Property Movers & Shakers March 2024

12 April 2024

Estate Agencies 

Knight Frank has recruited Adam Andersson Broholm from Foxtons’ Private Office division to lead its sales team in Chiswick, west London. Read here.

Knight Frank has also strengthened its sales team in Mayfair, moving Jonny Fieldman - who joined the agency from Dexters in 2017 - from a sales manager role to focus on the prime and super-prime sector above £5mn, working alongside Alastair Nicholson and John White. Read here.

And in Richmond, Knight Frank has hired a new head of lettings. Ivanka Modesteva-Gyurova has moved from Stirling Ackroyd, following previous stints with John D Wood and Foxtons. Read here.

Toby Anderdon has rejoined Savills’ flagship London office on Sloane Street, having spent the last five years a partner in Knight Frank’s Chelsea branch. He was with Savills from 2013 to 2019, and now returns as a director to focus on £5mn+ sales across Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Chelsea. Read here.

Savills has added another new senior figure to its country house department, recruiting Edward Wain-Heapy as a Director to handle prime resi sales in Sussex and Surrey. This follows a trio of director-level appointments at the start of the year (James Toogood, Barclay Macfarlane and Charlie Kannreuther). Wain-Heapy spent the last 18 years with Hamptons, where he was a director in the South East region based in Horsham. He also did a spell in Central London with Hamptons, in the Pimlico branch. Read here.

Victoria Knight has stepped up to lead the Savills office in Henley-on-Thames. She joined the firm in 2002 and – following a five year break to raise her two daughters – has been part of the Henley team since 2015. She takes the reins from Stephen Christie-Miller who has led the office since 2005 and will continue in his role as resi sales director, specialising in prime country houses. Read here.

In Hertfordshire, Savills has recruited Steven Spencer from Strutt & Parker to run its Rickmansworth branch. He takes over from Peter Everett, who will continue in a consultancy role. Read here.

In the Cotswolds, Ken Dowling has moved from JLL to lead Savills’ residential office in Cheltenham. Dowling ran JLL’s Kensington office in London, having previously worked in sales and lettings across prime London, for agencies including Henry & James and Carter Jonas. Savills has also named a new head of residential development sales in Cheltenham. Omer Basharat has been promoted, having joined the firm from Barratt Developments in 2020. Read here.

Kraig Butler has moved to Strutt & Parker after 24 years with Hamptons. He joins as Director and Head of Residential Sales in Gerrards Cross, having previously headed-up Hamptons offices in Maidenhead, Rickmansworth and Amersham. Read here.

UK Sotheby’s International Realty has added two North London specialists to its team. Lee Greenfield joins as senior director following an 18-year stint at boutique agency Ian Green Residential. Josh Holder joins as a director having previously worked at Savills and Greene & Co. Read here.

Hamptons has set up a Residential Investment Department to link-up various parts of the business including the built-to-rent leasing, research and residential development teams. Ashley Mason has returned to the company to lead the new division. He’s been working on the development side in Australia for the last few years, but previously spent six years with Hamptons, as Assistant manager of the Beaconsfield branch then as a Residential Development Sales Manager. He moved on to Knight Frank in 2011, spending eight years as Head of South East Residential Development, based in Guildford. Read here.

Boutique estate agency Wilfords has ramped up its lettings offering via a brace of agency acquisitions in central London: South Ken-based Cameron Pearson and Notting Hill-based Draper Estate Agents. Read here.

Wilfords has also recruited a new Associate Director for its Wandsworth branch on Northcote Road, which opened last year. Edward Dennett has moved from James Pendleton, where he was Head of Sales in Balham. Read here.

North London estate agency Martyn Gerrard has opened up a flagship branch on Heath Street in Hampstead Village, with the aim of linking up with its existing operations in Kentish Town and East Finchley. Read here.

West London lettings agency Draker has boosted its presence with a new bricks-and-mortar base in Notting Hill. The Ladbroke Road office - the firm’s third outpost in the capital - is headed up by Mo Kanso. Read here.

Carter Jonas has opened up a new resi office in Southfields, SW18. The agency’s ninth office in the capital is helmed by Charlie Streatfeild - who previously oversaw sales operations in Battersea and surrounding postcodes for Marsh & Parsons. Victoria Boyson, who has been with Carter Jonas for eight years, is running the lettings business, having moved from the Marylebone branch. Read here.

Allsop has appointed two new managing partners to lead its resi and commercial divisions. Richard Adamson and Mark Gower, who both started out as graduates at the property consultancy, will be formally stepping up at the beginning of next month. Read here.

Buying Agencies

Mayfair-based buying agency Black Brick has set up a new arm covering locations across the West Country. Two new recruits have been brought in to run the new country and coast department: Anna Sharp will be representing Cornwall, while Rupert Stephenson will be heading up Devon, Dorset and Somerset. Read here.

A new platform designed to match buying agents with househunters has signed up a fleet of well-known PCL names. After debuting last year, First In The Door has now launched in London, with founder members including Middleton Advisors, London Central Portfolio, Black Brick, Nathalie Hirst, Aykroyd & Co, Colombo Hirst, Obbard, Dawes London and Lake & Co. Claire Whisker’s venture promises to make it easy for movers to “find, compare and connect with the right buying agent for their search”. Read here.

Design and Construction

SHH Architecture & Interior Design has appointed a new business development director to help drive its international growth plans. Nathalie Wells has made the move from Harrods Interior Design, where she held the role of Business Development Manager. Read here.

Super-prime construction firm Knowles has brought in Mark Hailey to lead its operations in London. Hailey was previously a director at Holloway White Allom, before moving client-side, acting on behalf of and delivering schemes for UHNW families. Read here.

Architecture and design studio Adjaye Associates has installed a trio of new CEOs, as founder Sir David Adjaye moves to Executive Chair of the international practice. Kofi Bio, Lucy Tilley, and Pascale Sablan are now leading studios in Accra, London, and New York, respectively. The three appointments “reflect a fundamental change in the way Adjaye Associates will now be run,” says Sir David, who will continue to spearhead the firm’s design direction as Principal. Read here.

Legal and Recruitment

Kensington-based law firm Merali Beedle has significantly ramped up its HNW residential property offering, bringing in a 14-strong team from Healys. Nic Tiong and his team have made the move en masse from Healys, where Tiong led the Asia Pacific department. Joining him at Merali Beedle are Pritpal Manku, Carman Lee, Gabija Menkeviciute, Nohman Sheikh, Ryan Mak, Joycelyn Dyett, Brian Yip, Declan Lau, Grace Chan, Rachel Lau, Amy Scarlett, Aiste Vilcinskaite and Gintare Thurogood. Read here.

Cripps has recruited a new Partner for its London-based real estate team. Paul Alger joins the B-Corp certified legal practice after four-and-a-half years with Shoosmiths. Read here.

London-based property recruitment firm deverellsmith group has moved into the Middle East, setting up a “talent consultancy”  for the real estate and construction sectors in the region under the Hintel banner. The group’s founder and CEO Andrew Deverell-Smith is leading the Middle East team, which will focus on sourcing “elite real estate leaders and high performers from across the globe”. Read here.

Developers

Triptych Bankside developer JTRE London has recruited Seamus Porter as its new Operations Director. He moves from Hutchinson Property Group, where he led the delivery of two large scale resi schemes – Chelsea Waterfront (DGV £400mn) and Convoys Wharf – as Chief Construction Manager. He was previously at ML Investments and Bennett Construction UK. Read here.

British Land has lined up veteran banker William Rucker as its next chairman. Rucker, who previously headed up the London operation of investment bank Lazard, will join British Land’s board as Non-Exec Director, Chair of the Board and Chair of the Nomination Committee following the firm’s AGM on 9th July. He takes over from Tim Score, who has served as chair for five years, and on the board for ten. Read here.

A very senior player at Battersea Power Station and Soho House has joined MurrayTwohig – the placemaking and development firm co-founded by Battersea Power Station’s former Chief Development Officer and design boss, David Twohig – as a partner. Kevin Bundy led the delivery of Battersea’s Phase 2 before moving on in 2019. More recently, he was Managing Director of Development at Soho House. He’s now joined MurrayTwohig’s development arm, which specialises in delivering complex mixed-use sites in the UK. Read here.