People: CBRE; Filtermist; Warwickshire County Cricket Club

CBRE has boosted its development team in Birmingham with two recruits.

Laura Loftus joins from Avison Young, where she was a director, to lead the team.

As a British Property Federation development committee member, she is a well-known face in commercial real estate circles.

She has more than 15 years of development consultancy experience advising the public, private and higher education sectors on option appraisals, viability, development and delivery strategies, partnering approaches and procurement.

Her clients included the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), West Midlands Police and multiple local authorities.

In the higher education sector, she has advised the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University.

Laura is joined at CBRE by senior surveyor James Carey, also from Avison Young.

Will Ventham, who heads CBRE’s Birmingham office, said: “Laura and James have a track record and reputation in development consultancy that is second to none. They will strengthen our established Birmingham development team, bringing a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors that will also benefit our leading transactional and consultancy teams.”

Will Godfrey has also made the move across from Avison Young. He has joined the business rates team as a senior surveyor.

A Telford manufacturer that helps companies create cleaner and safer working environments has appointed Graeme Bell as its new Global business development manager.

Filtermist welcomes Bell to the role, which will consist of increasing sales of the firm’s latest oil mist collectors and ancillary equipment in the countries it already serves in this area, developing new products specifically for these markets, and recruiting new distributors to the Filtermist network.

Bell has already spent time visiting customers in China, Korea and India, before being part of the Filtermist delegation that exhibited at the IMTEX exhibition – organised by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) in Bangalore.

Johanna Morris, Filtermist’s Global commercial sales director said: “Graeme is an
important hire for our business and brings with him extensive industry experience at a senior level. This is the first time that we have had a dedicated Global Business Development Manager looking after the whole APAC region and demonstrates both our commitment to existing customers and to increasing our market share in this part of the world.”

James Thomas, a specialist in high-performance sports, has been appointed as Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s new performance director.

He will oversee the success of the Warwickshire men, Bears women and Birmingham Phoenix teams.

Thomas joins from Manchester City FC, where he was director of performance services and contributed to the global success of the City Football Group’s eleven professional teams.

James Thomas

He previously played a key role at British Gymnastics, helping athletes achieve medal success at the Tokyo Olympics.

With a 20-year career in high-performance sports, Thomas has worked across various disciplines, including boxing, judo, wheelchair rugby, and athletics.

His expertise lies in creating winning environments and ensuring teams perform at their best.

Replacing Gavin Larsen, Thomas will officially take on the role at Edgbaston in early June.

Warwickshire Chief Executive Stuart Cain, said: “James is recognised in high-performance sport as a real talent and has demonstrated the ability to cross sports and quickly grasp what’s important to deliver success.

“We wanted someone with real strategic experience of creating world-class, successful performance environments. He’s done that in football, arguably one of the toughest performance environments in world sport, and been equally successful with individual athletes in high-pressure Olympic sports.

“I think James’ desire to become a Bear illustrates how the world of cricket is changing and professionalising as a global sport to rival football.”

Thomas said: “I am delighted to take on the role of Performance Director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Throughout the recruitment process, I was impressed by the Club’s desire to retain and celebrate its proud Bears culture, embracing the opportunity to evolve and build a high-performance environment capable of achieving sustained long-term success.

“I am excited to meet the players, coaches and wider staff, as we look to work together to achieve extraordinary cricket performances in the future.”