When the lease decision matters, independence matters more.
S King Advisory advises CEOs, CFOs and leadership teams on major commercial lease decisions — relocations, renewals, renegotiations and portfolio strategy — particularly where lease expiry, growth, acquisition, restructuring or a national operating footprint requires independent strategic advice.
One of the largest financial decisions a business makes outside its core operations.
Whether relocating, renewing, renegotiating an existing lease, exercising an option or managing a national portfolio, a major lease commitment impacts the balance sheet, constrains future growth flexibility, carries ongoing cost obligations and affects employee satisfaction.
It’s rarely just about the rent.
Most organisations approach that decision under time pressure, relying on agents and advisors whose fees are paid by landlords. The process feels like it’s working for you. The structure is not.
Every variable in that negotiation — rent, incentives, fitout contribution, make-good obligations, lease flexibility — is contestable. The difference between an average outcome and a genuinely good one typically returns the cost of independent advice many times over.
S King Advisory makes sure that difference is captured.
How tenant representation fees are typically paid
Tenant representation is increasingly offered at no apparent cost to the occupier. The advisor’s fee is paid by the landlord — out of the same incentive pool the occupier is negotiating to recover.
An advisor in that position has a financial interest in closing the deal, not in maximising what the occupier receives. Prolonged negotiation, or pursuing a better alternative, delays or eliminates their fee. The landlord understands this dynamic. Most occupiers do not.
S King Advisory is engaged directly by the occupier and paid by the occupier. The advice is unambiguously on one side of the table.
The typical model
The SKA model
Independent occupier advisory
Thirty years advising at the scale where property decisions become board decisions.
Western Australian Government commercial property portfolio divestment — the largest property transaction in the state’s history. Won on competitive appointment and personally led.
Knight Frank’s first global real estate mandate, awarded by Gillette — office and industrial properties across multiple countries. Won and personally led.
Equity capital raised to establish Lamont Property plc — a £200 million UK commercial property investment company founded and led from inception through to sale.
Recent assignments across Australia
National tenant representation, lease acquisitions, renegotiations, industrial make-good advice and strategic portfolio reviews.
Veris
Appointed over five years as national tenant representative — office lease acquisitions and renegotiations across Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and Brisbane, delivering a materially improved and business-aligned portfolio.
Genesis Minerals
Tenant representative on the acquisition of 1,500 sqm of office space at Exchange Tower in the Perth CBD — accommodating a mid-negotiation increase in space requirement without compromising the commercial terms secured.
Lifeline WA
Tenant representative for a 1,000 sqm requirement — taken to market, resolved through negotiated renewal and expansion with coterminous expiry. Lifeline WA's second appointment of Simon King, engaged years earlier on its lease-versus-purchase decision.
Industrial make-good
Major industrial make-good assignment across five Perth properties for a global industrial equipment company — negotiating landlord claims and delivering outcomes materially below the landlord’s original position.
A career operating at the highest levels of corporate advisory
Insurance Commission of Western Australia (ICWA)
Appointed to divest the Commission's $825 million commercial property portfolio — three A-Grade Perth CBD towers and two retail centres. Ran a strongly contested sale process achieving sales exceeding $825 million against a $780 million valuation.
Gillette
Knight Frank's first global mandate. Account leader for the 2.7 million sq ft portfolio, managing projects across Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific regions. Delivered savings through lease restructurings, acquisitions, terminations, renewals, extensions and rent reviews.
Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers (WesCEF)
Exclusive advisor and tenant representative on two separate assignments — acquisition of a 4,500 sqm Perth CBD office lease, and strategic advice on a proposed bespoke development opportunity with a prominent Perth developer.
Standard Chartered & Oracle
Hong Kong office portfolio consolidation for Standard Chartered — merging 15 offices through staff and department co-location modelling. Asia Pacific lease audit and portfolio review for Oracle across 46 office properties.
WA Government health agencies
Appointed by Child & Adolescent Health Service and PathWest to advise on separate office lease acquisitions in new developments. In both cases the recommendation was made not to proceed — the commercial terms were not in the occupier’s interest.
ICI plc
UK and European divestment of a 220-property land and industrial portfolio, including sites with contamination and derelict structures.
Fleetwood
Appointed nationally as tenant representative and transaction manager — office and industrial lease acquisitions across Australia, including a 15,000 sqm Melbourne industrial lease.
Credit Suisse First Boston
City of London office portfolio due diligence in advance of a corporate takeover.
Family Office
Appointed by a Melbourne Family Office to divest a $900 million CBD office portfolio comprising five A-Grade towers, including the strategic buyout of a partner’s 50% interest.
Private Equity
Buy-side due diligence on 632 Lloyds Bank properties across the United Kingdom.
Simon provided Lifeline WA with expert tenant representation throughout our recent office search and lease negotiations, ensuring our interests were well protected and achieving a strong commercial outcome. Having successfully represented us on previous property matters, we were confident in reappointing Simon for this engagement. His strategic advice, responsiveness, and deep knowledge of the market gave us confidence throughout the process, and we highly value the expertise he brought to our organisation.
Simon King
Simon King has spent thirty years advising major corporations, government agencies and private enterprises on complex real estate decisions across Australia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and continental Europe.
His career has spanned senior positions with major global real estate firms and Big Four accounting firms — including roles as Partner and Head of EMEA Global Corporate Services at Knight Frank in London, and Director and Head of Real Estate Advisory in Western Australia at PwC. In both roles he led teams operating at the highest levels of corporate advisory.
Unusually for a real estate advisor, Simon has also operated as a business principal. He founded and managed Lamont Property plc, raising £50 million in equity capital and building a £200 million UK commercial property investment company from inception through to sale. He has co-founded, listed and managed companies on the Australian Securities Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, raised capital in competitive markets and sat in the chair his clients now occupy — understanding the weight of consequential business decisions from the inside.
That perspective shapes every engagement. The advice is grounded in business strategy and financial outcomes, not property convention.
Begin with a confidential discussion.
If a lease expiry, relocation, renegotiation or portfolio question is on your board agenda, an initial discussion is without obligation — and stays between us.