Wednesday: Commercial Property
A round-up of the week’s top commercial property appointments.
GRONTMIJ, one of Europe’s leading engineering consultancies, has appointed built environment specialist Dennis Markey to head up its new Built and Natural Environment division in Leeds.
Following three substantial acquisitions earlier this year, Grontmij is launching the new division to combine and coordinate existing skills within its building and environment areas of expertise, with specialist knowledge from acquired companies Whitelaw Turkington and Roger Preston and Partners.
The Built and Natural Environment division will bring together these skills to provide a sustainable solution for clients, with a comprehensive range of services dedicated to carbon management and reduction.
The team will evaluate ways to develop environments from the initial land remediation, through to land development, ensuring a minimal carbon footprint during the process and for the future.
Mr Markey joins from Alfred McAlpine plc, where he was managing director of Enviros and had responsibility for all employees across the UK and internationally. Prior to his role at Enviros, he held senior positions with Hazell Carr (financial services provider), Capita Group (outsourcing company), Telewest Communications and various surveying practices.
At Grontmij he will use his expertise to integrate the existing specialist areas and develop a cohesive service in the marketplace.
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THE Leeds office of property consultants King Sturge has strengthened its Lease Consultancy Team with the appointment of Jill Goodman as an associate.
Jill Goodman joins from King Sturge’s London office where she spent six years in the National Investment Team as well as carrying out some rent review and lease renewal work.
Her appointment brings King Sturge’s Leeds Lease Consultancy Team, which operates throughout Yorkshire and Humber, to five.
The Leeds office of King Sturge is the region’s largest independent firm of chartered surveyors and property consultants with more than 90 staff providing property agency, consultancy and investment services throughout Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Humber and North Derbyshire.
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LEEDS and Bradford law firm Gordons has expanded its commercial property department with the appointment of Steve Hawkins, formerly equity partner at Rollits Solicitors in Hull.
Mr Hawkins joins as partner and will lead a team of five planning and environmental lawyers comprising partner Ann Krieger and solicitors Mark Blackburn, Noel Scanlon and Nilesh Patel.
Services offered by the planning team to the firm’s private and commercial clients include applications and appeals, advocacy, planning agreements, site promotion, waste management and contaminated land.
Originally from Bolton, Mr Hawkins joined Rollits as an associate solicitor in 1992 becoming head of the firm’s property department in 2005. He was also head of Rollits’ planning team. In 2008, legal directory Chambers described him as ‘a star in advocacy with a wealth of experience and great legal knowledge’.
Established in Bradford in 1844, Gordons opened its Leeds office in 2000. The firm’s turnover for the last financial year was £18.7m – an increase of seven per cent from the previous year’s total – and marks the fifth successive year of growth for the firm.
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THE Leeds office of independent planning consultancy DPP has announced the promotion of Michelle Bath to equity partner.
Ms Bath joined in 1988 as an assistant planner.
Since then she has worked her way to the top, becoming a salaried partner four years ago and now making equity partner.
The Leeds office of DPP has seen rapid growth over the past five years, more than doubling in size to a team of 17, headed by three partners.
Ms Bath said: “DPP has an enviable client base, advising on complex planning and development issues. The firm is expanding rapidly and I am pleased to be playing a role in the firm’s continued growth.”
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YORKSHIRE Housing (YHL) has added to its team by appointing a director of new business and development.
Ged Walsh, formerly head of investment for the Yorkshire region of the Housing Corporation, has worked in the housing industry for 22 years.
He will be responsible for development, new business and the group’s private sales and rental subsidiary Space Properties.
A member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and also a Chartered Surveyor, Mr Walsh has taken part in housing issues at both a local and regional level. In previous roles, he has also worked with many of the region’s Local Authorities.
Yorkshire Housing Limited is the largest social housing provider dedicated to Yorkshire, providing 17,000 homes for over 35,000 people throughout the region. The organisation consists of a number of housing associations which have come together to improve and extend services throughout Yorkshire.
