A renewed push to bring forward Lend Lease’s £7.8bn London development portfolio is expected following the promotion of UK chief Dan Labbad.
Labbad was this week promoted to chief operating officer at the Australian developer.
He will move back to Sydney to take over the role later this year.
A search for his replacement has begun, with internal and external candidates sought.
The move comes at a critical time for Lend Lease’s UK pipeline, with work pushing ahead on the £1.3bn International Quarter at the Olympic site in Stratford, E15, and at its long-running £1.5bn redevelopment of Elephant & Castle, SE1.
Sources said Labbad’s promotion would give him more influence over the future of Lend Lease’s major projects and that in his new role as right-hand man to group chief executive Steve McCann he would press the case for continued investment in London, which he sees as “arguably the most buoyant market in the world”.
Having spent the past seven years working for Lend Lease UK, Labbad views the London projects, which also include the £5bn Greenwich Peninsula, as “his babies”. He will continue his current duties alongside his new COO role until a replacement is found.
“My new role will include supporting the Lend Lease regions, including EMEA, so I will continue to be closely involved with the local business,” he said.
Labbad, who has worked at Lend Lease for 15 years, replaces Scott Charlton as COO.
Charlton has moved to Melbourne-based infrastructure group Transurban, where he has been appointed chief executive.
nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
