Brockton Capital associate partner Charlie Desmond is following in the footsteps of his real estate veteran father to launch his own £250m investment business.
Desmond, 31, son of entrepreneur Danny Desmond, and colleague Dan Kelly, 28, have resigned from Brockton to launch Brydell Partners. The pair have worked for David Mark’s and Jason Blank’s investment company for seven and four years respectively.
They will leave the company at the end of the year but expect to continue to work closely with Brockton.
Equity for the new business, which will invest in mixed-use assets in the UK, targeting growth and value-add asset management opportunities, has been raised from a mixture of high-net-worth individuals, private European families and institutional investors.
“The market is clearly picking up momentum and we are cautiously optimistic on the prospects for real estate across the UK,” said Desmond. “We feel that this is the right time in our careers to establish a platform that can invest well over the long term irrespective of where we are in a cycle.”
After seven years leading developer Hunting Gate, Desmond’s father left to found Bride Hall in 1984. He sold 50% of the company to Great Portland Estates for £10m in 1987 before buying the stake back for much less in the 1992 recession. In the Estates Gazette Rich List 2012 he was valued at around £92m.
Prior to Brockton, Desmond worked at Goldman Sachs Real Estate. Kelly joined Brockton from investment consultant Towers Watson.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
