Although some parts of the UK have experienced snowfall over the past couple of weeks, the temperatures won't have been as harsh as those experienced by Knight Frank partner Josh Braid who took part in an expedition to the South Pole recently. The head of its Central London retail agency team climbed a circa 5,000-metre mountain and skied across the Antarctic wilderness to raise funds for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity and Kidscape.

Braid left the UK on 12 December last year, aiming to climb Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica measuring 4,892 metres and achieved the goal on Christmas Eve. He then trekked across the Antarctic to reach the Geographical South Pole days later, stopping briefly for a cooked breakfast a few hundreds metres away from the checkpoint.

Speaking to CoStar News after his epic challenge, Braid spoke about some traits needed to get to the South Pole and work in commericial real estate. "For the challenge you had to be pretty well prepared, getting all the equipment and doing all the training, and you have to be resilient", he said. "It is a bit like in development, it can take a long time [to see through to the end], so there are some synergies there. You can have all the best preparation but you don't know quite literally what the headwinds will be."

Residential developer Dandara Living has appointed Ashley Dollin, employed by Northland Investment Corporation between 2011 and 2022, to its senior leadership team. Dollin, who last worked for Northland as its operations trainer, will be mobilisation manager at Dandara Living, where she will lead on the delivery of a number of sites across the UK. Her new employers said she would take up a key role Glasgow's Granary Quay, a 342-unit build-to-rent scheme on the Clyde waterfront. Dollin will also lead its future delivery of a pipeline of 16 further sites nationwide.

JLL has created the new role of chief executive of its global Project and Development Services and tapped Cynthia Kantor to fill the position.

Kantor, who is based in Atlanta, will oversee a new leadership team unified under a global structure. With her promotion, Kantor, who previously served as chief client and growth officer in JLL's Workplace Dynamics group, now leads JLL's PDS services globally, "including managing the construction, development, design and branding of commercial real estate projects," the brokerage said. The new structure will allow JLL to align regional teams in a global organisation positions its Project and Development Services business for continued growth, the brokerage said.

JLL has appointed Nick Winter as the new leader of PDS in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Winter, based in London, served as the head of project cost and net zero consulting in the UK for the past year. Martin Hinge will continue in his role of its PDS business in the Asia-Pacific region

Transwestern has hired a commercial real estate finance and capital raising veteran who worked for several years at major institutional investment firms to lead its capital markets group.

The firm said it hired Brian Delgado as a senior managing director and global head of capital markets.

Delgado has more than two decades of experience working with US and foreign institutional investors, pensions funds, sovereign wealth funds, foundations and family offices. Between 2002 and 2013, according to his LinkedIn, he worked at financial powerhouse GE Capital, where he most recently served as head of capital raising and investor relations in the United Kingdom and the Asia-Pacific region. He joined Transwestern from CrossHarbor Capital Partners. Before that, he led international capital-raising efforts at private equity firm Rockpoint Group.

Transwestern has strategic alliances with BNP Paribas Real Estate in Europe and Encor Advisors in Canada.

Senior property manager at UK bakery chain Greggs, Simon Heydecke, is trying to pin down a new property asset manager in Newcastle to help run its growing estate of 2,400 stores. In a LinkedIn advert, the firm said it was looking for a full-time member of staff to work longside its head of property and manage the brand's lease renewals and rent reviews, as well as support its retrofit programme. Greggs opened a record 220 new shops in 2023 and is expected to launch between 140 and 160 new stores in 2024. It has a circa 31,000-square-foot headquarters at Quorum Park in Newcastle.

BNP Paribas Real Estate has appointed Aman Panesar as director in its central London investment team.

Panesar joins following a decade at Cushman & Wakefield where he had roles in its London capital markets, valuation and advisory teams. He has previously advised on London buildings such as the Walkie Talkie and The Shard, and on recent transactions including 12 Conduit Street, 94 New Bond Street and 3-8 Whitehall Place

He will work alongside Fergus Keane, head of central London investment markets, on office and retail transactions, as well as residential conversion opportunities. It is one of the first hires made to the team since Keane joined from Cushman & Wakefield last year.

Panesar, said: "Joining the team feels like a huge opportunity that could not be missed. I have heard first-hand how the financial fluency offering through the bank collaboration is providing benefits already, and I am very much looking forward to bringing my expertise of the West End and City markets to support the team's activity in these key submarkets. Particularly, across retail and offices, but also supporting our clients with their residential repurposing ambitions where required.”