In response to the emphasis increasingly being placed by European property investors on environmental issues, Watts opened a third German office in Düsseldorf in January 2007, dedicated to providing a specialist environmental service.

The office is occupied by Envest, the Group's environmental due diligence company. The strong German property investment market has been driven by low prices and borrowing costs and good yields and the sector is expected to remain robust for some time to come, creating demand for Watts' services in the region. The issue of sustainability is now a reality for property investors and the implications for future asset transactions, asset management and property valuations are becoming clear. The Düsseldorf team, lead by Stephan Herlitzius, is initially providing services to the whole of Germany as well as Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and it is anticipated that the office will expand as demand increases.