Avison Young names capital markets head; Cushman shuffles London leasing pack; New Homes England chief

"Joining Avison Young is the opportune time to grow an international capital markets service to provide our clients best in class advice and access to global capital," said Chris Pilgrim in a statement this week as he became principal, managing director and UK head of capital markets.

Pilgrim joins from Colliers, where he was based in both London and Singapore as managing director of global capital markets for Asia-Pacific and sat on the capital markets global executive committee. His new firm says he brings a "global-first approach" to the team.

Avison Young said Pilgrim, who has 18 years’ experience specialising in the deployment of capital into major real estate markets and asset classes, will grow the London capital markets team and asset-class specialism across the UK capital markets business.

Nick Walkley, principal, UK President at Avison Young, added: "Chris brings vast expertise and is a landmark addition to our capital markets team. Bringing international knowledge, Chris will push forward global cross-collaboration across clients and services. This appointment will significantly strengthen our capital markets presence in London, whilst bolstering Avison Young on an international scale."

Cushman & Wakefield has appointed James Campbell as its head of London office leasing. Campbell was most recently an international partner at the firm and has also held the roles of partner and director, according to his LinkedIn profile. He joined the company in September 2015 when DTZ merged with Cushman & Wakefield.

Campbell spent three years at DTZ, most recently as a director. Before this, he spent four years as an associate, London markets, City offices at Avison Young. Campbell will succeed Andy Tyler as head of the firm’s London leasing business, after the latter was named as head of offices, UK in early July following Ben Cullen's promotion.

Homes England has hired Amy Rees as its chief executive, who will lead the government housing agency’s drive to help build 1.5 million new homes. She will report to the Homes England Board and will be accountable to the deputy prime minister, the housing minister and Parliament. The government said Rees will "steer the organisation through a period of vital transformation, ensuring regionalised delivery, strong stakeholder partnerships, and unwavering alignment with government priorities". This includes overseeing a regionalised operating model designed to improve housing outcomes across England and the launch of the new National Housing Bank.

Landsec has made Stuart Orr regional asset and leasing director in a move that sees him switch from working on the redevelopment of Glasgow's Buchanan Galleries to helping with two Manchester schemes. Orr, who joined Landsec from Savills in 2023 as senior development manager, confirmed on LinkedIn that he had taken the new role to work with the teams delivering Mayfield Manchester and the MediaCityUK redevelopment in Manchester.

He said: "It’s been a real privilege to have worked on Buchanan Galleries, and to be involved with a team effecting meaningful change for the benefit of my home city." Orr has more than 25 years' industry experience.

Birmingham-based commercial property developer Stoford has appointed Tom Burn and Ken Brown as directors. Burn has joined as development director and Brown as project management director, bolstering the company’s capabilities across land promotion, development and project delivery. Burn joins from Mulberry Developments, where he was development director. He began his career at Savills and went on to hold senior roles at Citygrove and EG Group. Brown will support Stoford’s delivery of key build and infrastructure schemes nationwide. Dan Gallagher, joint managing director, Stoford, said the hires reflect the group's ambition.

Stuart Flint, Fisher German partner, has praised staff for raising more than £25,000 for charity as part of a fundraising relay, with 11 weeks of the challenge remaining. The property consultancy is marking its 25th anniversary with the ‘Big25’ charity challenge, which involves staff taking a tour of the firm's 25 offices during a 2,400-mile journey, without using motorised transport. Staff have been walking, running, cycling, horseback riding, sailing, paddleboarding, skiing and roller-skating. Fisher German has pledged to match fund any donations up to £25,000 from supporters, meaning at least £50,000 is guaranteed to be divided between 25 charities.

Spider-Man has been spotted in the streets of Glasgow this week, swinging through Bothwell Street and past a number of prime office buildings. Flexible office group Cubo posted a video of filming for the upcoming 'Brand New Day' movie staring Tom Holland outside 120 Bothwell Street, where it has space alongside PwC, News UK and Pinsent Masons.

HFD Property Group managing director Stephen Lewis also posted on the professional networking platform in front of vehicles being used for the production, which is due to drop next summer. The BBC reports that the "friendly neighbourhood" hero and crew will wrap up filming in the city at the end of this month.