City Moves February 24th: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week?
Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured.
This week we see appointments to the British Property Federation ahead of a pinnacle year for the high street. Deloitte has welcomed a fresh lead to the firm’s creative branch which launched in September last year. Meanwhile, CBRE, Aviva Investors and Macrobond Financial strengthen their teams across commercial, sustainability and assets factions.
British Property Federation appoints new chair
The British Property Federation (BFP) will welcome a new chair to its retail board this week to help navigate the structural changes that Covid-19 has marked on the industry.
Chief executive of NewRiver REIT Allan Lockhart brings over 25-years of experience in retail real estate to the board, with plans to ensure retail property is aligned with net zero carbon goals.
President of British Property Federation David Partridge said: “The retail property sector requires, arguably now more than ever, a strong and authoritative body to represent its interests.
“I welcome Allan to his new position within the BPF to navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead for our new Retail Board.”
Leading the retail property response to the government’s review of commercial property owner-occupier relationship, Lockhart ‘looks forward’ to shaping new legislation.
Launched in January, the board will cooperate with the government to unlock investment for town and city centres across the UK, a well needed boost for the prospects of the high street.
The former member of the Federation’s Policy Committee, Lockhart, said: “It is a privilege to become the Chair of the recently established BPF Retail Board, leading the charge for the retail property sector’s priorities among central and regional government.”
Deloitte Digital strengthens creative consultancy team
Audit giant Deloitte has appointed a new managing director to the firm’s creative consultancy ACNE London.
Annie Gallimore joins from Deloitte Digital’s ENGINE, where she held the position of managing director, overseeing 200 people within the agency’s creative pillar.
Gallimore said: “Obviously successful campaigns can no longer just rely on dynamic advertising ideas but also more and more on data, analytics and experience design.
“I’m looking forward to drawing on the expertise of Deloitte’s wider consulting practice to be a solid bedrock for the creation of stunning ideas and creativity.”
The former head of marketing at Waterstones brings over 20-years’ experience to the branch and has led various multi-award winning campaigns.
Elected in 2019 to the IPA Council, Gallimore has mentored women across the industry, running the women’s network at ENGINE.
“Since ACNE first joined Deloitte Digital in 2017, its influence has galvanised how we design and deliver our consulting projects. Welcoming Annie into ACNE will allow us to continue this further and ensure that creativity is at the core of Deloitte’s consulting practice,” Anne-Marie Malley, managing partner for consulting at Deloitte, said.
CBRE boosts sustainability advisory services with new hire
Global real estate advisor CBRE has this week announced a new lead of the firm’s sustainability advisory services within its valuation and advisory business.
Former director of sustainability at consultancy Carbon Intelligence, Sam Carson focus on the impact of environmental risk on real estate values.
Head of valuation and advisory in the UK & Ireland, Nick Knight, said: “With the real estate industry navigating a path to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we are constantly looking for ways to provide clients with a competitive advantage and having Sam integrated within our team will enable us to embed sustainability at the forefront of all of our valuation advice.”
As an expert in net zero avenues, Carson has overseen projects with Aviva Investors and Federated Hermes REIM.
Carson brings a wealth of experience to CBRE and sits on the GRESB European Benchmark Committee.
“We are working hard to embed sustainability advice across our lines of business and sectors and Sam’s appointment into valuation is the next step in achieving this,” head of environmental consultancy, Julie Townsend, said.
Aviva Investors hosts new CIO
Daniel McHugh is set to oversee around 300 people working across fund management, asset management, development, transactions, origination, underwriting, research, and business management.
This week’s appointment follows the fresh hire of former Real Assets CIO Mark Versey as CEO last month.
After joining Aviva Investors as a real estate managing director in April 2018, McHugh will join the Aviva Investors Executive team and report to the newly appointed CEO.
CEO Versey said: “Daniel has an exceptional investment pedigree, with a relentless focus on clients and delivering strong performance.
“Since he joined the business, we have significantly built out our development, asset management and transaction capabilities in real estate, expanding our investment strategy in exciting new European locations and forging strong partnerships with key international investors.”
Macrobond Financial appoints new CCO
Economic and financial data provider Macrobond Financial will host a new chief commercial officer from this week, who will oversee all global sales and strategic partnerships from the company’s London office.
Howard Rees moves from head of international sales at Burgiss but has formerly held senior positions at Bloomberg LP.
CEO Tomas Liljeborg said: “Howard’s track record of driving global growth, and in particular, his proven track record in selling enterprise solutions, along with his passion, creativity and vision, make him a strong addition to our executive team.”
Building high-performing teams, Rees will work on simplifying data extraction to uncover accurate economic figures.
“Access to timely, topical and comprehensive economic intelligence has never been more important for finance professionals, economists and analysts and I am delighted to join Macrobond at such a crucial time for the industry and the business,” Rees said.