People: Evelyn Partners; CBRE; GMI Construction
Charles Jones has joined CBRE’s operational real estate team in Birmingham.
He will spearhead the growth of the global real estate advisor’s hotels and licensed brokerage activities in the Midlands and South region.
Jones, who joins CBRE as a director, has more than ten years experience in the sector, having worked for a number of national property firms, including Lambert Smith Hampton. In his new role, he will focus on hotel and public house mid-market transactions in the regional market, providing disposal and acquisition advice to private and corporate clients on single and multi-asset transactions.
Will Ventham, head of CBRE Birmingham, said: “Whilst the regional hotel and pub trade has been able to call on our national network, it’s great to have a dedicated broker based here in the heart of the country.
“Charles will be supported by Anne Walsh from our Hotels consultancy team, Paul Barrasford from our Hotels Investment Properties team and Tom-Holt-Wilson in valuation, along with Katie Horton, who has joined the wider team having recently qualified as a surveyor.”
Jones said: “CBRE gives me the opportunity to join an internationally recognised leader in the real estate and hotels markets, as we seek to capitalise on rising demand for mid-market opportunities. I can already see what the benefits of a larger dedicated national business will bring to the region and our client base. The breadth of services, depth of knowledge and joined up thinking across sectors and offices is exciting and something I am looking forward to building on in the region.”
Phil Schmid, lead director for Midlands & South OPRE, said: “Charles is a key hire for our OPRE team as we look to cement our position as the advisor of choice in the hotels, pubs, care homes and senior living sectors across the Midlands & South. His experience is a great addition to the current team and the services we can offer to clients in the region.”
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Evelyn Partners, the integrated wealth management and professional services group, has continued to invest in its Birmingham professional services team by making a trio of appointments.
Jayne Harrold joins as a partner focusing on environment tax, Mike Smith as an associate director in the business rates team and Katie Bradley as an associate director in the business outsourcing services team.
Harrold joins Evelyn Partners from PwC where she spent 11 years and had a national role leading the firm’s UK environmental tax team focused on packaging, waste, energy, and resource taxes. She leads and manages multi-territory projects delivering plastic packaging tax and other environmental tax advice.
Smith joins from the real estate consultancy Cushman and Wakefield where he was an associate director in the Midlands Birmingham rating team. He has a wealth of experience in challenging business rates tax assessments on behalf of both landlords and occupiers across a range of multiple commercial property asset types and sectors.
Bradley joins from RSM where she was an accounting and financial reporting manager. She will lead on growing the Evelyn Partners financial reporting service offering in the region and strengthens the business outsourcing service practice for the office.
Stephen Drew, professional services regional managing partner at Evelyn Partners in Birmingham, said: “These significant appointments come at the end of a year of expansion for our professional services team in Birmingham, that now exceeds 100 people. Earlier in the year we moved into a new Birmingham office at the city’s landmark 103 Colmore Row and we are continuing to hire experienced people so that we can expand the range of services we are able to offer our clients in the West Midlands. I look forward to working closely with Jayne, Mike and Katie as we continue with our growth strategy in 2023.”
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GMI Construction Group has promoted Gareth Jones to joint regional managing director.
Jones takes on the role alongside existing regional managing director Andy Bruce as part of GMI Construction’s long-term succession planning strategy as it continues to grow its activity in the Midlands.
With nearly 20 years experience in construction, Jones has quickly risen in the industry. He started as a trainee site engineer aged 17, also studying for a degree in Construction Management and Civil Engineering.
This became the foundation of a 12-year career with Galliford Try in which time he progressed to site management and project management roles before the age of 24.
Prior to joining GMI Construction as construction manager he spent five years at Thomas Vale, which was acquired by Bouygues Construction. He has spent the last two years as construction director for the Midlands with GMI before taking on this new role.
Having originally started delivering projects in the region managed from its North West and Yorkshire offices, GMI Construction established a permanent base in the Midlands in the last 18 months, and has quickly secured a portfolio of significant developments.
It currently has a pipeline of £100m worth of commercial and residential property schemes in locations including Birmingham.
Among them is the £30m, 260 apartment Becketwell regeneration scheme in Derby, which is the most significant development in the city centre since 2007 and is due for completion in the first quarter of 2023.
GMI Construction is also delivering a 155,000sq ft logistics warehouse for St Modwen in Longbridge, Birmingham, as well as a £18m, 105-apartment development at Cornwall House in the city’s jewellery quarter for HBD.
Lee Powell, CEO of GMI Construction Group, said: “Gareth is a rising star, not only in our business, but in the construction industry and is at the core of our operations in the Midlands. He already works exceptionally closely with Andy Bruce, who has successfully established our presence in the Midlands, and will now work on an equal footing as part of our long-term succession planning and commitment to the region.”
