Estate Agencies

The Group CEO of Savills, Mark Ridley, is to step down at the end of this year after a 29 year career with the business, including seven as Group Chief Executive. Simon Shaw, currently Group Chief Financial Officer, is due to take over the top job from 1st January 2026. Savills is now on the hunt for a new Group Chief Financial Officer.

Savills has also rejigged its senior team in Edinburgh. John Forsyth has been promoted to Head of Edinburgh Residential Sales, taking the reins from Ben Fox, who is now Director of New Business.

Dexters has named a new CEO, to succeed Andy Shepherd when he retires in March 2026. Ash Kashyap – formerly the firm’s Chief Financial Officer – has been tapped to take over the top job.

Global real estate giant CBRE has kicked off the search for a new CEO in the UK, as long-standing boss Ciaran Bird announces his departure. Bird was Head of Retail before becoming Managing Director in 2013.

Knight Frank has set up a new UK board to steer long-term strategy and bring the various divisions in its home market “closer together”. The line-up includes 13 senior leaders from across the firm’s UK operations, plus some regular “rotating contributors”, and newly-appointed Non-Executive Adviser Julia Hayhoe. UK Managing Partner & Chair, Stephen Clifton, is leading the new senecio table, joined by: Tim Hyatt (Head of Residential); Tim Robinson (Head of Commercial); Katie Oliphant (London offices); Rory Penn (Chair of Private Office & Head of London Residential Sales); Ian McCarter (Head of London Office Leasing); Rupert Dawes (Head of Global Residential); Karen Bowes (CPO); Edel McGrath (CIO); John Rockel (Head of Residential Strategy); and Fiona Wilcocks (Head of the Executive Office).

Knight Frank has also installed a new head of sales at its outpost in Queen’s Park. Dylan Brooks joined the agency five years ago from KFH.

And Knight Frank has appointed a trio of new lettings managers across its London network. Hannah Reason returns to the firm after four years with Savills, to lead the lettings operation in Islington. Robert Lerner has taken the reins in Hampstead, also bringing experience from Savills. Julia Slack is now in charge of the lettings team at Knight Frank Battersea & Riverside. She previously worked with Douglas & Gordon and John D Wood.

Two well-known West Country agents have teamed up to buy the Jackson-Stops operation in Exeter. Tom Bedford and Sarah-Jane Bingham-Chick have acquired the outfit from longstanding director Richard Addington, who remains with the business. Bingham-Chick has worked as an estate agent since 1988, holding senior roles at both Knight Frank and Savills. Bedford has spent the last six years at Savills Exeter.

Hugh Daunt has moved from Dexters, where he was a sales director in Chelsea, to Russell Simpson, where he will handle sales up to £5mn in the Kensington & Notting Hill area.

United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty has recruited Andrew Barnes to spearhead a move on the Cotswolds property market. The firm – which has expanded rapidly in London and the Home Counties in recent years – now offers high-end home buying and selling services around Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

UK SIR has also added two new faces in SW London. James Morrison and Drew Zendra both move from Savills, where they worked alongside eachother in Wimbledon.

Daniel Daggers’ luxury property brokerage DDRE Global has brought in a key operator from Knight Frank to boost its international network. Anastacia Murray-Watson has taken up the new position of Head of Partnerships & Growth for the Americas, following 18 years with KF, where she managed the firm’s relationship with strategic alliance partner, Douglas Elliman.

DDRE has also added a number of new faces in the UK. Robert Austin specialises in resi acquisitions and investments across the Southeast of England. Oliver Venn has previously worked for agencies including Foxtons, Druce and Knight Frank. American broker Caroline Miller has joined Jessica Bishop’s team in London.

John D Wood & Co. has recruited a new Regional Lettings Director in Central London. Jared Kilgarriff joined the Connells Group-owned firm after six years with Knight Frank, where he was in charge of lettings in London’s South Bank region, then in Hampstead. Before that, he was a Director at Kensington-based Mountgrange Heritage.

Design-led London property agency Domus Nova has confirmed a tie-up with global real estate group Barnes International, and opened a new office in South Kensington. Paris-based Barnes has a presence in 22 countries with nearly 140 offices worldwide.

Cluttons has made two key appointments at its Chelsea & Knightsbridge office. Lucy Plant (née Potter) has been brought in to lead the team on Sloane Avenue, having previously managed Berkshire Hathaway’s Hyde Park branch. She also spent seven years with Knight Frank in Central London. Charlotte Elkington has also joined the line-up, to lead the lettings operation, having spent the last eight years at Savills in Kensington & Chelsea.

A trio of former Foxtons agents have made the move to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ London operation, which is run by Managing Director Martin Bikhit. Stella Krizanec, Camilla Goodfellow and Sami Ounzar all previously spent time at Foxtons, albeit in different divisions and at different times. They now join BHHS offices covering Marylebone, Hyde Park and RBKC.

Property brokerage Harding Green has announced another new signing in Kensington & Chelsea. Jay Badiani was formerly a Partner at Cluttons, running the sales department and overseeing office operations in Chelsea, Knightsbridge and South Kensington.

Harding Green has also expanded in the Home Counties. West Berkshire-based husband and wife team Natasha and David Morrey join the self-employed ranks with established careers in residential sales, both including spells at Savills. Natasha Morrey is a new homes specialist who spent the last five-and-a-half years as Sales Manager for Berkeley Group then Fabrica by A2 Dominion. David Morrey has a decade of experience in southern England, most recently as Head of Sales for Hamptons in Newbury.

Caroline Ryan has signed to self-employed broker platform Moveli, after eight years as a senior manager with Hamptons in SW London.

Moveli has also attracted the former Managing Director of boutique PCL agency Moretons. Ben Hopkinson spent 17 years at Moretons, leading a team of 25 across two offices in Westminster and Knightsbridge. He is now based in Berkhamsted.

Boutique estate agency House Collective has opened a new branch in Notting Hill. The firm was founded in 2018 and has so far operated from a base in Primrose Hill, covering prime markets in the north and west of the capital. The new office, on Uxbridge Street, is led by John D Wood & Co alumni Will Vaughan and Benjamin Ross.

Winkworth has opened a new outpost in Clapham, run by new franchisee Ben Ainsworth, who previously worked at Dexters and Knight Frank. This follows the news that well-known former Knight Frank agent Christian Lock-Necrews recently took over Winkworth’s Knightsbridge operation.

LRG (previously known as Leaders Romans Group) has bought 50+ branch independent estate agency Chancellors Group, in its biggest ever business acquisition. LRG plans to keep the Chancellors brand. Robert Scott-Lee, Managing Director at Chancellors, will serve as a consultant during the ownership transition.

Lomond, which acquired Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward last year, has bought 17-year-old Battersea-based estate agency Hamnett & Ganpot.

Long-standing Humberts franchisee Simon Lewis is retiring from the business, opening up an opportunity for someone else to take over the Sussex division of the upper-end estate agency.

Buying Agencies

Grant Bates – formerly Head of Private Clients at Hamptons – has launched “a forward-thinking brokerage redefining the experience of buying and selling luxury real estate”. Based in London, Grant J Bates Property aims to capitalise on its founder’s significant social media presence and strong track record of super-prime deal-making.

Savills-owned buying agency Prime Purchase has recruited Abigail Frankish as Associate Director in South West London. She previously covered the same patch for Aykroyd & Co., having started her career with Savills.

National buying agency Garrington has announced a “major expansion” of its property management arm, relaunching the business with new leadership following the acquisition of London-based boutique luxury property management firm Pippa & Benoit. Garrington Asset Management first launched in 2013 to provide lettings and property management services to high net worth investors and family offices, from offices in London and Cambridge. GAM has now relaunched under the management of P&B founders Pippa Mitchell and Benoit Gallaga.

London and Edinburgh property agent Charles McCosh has set up an independent buying agency in the South East of England. Royal Agricultural College-educated McCosh spent the last six years with Savills, as Head of Lettings then Director in the Edinburgh office. He started his property career with Marsh & Parsons in London. The new venture, McCosh & Co., provides buying agency and property finding services across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire & Hertfordshire.

Camilla Dell’s Mayfair-based property agency Black Brick has recruited Jason Wei to run a relaunched Private Client Property Management service. Wei has moved from property consultancy Webster Hart, where he specialised in managing property portfolios for UHNWIs. He previously worked as a mortgage manager in New Zealand, and is fluent in Mandarin.

Recently-formed Wiltshire-based buying agency Craig Fuller Property has added a new Buying Partner to handle searches around the North Cotswolds. Rhianna Evans spent the last two years with Cheltenham-based estate agency Kingsley Evans.