30 November 2021
PrimeResi brings LonRes the monthly headlines on key property recruitment and business moves from November 2021.Buying Agents
Prime Purchase has recruited Ollie Marshall as a Director. Marshall co-founded boutique agency Brooks Marshall eight years ago with Charles Vyner-Brooks. He is now working alongside Guy Meacock and Fran Moynihan at Savills’ buying arm.
Property Vision has hired a former Knight Frank partner to strengthen its presence in the South West of England. Edward Clarkson spent nearly a dozen years with KF, as Head of Rural Sales, Farms & Estates in Exeter, and before that as a buying agent with The Buying Solution in the Cotswolds. He’s now overseeing Property Vision’s expansion in the South West, with a particular focus on Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
Read in full - Buying Agent stories Well-known PCL specialist joins Prime Purchase; seals large-scale Hyde Park deal
Property Vision recruits Knight Frank’s Clarkson to boost South West presence
Auction house Christie’s has sold its Christie’s International Real Estate business to fast-growing tech-led American property firm @properties. @properties and its private equity backer Quad-C plan to “build upon the success of the business and position it for accelerated growth under the leadership of an industry expert”.
Chestertons has bought Camden-based independent sales and lettings agency London Residential for an undisclosed sum. It’s the latest in a spree of acquisitions by Chestertons, following deals with east London lettings business Morgan Randall last year, and Fulham lettings agency Snell & Snell in April. London Residential’s business will be absorbed into Chestertons’ existing Camden office.
Sotheby’s and Realogy have taken 80% ownership of luxury online real estate marketplace Concierge Auctions. Concierge will continue to operate independently, with founders Chad Roffers and Laura Brady at the helm; a new management board will be made up of Sotheby’s and Realogy execs and chaired by SIR chief Philip White.
Stirling Ackroyd Group – aka Nick Dunning Associates – has brought in heavyweights from Lomond Capital to run its newly0consolidated business. Nick Dunning recently rebranded all the estate agencies in his eponymous property empire to Stirling Ackroyd. Now Bruce Evans has been appointed as Managing Director of Stirling Ackroyd Group Operations, and Julian Dunbar has been brought in as Managing Director of Lettings Operations. Both previously held senior roles at Lomond Capital; Evans as CEO and Dunbar as COO. Before Lomond, both were also Directors at Countrywide Plc.
Leaders Romans Group has continued its business-buying spree, snapping up two more estate agencies in the capital. The private-equity-backed company has now picked up Thorgills and Orchards, both in West London.
Knight Frank has brought in a brace of new faces to its Private Office team, adding an associate and a negotiator to the HNW operation based in London. Stevie Walmesley has transferred from the the firm’s London super-prime lettings department, where she was an associate. Stella Aichholzer has joined from a big-name estate agency in Europe.
Knight Frank has also added to its regional teams. In Exeter, former Jackson-Stops director and Stags man David Lewis has been brought in to strengthen the rural sales operation in the South West. In the South East, Lucy Clifton has joined the Residential Development team from Bloor Homes.
Savills has named Robin Howeson as the successor to Chris Coleman-Smith, Head of Auctions. Howeson will formally take the reins on 1st January, as Chris Coleman-Smith – who founded the division 23 years ago – moves to become Consultant Auctioneer.
Savills has also installed a new head of sales at its Brook Green branch in west London. Dominic Barry has joined from Marsh & Parsons, where he headed up offices in Earls Court, and latterly Fulham.
And Savills’ Head of World Research, Sophie Chick, has left the firm to become Research Director for Europe at the Urban Land Institute. Paul Tostevin has been promoted to take her place at the helm of the London-based World Research operation, and Oliver Salmon has been recruited from Oxford Economics to bolster the team.
Fine & Country has added two more outposts in North Yorkshire. John Paul, CEO at the Castledene Group, is behind the new branches: in Thirsk and in Northallerton – both operating via established agency James Winn Estate Agents.
Independent estate agency Hat and Home has opened a second branch just nine months after the business launched. Former Marsh & Parsons Regional Sales Director Ben Gee opened his first branch in Wokingham in February. Now the firm has rolled its “fresh, modern and energetic” take on agency onto Crowthorne High Street in Berkshire.
Britain’s biggest property auction house, Allsop, has added three new senior faces to its residential valuation team, “significantly boosting” its capabilities. Liam Dowdell, Damian Keeling, Chris Theodosiou are moving from Savills, where they were all directors. They are now salaried Partners at Allsop, based in London.
Read in full - all Estate Agent stories Christie’s sells International Real Estate business to @properties
Chestertons buys another London estate agency
Sotheby’s & Realogy team up to buy Concierge Auctions
Former Lomond heavyweights take lead roles at Dunning’s Stirling Ackroyd Group
LRG buys two more London estate agencies
Knight Frank adds two to its Private Office team
Knight Frank bolsters resi development team in the South East
Savills names new Auctions Head
Savills recruits new Brook Green sales head
Savills expands World Research team as Chick moves on
Fine & Country expands in Yorkshire
Start-up estate agency opens second branch
Allsop hires trio of former Savills directors to boosts resi valuations team
Developers & Design
Knight Frank’s outgoing Senior Partner and Group Chairman, Alistair Elliott, has been appointed to the Board of Grosvenor Britain & Ireland. He will join the Duke of Westminster’s property business as a Non-Executive Director on 1st April 2022. He is due to retire from Knight Frank in March, after nearly 40 years years with the firm.
Berkeley Group has confirmed that longstanding director Sean Ellis will be leaving the firm next year.
London property investment/development firm Avanton has recruited two new Development Managers and made two senior promotions. Harry Halpin and Anton Cole-Williams join as Development Managers from Project Etopia and Quintain respectively. Chris Cobham, meanwhile, has been promoted from Development Manager to Development Director, with a remit to Avanton’s growing Development Department. And Luka Kelman has stepped up to become Operations Director.
Mount Anvil has brought in a new Head of Mixed-Use Sales, recruiting former Berkeley Group man Gavin Hubrich. He spent 11 years with Berkeley’s St George, working as Commercial Property Director in Central London on 13 resi-led mixed-use schemes. He then did a couple of years as an independent consultant.
Savills’ former head of London residential development Dominic Grace, who recently left the firm after 37 years, has joined the strategic board of B Corp developer Joseph Homes.
Landsec has agreed to buy fellow big-league developer U+I in a £190m deal.
Interior design group AGC has announced a raft of new promotions, and reported heightened demand for its services as international clients begin to mobilise. The 27 promotions include 12 director-level appointments across the firm’s range of brands, which include Accouter, A.LONDON and Boxnine7.
Read in full - Developers & Design stories Grosvenor adds Knight Frank’s Elliott to its Board
Berkeley director Ellis steps down
Mount Anvil recruits Berkeley’s former Commercial Property Director
Avanton expands development team with new hires & promotions
Joseph Homes signs up ex-Savills star Grace
Landsec to buy U+I in £190m deal
New brands & raft of promotions at design collective AGC
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