Former Homes England chief executive Nick Walkley (pictured) is to take over the running of Avison Young in the UK following a reshuffle of the adviser’s leadership team.
Current UK principal and president Jason Sibthorpe is being promoted to EMEA president, and will be tasked with growing the company’s footprint across Europe.
Walkley joined AY in September 2021 as principal and president of UK strategic advisory, with the task of expanding the firm’s consulting capabilities and using his extensive experience of delivering large-scale regeneration projects to help the business unlock major infrastructure, investment and development opportunities for clients across the UK.
In his new role he will be mandated to drive the acquisition and retention of top-tier clients across investors, occupiers and the public sector by “taking the UK to the next level of technology sophistication, expanding cross-service collaboration and business partnerships”.
Walkley said the change in leadership roles was part of Avison Young’s plans to grow rapidly across Europe, using the UK as a platform. The firm is now ready to step up and compete with top-tier firms such as CBRE and JLL. “We have realised the scale of what we can do,” he said.
Walkley said the firm would be growing its capital markets capabilities in London and driving more growth across the regions, utilising its relationships with international capital and bringing it to the UK’s cities.
“We’re already incredibly strong in the regions but we will be focused on becoming a market leader now,” said Walkley.
AY said it would deliver this growth through acquisitions, hiring in talent and utilising the talent it has in the business.
Other changes to the senior leadership team include: Steve Cresswell is being promoted from European finance and operations director to EMEA chief operating officer and chief finance officer; Jo Davis, managing director for planning, development and regeneration, takes on the role of UK executive chair, working alongside Walkley; Anj Devi has been promoted from senior HR business partner to EMEA HR director, with the task of enabling the firm to hire and empower talent in the business; and Elizabeth Bartlett moves from head of UK communications to an EMEA-wide role.
Avison Young chair and chief executive Mark Rose said: “Avison Young’s reorganisation helps ensure we can better serve clients as an EMEA business. At its core, alignment is about designing the optimal structure that best supports our talented people to deliver exceptional results for our clients. We have a track record of delivering multinational mandates across EMEA, and these promotions will allow us to build on this success.”
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