From Local Insight to Global Impact: Strengthening Baker Tilly’s Real Estate Ambition

Building Baker Tilly's global real estate ambition following the Steering Committee's first face-to-face meeting in Munich, Germany.

The real estate industry has always been shaped by location, but increasingly, the forces influencing investment, development, financing and returns are global. Capital moves across borders, investors operate internationally, regulation continues to evolve, and clients increasingly expect their advisers to combine deep local knowledge with a genuinely international perspective. 

Against this backdrop, the first face-to-face meeting of the Baker Tilly Global Real Estate Industry Group Steering Committee in Munich, Germany represented an important milestone in strengthening our global approach to the Real Estate sector. 

Bringing together colleagues from the United States, UK, Europe and the Middle East around one table provided something that virtual meetings cannot always replicate: the opportunity for open discussion, constructive challenge and the exchange of perspectives shaped by very different markets. From my perspective as an Audit Partner in the Middle East, this was particularly valuable. 

Every real estate market has its own characteristics. However, many of the issues facing our clients increasingly cross national boundaries. Investors and developers are considering where capital should be deployed, how assets should be financed and structured, how valuations and returns are affected by changing economic conditions, and how evolving financial reporting, regulatory and sustainability expectations will impact their businesses. 

The Munich meeting demonstrated the value of that approach. Perspectives from the United States, European and Middle Eastern markets could be discussed together rather than in isolation. For those of us working in the Middle East, where Dubai and the wider region continue to attract international interest, maintaining strong relationships with colleagues in major international markets is increasingly important. 

From an audit perspective, global collaboration also strengthens the conversations we can have with our clients. Understanding developments beyond our own jurisdiction provides valuable context when discussing areas such as real estate valuations, financing, investment structures, financial reporting and the wider risks and opportunities facing internationally active businesses. 

Importantly, Munich was a starting point rather than an end point. Our focus going forward should be on turning the relationships established through the Steering Committee into tangible value. This means greater connectivity between Baker Tilly real estate teams internationally, more regular sharing of market and technical insights, identifying opportunities where member firms can collaborate across borders and, ultimately, making it easier for our clients to access the right Baker Tilly expertise wherever their investments or ambitions take them. 

For me, that is the real significance of our first face-to-face Steering Committee meeting in Munich. It demonstrated what global strength and local understanding can look like in practice. The relationships have been established and the perspectives shared. Our task now is to build on that momentum and translate our global connectivity into stronger collaboration, deeper industry insight and, most importantly, greater value for our clients.