As head of international residential at Savills, Hugo Thistlethwayte has presided over another period of expansion. ‘Our acquisition of Aguirre Newman in Spain and Portugal has considerably increased our presence in those countries,’ he explains. Talking with Thistlethwayte, one notes the sheer range of his footprint, from the Middle East to the US and beyond. Rather than Brexit (‘I’ll leave others to comment on that’), it’s Macron’s France that has his attention. ‘We probably have seen problems there,’ he admits. ‘Having said that, the fundamentals are pretty good, and the economy is growing. And sadly, the world is getting used to a bit more political risk.’