Walkley departure prompts Avison Young UK shake-up
Nick Walkley is set to leave his role as Avison Young principal and UK president with Mark Rose, chair and chief executive, and Martin Dockrill, chief operating officer, leading the branch in the interim.
The global property consultancy said a new leader for its UK business would be "appointed in due course", adding that Walkley was leaving to "pursue other interests", having joined the firm from Homes England in 2021.
Rose said: "We are excited about the future and next chapter of Avison Young’s business in the UK, where we will continue to focus on core clients globally as well as investing in the growth of all transaction and consultative businesses including capital markets, leasing and tenant representation."
Walkley becomes the latest head of a major property consultancy in the UK to depart this year after the exits of former JLL chief executive Stephanie Hyde and CBRE's Ciaran Bird, with the latter set to leave his chief executive, United Kingdom and Ireland advisory business role at the end of the year.
BCP Capital director becomes ULI Ireland chair
The Urban Land Institute Europe has appointed BCP Capital director Ray Crowley as the next chair of ULI Ireland National Council. Crowley, who succeeds IPUT's head of research Marie Hunt after her two-year term, will serve on a voluntary basis for the next two years. Hunt is credited by the institute with growing its corporate membership and fostering greater collaboration with public bodies in her time as chair. Crowley has been a member of ULI since 2007 and of the ULI Ireland Executive Committee since 2013. He is also a member of the ULI Europe Operational Real Estate Product Council. "He brings extensive leadership experience in real estate," the institute said.
Top planning lawyer brought in to advise government
Planning lawyer Catherine Howard has been hired by the government to help drive through reforms ahead of the Autumn Budget. Howard, who is a partner at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, specialises in major infrastructure projects and has expertise in Development Consent Orders, which provide planning permission for nationally significant infrastructure projects. She will advise chancellor Rachel Reeves on the next phase of planning reforms with new housing secretary, Steve Reed, who was appointed earlier this month in a Cabinet reshuffle. Howard said: "It is a privilege to take on this position as the chancellor’s Infrastructure and Planning adviser."
Harworth appoints former Tritax chief to board
Harworth Group, the regeneration and strategic land developer, has made Phil Redding an independent non-executive director. Redding also joins the remuneration committee of Harworth on appointment, taking the place of Lisa Scenna following her appointment to the nomination committee. He brings 35 years of UK and European commercial real estate sector experience, including more than 10 years in C-suite roles, with a particular specialism in industrial and logistics. Most recently, he served as chief executive of pan-European logistics real estate company Tritax Eurobox, overseeing its £557 million sale to Brookfield in December 2024.
CBRE makes senior valuation appointment and launches platform
CBRE has appointed Michelle Campbell as head of metropolitan valuation, to spearhead a new service in the smaller lot size market. The team will target new and existing lenders, panel management and broker clients, providing a sector-agnostic service across the UK, CBRE said. Campbell joins from Aitchison Raffety, a specialist in the sector, where she served as head of valuation for the past year. Prior to this, she was head of valuation at Copping Joyce Surveyors and spent more than eight years at JLL in the valuation team. She brings 16 years of experience as a chartered surveyor and registered valuer and has worked across commercial and residential assets.
Birmingham-based commercial property consultancy hires director
MK2 Real Estate has recruited Gareth Marchment as a director in its property management team. Marchment joins the Birmingham-based commercial property consultancy from KWB, where he was head of the firm’s property and asset management team. Prior to that, he spent 15 years at Orbit Property Management. In his career Marchment has advised a clients including Somerset Council, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, LXi and several foreign property funds. He will work alongside head of property management and fellow director Marcello Della Croce at MK2, managing the team’s £1.5 billion portfolio of assets under management, as well as focussing on new business.
CBRE stalwart joins Ringley after two decades
Ringley Group, the leading operational real estate company specialising in residential and living management, has appointed Jennet Siebrits as its head of research from CBRE. Siebrits spent two decades at CBRE, where she established and led the residential research team for 15 years, before becoming head of UK research. She has also worked at the Council of Mortgage Lenders and Nationwide Building Society. Siebrits will operate across all of Ringley’s business lines to deliver market analysis, data-led insight and thought leadership. "She will leverage Ringley’s extensive data to explore the key issues impacting UK residential real estate," the firm added.
Donations sought for Annual Hotel Conference Charity bike ride
Dominic Mauer, a client relations adviser at CoStar's hotel benchmarking and analytics business STR, is asking for donations ahead of this year's Neil Bowler Hotel Bike Ride to the Annual Hotel Conference in Manchester. Mauer is taking part in the ninth edition of the annual charity bike ride, which runs from 28th to 29th September in the lead-up to the key industry conference, with CoStar's STR business a Platinum Sponsor. He will ride for Cameron's Companions, a suicide prevention charity for men in England and Wales. The ride covers 360 kilometres in two days, broken up into London to Leicester (200km), and then Leicester to Manchester (163km).