People moves: OPDC appoints executive director of delivery
Appointments and promotions
OPDC, the mayor of London’s development corporation, has appointed Gareth Blacker (pictured, centre) from Homes England in the new role of executive director of delivery. He will be responsible for leading OPDC’s role to bring forward 25,000 new and affordable homes and 56,000 new jobs in west London.
Knight Frank has recruited ESG expert Amira Hashemi (pictured, left) to the role of UK ESG lead property and asset management. She joins from Frasers Property UK, where she led the UK ESG activities for the past four years. Prior to that, she worked for Frasers Property Australia.
James Sanders (pictured right) has been appointed by Firethorn Trust as an associate director to assist with new land acquisition and development opportunities, as well as to drive the delivery of its commercial pipeline. He joins from Lambert Smith Hampton.
Appointments and promotions
OPDC, the mayor of London’s development corporation, has appointed Gareth Blacker (pictured, centre) from Homes England in the new role of executive director of delivery. He will be responsible for leading OPDC’s role to bring forward 25,000 new and affordable homes and 56,000 new jobs in west London.
Knight Frank has recruited ESG expert Amira Hashemi (pictured, left) to the role of UK ESG lead property and asset management. She joins from Frasers Property UK, where she led the UK ESG activities for the past four years. Prior to that, she worked for Frasers Property Australia.
James Sanders (pictured right) has been appointed by Firethorn Trust as an associate director to assist with new land acquisition and development opportunities, as well as to drive the delivery of its commercial pipeline. He joins from Lambert Smith Hampton.
Whitbread’s UK property team has appointed Georgina Powell as a project and programme manager on its newbuild hotel developments in London and the south of England. Neil Haskins will manage the company’s programme of hotel extensions across the UK.
Developer Mission Street has appointed venture capital leaders Peter Finan of Epidarex Capital and Rosetta Capital’s Jonathan Hepple to its advisory board. They will join existing board member Tim Funnell of Monograph Capital.
Howard Bowes, managing director of Harvey Bowes Financial Services, has expanded the property business offering with the launch of Harvey Bowes Real Estate.
LCP Scotland has hired David Waterworth as senior asset manager, David Castles as senior property manager, and Lee Anne Reid as credit controller.
Palm Capital has hired Alex Gebauer as a senior partner to expand its footprint in Europe. He was previously the chief executive of Allianz Real Estate in Western Europe.
Edward Gibbon has been named head of asset management at Host, a student living operator. He previously worked for iQ Student Accommodation.
James Porter has been appointed as Avison Young’s new chief client officer. He will be in charge of connecting clientfacing capabilities across Avison Young UK’s newly formed client function and aligning these capabilities with the wider UK and global businesses. Dominic Amey has been named managing director of the firm’s London markets division. He joined Avison Young from Colliers in 2021 to expand the firm’s central London investment business.
Doughnut retailer Crosstown has appointed Howard Ebison, formerly managing director of asset management at Hammerson, as its new chief executive.
Leviat has hired Jess Marsh as its first environmental and sustainability engineer at its UK head office in Sheffield. She will support the firm’s journey to net zero. Marsh joins from Kexgill Group.
BNP Paribas Real Estate has hired Kevin Hunt to lead its Bristol planning team. He joins following a 19-year career at JLL, where he led the South West and Wales teams across major residential, commercial, mixed-use and education projects.
Excellion Capital has appointed Anthony Shayle as director of real estate, with a focus on refinancings and restructurings. He previously served as managing director and head of real estate debt for EMEA at UBS Asset Management.
Gateley Legal has added legal directors Leanne Murray and Nick Molloy to its specialised residential development team in Manchester, which is led by partner Louise Ilhan.
Lambert Smith Hampton has appointed Alastair Hilton from Mellersh & Harding and Mike Pope from Gryphon Property Partners as directors to lead the expansion of its central London capital markets team.
Savills Investment Management has strengthened its German capital-raising team with the appointment of Viola van der Bosch as director of business development in Frankfurt.
The Wilkes Partnership has appointed David Guest as a partner in the business recovery and turnaround team. Ricarda Jost has joined the corporate team as a lawyer.
Russell-Cooke has added Pippa Beesley to its real estate team as a construction partner. She specialises in mixed-use development and urban regeneration schemes.
Audley Group has appointed development director Philip Rolfe and group sales and marketing director Sian Hammer to its executive board.
Gerry Loftus has been appointed nonexecutive director of housebuilder Honey. He previously served on the board of Avant Homes and was a senior corporate finance associate with PwC and Deloitte.
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