Mipim boss changes; Chiswick Park hires estate director; Asia-Pacific role for Knight Frank London stalwart

Mipim, the international real estate conference hosted in Cannes, has a new boss, former Arcadis stalwart Nicolas Boffi. Taking over the role of director from Nicolas Kozubek, Boffi, an engineer by background, takes the helm of the organising company behind the event, RX France, having previously spent more than 15 years at Arcadis, where he was city executive Paris, business development director for around nine years.

Under Boffi’s leadership, Mipim will "introduce new content initiatives as it supports real estate’s transformation, from a stronger focus on AI disruption and to the road to net zero, to helping industry leaders turn technological change into strategic advantage", the event organiser said. Last year more than 20,000 delegates attended the conference in the south of France.

Boffi said in a statement: "One of my key reasons for joining Mipim is to strengthen dialogue between the public and private sectors. The next few years will continue to bring complex challenges – economic, political, fiscal – that demand collaboration and bold decision-making. Mipim must be the place where these conversations happen, where strategies are shaped and where uncertainty is turned into opportunities for the future of our cities."

Chiswick Park has recruited Christopher Turton to take over the management of the 1.8 million-square-foot West London business campus. Turton, who enters as estate director, will take on ownership of all operational, commercial and administrative elements of the campus managed by Enjoy-Work. The recruit has a history of high-profile management roles including a stint as operations director for Atlas Capital, overseeing a portfolio of £750 million. He was also associate director for Segro, managing 72 estates across London, and directed the growth of Cardinal Place and Estate as general manager. The park is owned by CIC and asset managed by Revantage Europe.

Knight Frank has appointed London capital markets expert Dan Dixon to head up capital markets, Asia-Pacific. The firm said Dixon will "connect regional capital to cross-border investment opportunities and global capital flows in the region", after relocating to Singapore. During his 10 years in London Dixon advised sovereign wealth funds, pension plans and institutional investors on major transactions, including joint ventures, acquisitions and capital raising mandates. He said: "With Asian investors expanding overseas and global capital flowing into Asia-Pacific, cross-border activity is gathering pace, opening new pathways for connectivity and growth."

Helical has appointed Martina Malone, the former global head of capital raising at Prologis, as an independent non-executive director on its board. Malone's career at the industrial specialist ran from 2010 until the beginning of August, during which time she led a team across offices in London, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Singapore. She also has more than 30 years of finance, banking and real estate experience from roles at JER Partners, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and HypoVereinsbank. Malone also becomes a member of the audit and risk, remuneration and nominations committees at the London developer.

Will Broadhurst has returned to Tritax Group as senior development manager after more than half a year out. Broadhurst, who took seven months off to go travelling, picks up a different role on his return having been development surveyor before he left in January. The recruit will continue his three-and-a-half year association with the industrial specialist from its London offices at 72 Broadwick Street in London. Broadhurst confirmed on LinkedIn that he would be "working across multiple funds on all things development" alongside Charlie Withers, Tom Newton, Piers Ridout and the wider Tritax Group team. He added: "Excited for what’s ahead – see you soon."

Supermarket Morrisons has recruited Andy Gillies, a former Aldi regional logistics director of 20 years, as logistics director. Gillies left Aldi in 2016 after more than 20 years at Morrisons, joining food and beverage manufacturing group Greencore that year to be the firm's business unit director, before progressing to logistics director in 2022. He moves from Greencore after nine years at the firm, bringing more than 30 years' experience in retail and logistics to Morrisons, who described the recruit as key in helping Aldi shape its logistics network during his time with the firm. Gillies said in a statement on LinkedIn: "I’m really pleased to join such an iconic British retailer."

Multidisciplinary development consultancy Pegasus Group has hired Naomi Williams as Development Consent Order director in its planning team as it looks to expand its operations to cover work of this type beyond the energy sector. Williams joins the firm with more than 15 years’ experience in infrastructure planning, advising ministers on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects and working on more than 30 DCO applications in government. Williams, who will be based in London and is also a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, will work alongside Paul Burrell, the group's head of planning and Chris Calvert, planning head of energy and infrastructure.