Justin Taylor, one of the best-known and regarded UK retail and leisure advisers, has died.
Taylor is the co-founder of leading retail, leisure and placemaking adviser P-Three and the former EMEA head of retail at Cushman & Wakefield.
Taylor joined Healey & Baker as a graduate in 1981 and rose through the ranks to become a leading force in the retail industry. Having started out in the Northern retail team under Geoff Burton, he launched the shopping centre leasing team in 1994 and ultimately became Cushman & Wakefield’s head of EMEA retail, leading a team of over 300 specialists operating across more than 15 countries.
After leaving Cushman & Wakefield in 2019, he co-founded P-Three with Hannah McNamara and Thomas Rose. The business describes itself as a people-first leasing and consultancy business and fulfilled Taylor’s life-long ambition to build his own business.
P-Three and his family said in a statement: "With Justin’s clarity of thought and creative thinking, P-Three quickly became a leading advisor in the sector, advising on projects across London, the UK and Europe. At P-Three, Justin’s love for strategic thinking was ignited as he sought to transform an agency sector solely focused on "leasing" to one that thought more deeply about the places being created."
Taylor stepped back from the day-to-day business of P-Three in early 2024, moving to the role of chairman, where his responsibility was the company’s strategic direction.
His professional legacy includes some of the most significant and high-profile retail and mixed-use developments in the UK and Europe. He was known for development consultancy and leasing, and advised on many major retail and leisure destinations in the UK. These include Birmingham Bullring and Grand Central, Liverpool ONE, Edinburgh St James, St David’s Cardiff, and Brent Cross. Latterly in his career, he increasingly focused on mixed-use projects in London, such as Battersea Power Station, Wembley Park, South Kensington Station and Bankside Yards. He also had a global perspective and advised on major retail destinations across Europe, from Xanadu Madrid, Puerto Venecia Zaragosa and Intu Costa Del Sol, to Berlin Potsdamer Platz and Wars Sawa Junior, Warsaw.
Beyond these major developments, Taylor counselled many occupiers, and one of his most high-profile roles was as the global client account partner for Apple when they launched and expanded in the UK. He expertly managed its strategic retail expansion across Europe.
Throughout his career, he cultivated enduring relationships with many of the industry's leading developers and investors. His former key clients included Battersea Power Station Development Company, British Land, Grosvenor, Hammerson, Intu/Eurofund, Landsec, M&G and TH Real Estate (Nuveen).
Taylor was a highly qualified professional, holding a BSc Degree in Estate Management from Oxford Brookes University and was a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He actively contributed to the governance and strategic direction of the industry, serving on the ICSC Leasing Group committee, the Revo Executive Strategic Board, the Cushman & Wakefield EMEA Board and the MAPIC jury.
In a statement his family and P-Three said: "As important as his career was to him, however, everything Justin did was for his family, his wife, Penny, and his daughters, Verity and Grace. While he was always focused on work when at work, he lived for his family, which is what he really cherished.
"His impact is felt far beyond those he worked with though. Millions of people every day spend time in centres that Justin helped imagine, plan, lease and bring to life. His legacy is stitched into the fabric of places up and down the country, and across Europe.
"He was a man of utter integrity and, very unusually in the UK property industry, he had no ego. While he always pushed his team, they always had his full support. For Justin, it was for the project, the client, and the best solution, never the politics. He endlessly invested his time in, and actively learned from, the younger members of his team.
"Justin Taylor will be remembered not only for his profound professional expertise and the landmark projects he helmed, but for his leadership, mentorship, and central role in shaping the modern European retail landscape. His legacy will continue to inspire those who follow in his footsteps. It is no understatement so say that Justin was one of the leading figures in the European retail market.
"He will be missed greatly by Penny, Verity and Grace, and by the colleagues and friends who were fortunate to work alongside him. Justin built lasting relationships across the industry through his kindness, his humour, and the way he made people feel supported and valued. That spirit will stay with all who knew him."
For those who wish to honour Taylor, donations can be given to Sarcoma UK (https://sarcoma.org.uk/) or Thames Hospice (https://lnkd.in/gbExk6G), two organisations that supported him.