Global commercial real estate adviser Avison Young has appointed George Roberts as its new United Kingdom and Ireland president, CoStar News can reveal.
Roberts, who most recently led Cushman & Wakefield’s UK & Ireland business, will start at Toronto-based Avison Young in two weeks.
Bringing more than 30 years’ experience in real estate and professional services, Roberts will work closely with United Kingdom, Irish and global leadership at Avison Young to grow its United Kingdom and Ireland platform. Avison Young said this will be focused on investment and growth in capital markets and leasing, while capitalising on, and continuing to strengthen, the company's advisory and consultative business.
Mark Rose, chair and chief executive, Avison Young, said in a statement: “George’s arrival as UK & Ireland President signals the start of a significant era of growth, collaboration and differentiation. His focus will be firmly on all clients, ensuring we help them make better decisions and execute them effectively. I want to take this opportunity to welcome him to Avison Young, and I look forward to working closely with him and the UK leadership team.”
Roberts said: “Avison Young stands out to me as a firm that differentiates itself through its agility and focus on global insight, market intelligence and technology. There is an excellent platform to start building from, and I’m excited to leverage our global knowledge and expertise to grow here in the UK and Ireland.”
Nick Walkley, the former United Kingdom president of Avison Young, left the firm in September. Avison Young said at the time that Walkley was departing to "pursue other interests", with Rose, and Martin Dockrill, chief operating officer, leading the UK business in the meantime.
Walkley joined Avison Young as principal and president of United Kingdom strategic advisory in 2021, having been CEO of Homes England for four years. He stepped up to the lead role in June 2022.
He became the latest United Kingdom head of a global property consultancy to depart their firm after a number of high-profile exits last year, including former JLL chief executive Stephanie Hyde and CBRE's Ciaran Bird.
The parent company for the United Kingdom and Europe arms, Avison Young Holdings, made a regulatory filing to Companies House for the year to 31 December 2024, which showed total revenue of £212.6 million, up slightly on 2023, and a pretax loss of £101.1 million, the same figure as the prior year.
Avison Young said the figures had been driven by difficult economic conditions in the UK which had resulted in slow growth. It was also hit with an impairment of goodwill in the year of £70 million following a review of expected future cashflow which has been "derisked in line with UK economic growth estimates".