Rankeilour Properties, the property investment and asset management company primarily focused on industrial and logistics properties in the North of England and Scotland, has added a LondonMetric cofounder to its ranks.
Valentine Beresford, an industry veteran with more than 35 years' experience working at senior management and board level, has joined the group as non-executive chairman of its new UK warehouse Fund.
He announced his retirement from the role of investment director at LondonMetric last October and left at the end of the last financial year.
Valentine was one of the original founders of Metric Property, which had its IPO in 2010, before it merged with London & Stamford in 2013. He has worked with LondonMetric’s management team for more than 30 years, the last 13 of which were at LondonMetric after Pillar Property and British Land.
His career has involved aggregating and managing a number of real estate portfolios across the UK and Europe, focusing on logistics, retail warehousing, convenience retail and long income assets. He has also supported on strategic M&A activity, helping LondonMetric grow to circa £7.5 billion of assets.
Rankeilour said the appointment is part of the company's ambition to accelerate its strategy to provide "excellent returns" to investors by deploying capital across the North of England and Scotland.
The company said it is looking to work with new and existing stakeholders to "capitalise on the current softer market conditions". The new fund is raising capital to invest in industrial assets in Scotland and Northern England and is scheduled to launch in July 2026.
Rankeilour Properties director Neil Crombie said: "Valentine brings extensive sector expertise combined with exceptional investment discipline following his various tenures at some of the UK’s leading real estate companies.
"We look forward to capitalising on his expertise and palpable energy as we grow our business by offering investors access to this attractive asset class."