Lloyds Bank Commercial Real Estate has announced a restructure that will see the former developers’ team and its clients absorbed across the business and two senior members promoted to the leadership team.
Klaus Betz-Vais has been appointed head of the institutional clients team, replacing Madeleine McDougall after she became head of the commercial real estate business last year. Richard MacDowel has taken over from Gabrielle Berring as head of the major private groups team.
Betz-Vais and MacDowel were both existing senior members of the teams they now lead and had been in acting leadership roles prior to their formal appointments.
The promotions follow the departure in December of Graeme Alfille-Cook, former developers team head, who left to pursue new opportunities.
The developers’ team and its clients will be absorbed across the remaining units: listed clients, institutional clients, major private groups and private groups.
Madeleine McDougall, head of commercial real estate, said: “Development is a core discipline for the majority of our clients and a major element of our lending programme. We’re proud of our track record here, supporting some truly landmark schemes.
Most recently, this included being the lead arranger and a lender on a £390m senior lending package for The Stage in east London.
“Clients require a range of structures and products of which development finance is a key strategic component. We feel that embedding the extensive experience of structuring complex development transactions within the four teams will allow clients to access that expertise more widely and directly”.
She added: “Since joining the bank in early 2015, Klaus has been instrumental in the development of the institutional practice. This has included leading some of our landmark transactions of the past few years, such as the O2 Designer Outlet Village deal.
“Richard has been one of the driving forces behind our pioneering green lending initiative, which has deservedly won plaudits from across the industry for its role in rewarding and encouraging best practice in sustainability. His experience and innovative approach to real estate banking makes him a great addition to our leadership team.”
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