Convene hires from Blackstone and Gensler for London debut
Convene, the US meeting space and flexible workspace provider, has announced its first hires in London.
The company, which is backed by Brookfield Property Partners, has recruited Blackstone’s Elliott Sparsis as vice president of real estate.
Sparsis joins Convene after six years at the US private equity firm, where he was senior manager overseeing the firm’s portfolio of central London offices.
Convene, the US meeting space and flexible workspace provider, has announced its first hires in London.
The company, which is backed by Brookfield Property Partners, has recruited Blackstone’s Elliott Sparsis as vice president of real estate.
Sparsis joins Convene after six years at the US private equity firm, where he was senior manager overseeing the firm’s portfolio of central London offices.
He was involved in several of Blackstone’s highest-profile investments in the office sector, including Chiswick Park, Adelphi, WC2, 20 Old Bailey, EC4, and 125 Old Broad Street, EC2.
Convene has also recruited James Frankis from Gensler as director of strategic solutions for London.
Previously, Frankis spent just over four years at the US design, planning and consulting firm’s London office. After joining as an associate, he became European practice area lead for consulting in May this year.
Ryan Simonetti, co-founder and chief executive of Convene, said: “Bringing experience from two of the world’s top firms in their respective fields, we have the utmost confidence and faith in both Elliott and James to help lead Convene’s expansion into London and grow our global footprint.”
Founded in 2009, Convene provides meetings and events spaces, flexible workspaces and hospitality services such as room-service catering, concierge services and fitness classes in office buildings. The company aims to “collaborate with landlords to increase asset values by improving the tenant experience”.
The move comes as Convene makes its first foray overseas. The US company already operates in six cities in the US but is looking to expand to London in 2019. Convene currently operates locations in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Convene currently is based in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington.
By the end of 2018, Convene said it will have 23 locations in five cities totalling approximately 700,000 sq ft and is projected to have 1.7m total square feet of space in 10 cities by the end of 2019.
The company is expanding after raising $152m in financing, which, which included investments from real estate and technology groups including Revolution Growth, RXR Realty, ArrowMark Partners, Brookfield, and The Durst Organization.
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