CBRE swoops on rival for retail heavyweight

PROPERTY consultancy CBRE has swooped on rival Birmingham firm Bilfinger GVA for its director and head of retail, hotels and leisure in the Midlands.

Alastair Robertson-Dunn, a well-known figure in the regional commercial property sector, becomes a director within CBRE’s retail agency team.

His clients include institutions, property companies, developers, banks, and retailers, advising them on rental values, asset management and marketing strategies, acquisitions and disposals, lease renewals and development programmes.

Robertson-Dunn has worked on some of Birmingham’s most high profile schemes including Arena Central, Barclaycard Arena, Brindleyplace, The Cube, Fort Dunlop and The Mailbox.

Prior to joining Bilfinger GVA in 2013, he was a director of Robertson Brown, a niche commercial retail consultancy in Birmingham, which he co-founded in 2009.

He previously worked for JLL in Birmingham before moving to London in 2008 to join the firm’s national retail agency team.

Martin Guest, managing director at CBRE in Birmingham, said: “We are extremely excited about the arrival of Alastair. With a CV that reads like a who’s who of retail and leisure schemes in Birmingham, he is undoubtedly the go to agent for the sector.

“Birmingham is enjoying something of a retail renaissance, with the likes of John Lewis, Grand Central and the revamped Mailbox helping cement the city’s position as a key location on the UK shopping map.

“Alastair’s appointment will give us a stronger foothold in the market and enable us to provide specialist retail consultancy advice from our Birmingham office. It will be great to now have a team based “on the ground” to add to the market presence and experience that our retail division already has in the region.”