NewRiver’s Davies joins Palace Capital

Palace Capital has filled one of its empty board seats by appointing NewRiver co-founder Mark Davies as senior independent director. Davies helped take NewRiver from IPO to the FTSE 250 in seven years, and was CFO at the REIT for more than 12 years. He was also chief executive and chair of Hawthorn for five years. Davies left NewRiver following the announcement of the sale of Hawthorn in July 2021, but remained as CEO of Hawthorn until its successful sale to Admiral Taverns in August 2021. Steven Owen, interim executive chair at Palace Capital, said: “Mark’s track record, experience and knowledge of property and capital markets will be invaluable in enabling the board to execute the company’s strategy of maximising cash returns to shareholders.” Davies added: “I have followed the company since its inception and I am looking forward to working alongside Steven and the management team to deliver shareholder value.” Palace Capital recently lost three board members after shareholders forced it to perform a U-turn on its new strategy. Palace had planned to become an ESG-specialist, focused on fixing up brown offices. After shareholders insisted on maximising cash returns, senior independent director Mickola Wilson and non-executive directors Kim Taylor-Smith and Paula Dillon stepped down. This followed founder Neil Sinclair stepping down as chief executive last month shortly after pushing back against shareholder criticism.   To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews