"Everything we buy, it needs to have good bones," says TriOffice managing partner Ben Beck, as he outlines the firm's approach to acquiring offices across the regional markets and London. Having been appointed in September, Beck says the group is pleased to have made its first purchase – 55 Spring Gardens in Manchester – but will not be "sitting on our hands" as it hunts for more offices, with a keen focus on the regions.

In an interview with CoStar News, Beck explains the thinking behind the firm's counter-cyclical strategy, which focuses on buying offices in core micro-locations following a period of repricing, and then repositioning them into high-performing offices. This is before selling them off when office values pick up again in five years, he predicts.

He says: "For the very best stock I think there will be [that demand] and the reason I think that is because institutional money will always have an allocation to office, that allocation might reduce moving forward with a larger waiting towards alternative sectors, being that PBSA, or residential – they may have also upped their weighting to the logistics sector.

"But they will still have an allocation to office, which will still have to be filled somehow, that allocation will be for the very best buildings in the very best cities, which have been repositioned or built to a very high ESG criteria and are amenity-rich and in the right locations."

You can read Beck's full interview here.

Cushman & Wakefield has appointed James Dunne as its head of UK living, who will join at the start of next year. Dunne is head of operational real estate for global investment manager Abrdn and was head of UK transactions prior to that, overseeing direct real estate acquisitions and disposals of £1.5 billion a year across all funds and new products. He will succeed Charles Whitworth, with his role spaning all residential subsectors. He will report to David Haynes, head of UK specialist markets, and will work closely with senior figures in the living teams in the UK and across Europe. Haynes said: “James is a key strategic hire for us as we continue our momentum in the living sector."

Liverpool City Council has named Kate Stansfield as its interim head of sustainability in a role that will see her spearhead efforts to decarbonise its buildings and operations in line with government net zero policy. Stansfield, who has held roles in the private and public sectors, will work with project partners to "deliver city-scale strategic plans and exemplar projects", and build the sustainability team. LCC said its recruit will play a key role in creating a green economy after the city council was named the world's first "Accelerator City" for Climate Change. This activity spans across buildings, energy, transport and waste, with LCC looking to work closely with City partners, businesses and investors.

Colliers has appointed Tim Williams as a director in its London offices team, who has more than 30 years' experience in the London office market. Williams worked at Strutt & Parker from 2005 before joining BNP Paribas Real Estate, when the latter bought the firm in 2017. Prior to that, he held positions at Nelson Bakewell and Knight Frank.

Colliers said he will focus on the City, Midtown, City Fringe and Docklands markets, and holds "significant agency expertise" having been "involved in many major schemes" across those areas. Tom Wildash, co-head of London leasing at Colliers, said: "Tim brings with him unrivalled expertise across the City office market."

Tony Horrell, Colliers CEO for UK & Ireland, added: "Tim’s significant experience and client relationships will help fuel the growth of our London Offices team, providing further support to our clients. We’re incredibly proud of our breadth of expertise across all areas of the London office market and this latest appointment demonstrates our commitment to providing the best service in this sector."

CBRE has launched a dedicated planning division in Scotland, hiring four. Colin Smith joins as senior director, bringing more than 27 years of experience and has a background in the urban living, hospitality, leisure and commercial sectors. Kate Donald is also appointed as senior director, with CBRE saying the pair will advise on projects across Scotland, with a focus on Edinburgh and Glasgow. Donald’s experience in repurposing the built environment, gained over 20 years in planning, will “reinforce the team's ability to deliver high-profile regeneration projects across the country”, the agency added. The wider team is strengthened by Hannah Munro and James Wall, who enter as senior planners from Turley.

Jörn Stobbe, chief executive of German developer Becken Holding, is moving into the sports industry. Strobbe, who has extensive expertise in the national and international real estate and fund segment, has left his job to spend more time on the beautiful game, according to Becken. The football enthusiast founded "Bündnis Kickers GmbH" to support traditional clubs in Offenbach and was chairman of the Supervisory Board of German second division side FC Köln until 2021. The qualified banker and lawyer was a partner at Clifford Chance from 2003 to 2013 and managing director at Deutsche Asset Management as head of transactions and asset management for Germany and other European countries.