Grosvenor appoints UK CEO; Change of UK chief for BNP Paribas; Premier Estates names next boss

Jamie Whitty-Lewis will become CEO of Grosvenor’s UK property business at the start of December, succeeding James Raynor, who took up the role of CEO of Grosvenor’s international property business in September.

Whitty-Lewis is currently GPUK’s executive director of finance and was due to become the business’s CFO from April 2026. As a result of his promotion to CEO, the latter role will continue to be held by current GPUK CFO Debbie Lee. She will remain until a new CFO is selected, before succeeding Grosvenor's retiring CFO, Rob Davis, in Summer 2026.

Before joining Grosvenor, Whitty-Lewis worked in PepsiCo’s European headquarters after three years in BDO’s external audit practice.

BNPPRE has made a series of senior appointments, including in the UK, where Mark England has become CEO. England, who was chief operating officer, succeeds Etienne Prongué, who becomes head of the international investment group. Both have been in their role since 1 October.

From next year, Jean-Maxime Jouis, global head of investment management, will become deputy CEO, with "responsibility for supervising the advisory and property management business lines". He will report to Thierry Laroue-Pont. Timothée Rauly and John O’Driscoll, currently global co-heads of real estate at AXA IM Alts, become global heads of investment management on an interim basis.

Premier Estates, the UK property management firm that works with major homebuilders like Berkeley Homes, has named Lisa Fantom as its next boss, stepping into the shoes of company founder and chairman, Ben Jordan, who is stepping away from the company after 27 years at the helm.

Fantom will take on the leadership, having worked alongside him since 2007. A qualified accountant, she joined the business as finance director before stepping into the managing director role in 2018. Jordan established Premier Estates in 1998 after leading a management buyout of the private property management department of the housing association where he was employed.

Newmark has hired Carys Chandler and Leo Llewellyn to its leisure practice as partner and associate, respectively, who join its Cardiff office from Avison Young. Chandler is a specialist in the caravan park sector, with experience valuing a range of assets including holiday parks and residential caravan parks across the UK. Llewellyn specialises in valuation and agency services across a diverse leisure portfolio, including licensed leisure, hotels, caravan parks, historic venues, visitor attractions and sports stadiums. His track record includes leisure disposals in Wales, off-market pub sales and valuations of international holiday properties.

Savills has appointed Terri Mattison as a director in the firm’s property management team. She will be based in the City of London, where she will set up a retail demised services team to act across the national shopping centre portfolio. Mattison will lead the development and expansion of the service line direct to retailers and focus on integrating it with the retail operations team within property management.

She will also help to identify new opportunities by working alongside centre management teams, the firm added. In her previous role, she was national head of shopping centres and regional head of facilities management for Yorkshire and the Northeast at Knight Frank.

Mattison said: “I am excited to join Savills, especially given that this is a very interesting time for retail with the continued growth of technological innovations within the sector. I am looking forward to working with the rest of the facilities management team and Savills strong existing network of experts to grow this capability.”

Knight Property Group has appointed James Barrack Jr as a director. As the son of co-founder and chairman James Barrack Sr, and grandson of co-founder Hamish Barrack, the group said the younger James "represents the next generation of leadership". He joins the board after time at JLL and consultancy, Alternative Real Estate Advisors, where he focused on the operational side of the business, including analysing asset portfolios across the UK. At the firm's Edinburgh office, he will lead business development in the company’s Scottish market and help to expand into other UK regional markets. He will report to managing director Howard Crawshaw.

Paradise Birmingham, the £1.2 billion mixed-use community being led by Federated Hermes, has promoted two teams members that focus on helping to improve occupier experience across the estate. Matthew Walters becomes building manager at One Centenary Way having been head of the estate team. Lee Wileman, formerly Paradise Birmingham security manager, is made estate manager, "bringing his deep knowledge of safety and operations to the wider estate", the group said in a LinkedIn post. It added: "Their commitment to creating a safe, secure and welcoming environment for everyone who works, lives or visits Paradise lies at the heart of everything we do."