Knight Frank has appointed Karen Bowes and Shishir Baijal to its group executive board, with Bowes joining in the newly created role of group chief people officer.
Bowes (pictured, left) will also become a proprietary partner at the agent. She has a 25-year career in law and financial services, working most recently with Barclays Bank. She has also held numerous international HR roles at Capital One, where she worked for 18 years.
Baijal (pictured, right) is chairman and managing director of Knight Frank’s India business. Knight Frank said he has joined the board to add international experience and “wide-ranging” corporate acumen.
Baijal has a 45-year-plus career across a range of sectors including hotels and leisure.
He joined Knight Frank in 2012, building the team in India to 1,500 people in eight cities, headquartered in Mumbai.
The company said that Bowes and Baijal “will broaden the range of expertise and ability on the board” and their hires “signal the growing importance of strategic thinking for people and the strong focus on global markets for Knight Frank”.
Knight Frank senior partner and group chair William Beardmore-Gray said: “We have developed a people strategy that builds on our partnership approach and ensures that around the world Knight Frank recruits and retains the best talent. Karen Bowes’ experience will help us to build on this key strategy.
“At the same time, following the recent announcement of our new US partnership with Berkadia, we continue to grow our business to suit our clients’ needs around the world.
“With India now the fastest-growing economy in the world, Shishir Baijal will give us an invaluable insight into business and real estate dynamics across Asia and other emerging markets, as well as his wider non-real estate expertise.
The group executive board oversees Knight Frank’s global network and overall strategy.
As well as Beardmore-Gray, Bowes and Baijal its other members are: Stephen Clifton, head of UK commercial; Tim Hyatt, head of UK residential; Matt Tweedie, chief financial officer; and Anthony Duggan, partner and head of strategy and ESG.
In addition, its non-executive advisers are Charlotte Boyle, Alexandra Innes and Kevin Coppel, who is also managing director of Knight Frank’s Asia Pacific business.
To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews
