negotiation

• Capital raise strategy (debt & equity)

• Investor relations & roadshows

"
After nine cycles, you stop reacting to headlines. You recognize the patterns: when institutions panic, when family offices buy, when REITs restructure. It's not forecasting—it's pattern recognition built over sixty years.
"

Who This Is For

REITs & Listed Vehicles

Board-level advisory for REITs and listed property companies navigating strategy, governance, capital allocation, or shareholder alignment challenges.

"Neil's been through what we're facing—not as a consultant, but as CEO."

Family Offices

Advisory for family offices and long-term owners on UK property strategy, generational wealth preservation, and institutional-quality governance.

"He understands multi-generational ownership because he's worked with the families who've held London for a century."

Institutional Investors

Portfolio strategy and manager oversight for pension funds, insurers, and sovereign wealth allocating to UK commercial property.

"Rare to find someone who's been both operator and board advisor at institutional scale."

Distressed Situations

Guidance on distressed property opportunities, workout situations, and counter-cyclical positioning. Currently Executive Chairman of Pristine Capital plc.

"When everyone's panicking, you want someone who's seen this movie before—and made money in it."

Why Cycle Experience Matters

Real estate operates in long cycles. A REIT CEO in their first downturn is navigating by theory. A board advisor who's been through nine major shocks is navigating by pattern recognition.

Neil's career spans the 1973 Oil Crisis (early career discipline), the late-80s bubble and 1990 crash (led 1987 IPO, navigated the unwind), the ERM crisis (Conrad Ritblat merger and consolidation), the dot-com bubble (Milner Estates exit timing), the Global Financial Crisis (positioned for Palace Capital launch in 2010), Brexit uncertainty (contrarian regional focus), COVID commercial dislocation (Hudson Quarter completion and portfolio recycling), and the recent interest-rate whiplash and office-sector unwind (Pristine Capital formation, distressed focus).

This isn't about predicting the future. It's about recognizing when institutions panic, when family offices buy, when boards freeze, and when opportunity disconnects from consensus. That only comes from living through the pattern multiple times.

"
Boards don't fail from lack of intelligence. They fail from lack of operational memory—not knowing what the last three cycles actually felt like from the CEO chair.
"

Frequently Asked Questions

What is REIT formation and governance advisory?

REIT formation and governance advisory includes expert guidance on structuring Real Estate Investment Trusts, establishing governance frameworks, board composition, regulatory compliance, and operational best practices for optimal performance and shareholder value.

How does Neil Sinclair help with distressed real estate opportunities?

Neil provides opportunistic investment guidance for distressed and undervalued real estate assets, drawing on decades of experience navigating economic downturns. This includes identifying opportunities, structuring acquisitions, risk assessment, and value-creation strategies refined through multiple real estate cycles.

What does capital markets guidance for real estate companies involve?

Capital markets guidance includes strategic advice on accessing capital markets, investor relations, shareholder alignment, market positioning, timing of capital raises, and navigating public market expectations for real estate companies and REITs.