Cluttons LLP plans to wind down its business in Nigeria as the company seeks to restructure and position for future growth. Turnaround firm RCapital bought Cluttons out of a pre-packaged administration earlier this month, as the company came under significant pressure because the weight of its defined benefit pension obligations became “unsupportable in the long-term”.

Cluttons officially opened its Nigeria office during 2015 to strengthen their established global platform and to provide a range of commercial and residential real estate services. They also partnered with Alpha Mead Facilities & Management, a leading indigenous facilities management company. One of their major mandates included the management of Abuja’s flagship retail centre, Ceddi Plaza.

Other international real estate service providers including JLL, Cushman & Wakefield (via Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate) have also entered into the Nigerian market over the past 3 years to play a role in the country’s ‘booming’ commercial property market. Instead, Nigeria presented these real estate service providers and many other businesses, with a recession induced by falling oil prices, an office market struggling with oversupply and a retail market trying to cope with FX restrictions. A difficult environment.

Alongside the closure of operations in Nigeria, Cluttons will also close its global facilities management business and 3 London residential estate agency offices in Belgravia, Blackheath and Clapham. The boutique estate agent, which was founded in 1765 is often said to be the world’s oldest with approximately 450 employees and 32 partners. Moving forward, Cluttons intends on focusing on its more profitable areas and strengthen its core markets of London and the Middle East.