Savills announced that Mark Ridley will retire as group chief executive at year end after 29 years at the firm as it joins a growing list of brokerages making major C-suite changes in the United Kingdom.
Ridley will be succeeded by Simon Shaw, currently group chief financial officer, effective Jan. 1, Savills said.
The move marks a remarkably busy few weeks of changes at the top of leading United Kingdom brokers in recent weeks with Knight Frank announcing a new UK board, CBRE announcing that its United Kingdom and Ireland CEO Ciaran Bird was stepping down, JLL announcing that Stephanie Hyde was moving on as chief executive, as reported, while John Munday has recently taken over from long-time Colliers United Kingdom CEO Tony Horrell and Colin Wilson is stepping down of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, or EMEA, chief at Cushman & Wakefield.
Ridley joined Savills in 1996 from Weatherall Green & Smith, where he had been a partner, to set up Savills' Manchester office, before being appointed as head of Savills commercial in 2008. Ridley became CEO of the then-combined Savills United Kingdom business in 2013, and took on the role of CEO of the United Kingdom and Europe in 2014. During his career, Savills said it has become a truly global business and one of the world’s leading real estate advisors, with revenues increased from £40 million, or about 53.5 United States dollars, in 1996, to £2.4 billion, or approximately 3.2 billion U.S. dollars, in 2024 and staff numbers having grown from 679 to more than 42,000 today.
Simon Shaw joined Savills in March 2009 as chief financial officer working alongside the group chief executive with responsibility for all financial matters, group strategy, significant M&A, technology and investor relations. He is a member of the group’s global and Asia-Pacific, EMEA and United States regional executive committees. In addition, he is responsible to the board of Savills for Savills Investment Management. Shaw is chairman of Grosvenor Hill Ventures, Savills' proprietary private equity investment subsidiary focused on investing in property technology, or proptech, opportunities.
The selection of a new group chief financial officer will now start.
Stacey Cartwright, chair of Savills, said in a statement: "Under Mark's leadership, Savills has achieved significant growth and stronger balance, both geographically and by service line. He has successfully steered the business through Brexit and its aftermath and the pandemic years, and more recently global macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds, navigating these very significant challenges whilst growing the business at the same time."
Savills said Ridley will “will remain available in a senior advisory role supporting the business" after he retires at year end.
“Having used an external adviser to consider internal and external candidates, the Board has decided to appoint Simon Shaw, current Group Chief Financial Officer, as Group Chief Executive effective 1 January 2026, following Mark's retirement from the Board on 31 December 2025. Simon is a highly experienced and respected senior Savills Executive who will lead the Group's strong management team through the next phase of the development of the Savills business worldwide. The Board and I very much look forward to working with him as Group Chief Executive."
Ridley said in a statement that he looks forward to working with Shaw, "as I have done over the last seven years, to ensure a smooth transition at the end of this year."