Kajima bags new investment director for London office push

Japanese investor Kajima is eyeing more London offices after hiring a new investment director to help grow its portfolio. The company has poached Tim James from investment manager Longmead Capital, where he was responsible for a pan-London and regional property portfolio. James will look to grow Kajima’s development pipeline following the completion of 77 Coleman Street, EC2, last year, one of the major prime City offices to launch during the pandemic. James has previously worked as part of Landsec’s central London portfolios team, and at Columbia Threadneedle, where he worked across a number of private equity funds. He will be based at Kajima’s new office at St Giles Square. James said: “I am delighted to be joining a dynamic team with exciting growth ambitions for central London. “I am looking forward to using my investment and asset management experience to help drive performance across the existing office portfolio and to grow the business by expanding the assets under management and in Kajima’s development pipeline.” It comes as Kajima, which is one of the biggest construction conglomerates in Japan, looks to expand its presence in the UK. Earlier this summer developer CO-RE hired Kajima’s former investment and development director Alex Parsons. However, James, who is the company’s fourteenth hire of the year in Britain, looks set to fill the gap left by Parsons. John Harcourt, managing director at Kajima Properties said: “We are already seeing a heightened demand for London’s best offices. It will be these buildings that will recover the quickest and strongest from the pandemic. “I’m therefore delighted to have someone of Tim’s calibre and expertise join our growing team. He is perfectly placed to support our ambitious plans to increase our prime London office market footprint, delivering more high-quality and sustainable spaces for future occupiers.” To send feedback, e-mail alex.daniel@eg.co.uk or tweet @alexmdaniel or @EGPropertyNews