People and companies

Hire of the week: Alex Gray Cambridge estate agent Redmayne Arnold & Harris has appointed Alex Gray to the newly created role of head of residential sales. Gray brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role following a 20-year career. He was previously a director at Tucker Gardner for more than 14 years, where he took over the management of its regional office network following the acquisition of the firm by Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency chain, in 2014. Nick Redmayne, co-founder and director of Redmayne Arnold & Harris, said: “We are delighted to welcome Alex. He has a proven track record of selling houses, apartments and new homes in the Cambridge area. He has an incredibly strong focus on customer care, which ties in completely with our ethos at Redmayne Arnold & Harris.” Gray added: “This is a great opportunity for me to build on the enviable reputation which Nick Redmayne, Chris Arnold and NIck Harris have established over the past 25 years. When you are helping a client sell a house, you are not just dealing with their biggest asset but also their family home. By bringing together best estate agency practice, local knowledge and cutting-edge technology, we have the chance to expand and take a wider market.” If Gray could choose a company to be managing director of it would be Virgin Atlantic. He explained: “Virgin Atlantic is all about the customer experience. From initial booking to end of journey, they live their brand. It’s fun, friendly and different at every stage.” Growing up, property was not the industry Gray had mapped out for his career. The younger Gray wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and be a policeman. U+I has appointed James Heather as development director. He will be responsible for delivering the company’s plans for the Mayfield area of Manchester city centre. Eddisons Taylors has appointed chartered surveyor Chris Worrall as associate director. A specialist in the leisure, healthcare medical and education sectors, Worrall joins from Vail Williams. Private investment firm Cain Hoy Enterprises has appointed Neil Barber as leasing director. Barber has 25 years’ retail leasing experience and will focus specifically on the retail leasing at Islington Square, N1. GVA has appointed Mark Baldwin as an associate in its North West offices team based in Manchester. Having worked in the offices real estate market for more than 15 years, Baldwin’s most recent position was at Patrizia where he worked as a senior leasing and asset manager. Oliver Thomas has rejoined CBRE from OBI Property as a senior director in its North West building consultancy team. Naismiths has appointed Nick Lamb as associate director. The development management specialist joins the firm’s Birmingham office and will focus on projects in the residential, mixed-use, regeneration and private rented sectors. Bidwells has made the following promotions: Richard Todd, Derek Farrow, Ian Wakeling, Ralph Peters, Matt Richards and Colin Summers to group partners. Dan Thomas, Matt Cawley, Darren Hirst, Cath Anthony, Sam Metson and Alex Bloxham to divisional partners. Katie Delafield, John Coates, Doug Shulman, Neil Perrins, Peter Moore, Corinne MacDougall, Jake Nugent and Heather Lay to associates. David Rothwell has joined Greystar as development manager from Aspire DM. He joins the multifamily and student development team. Anne Johnstone, partner for environmental services at Malcolm Hollis, has been appointed chair-elect of the UK Environmental Law Association. She will be the second female to hold the post when she takes over from Stephen Sykes in July. Thames Valley law firm Clifton Ingram has appointed Jonathan Foulds as a senior associate in its commercial property department. He joins from Stevens & Bolton. Greenwoods Solicitors has appointed Jeremy Stanton as a director in strategic land.  David Beanland has joined Touchstone as a business director. He will have operational responsibility for both the Leeds and Milton Keynes offices. He previously worked for Allsop. Citygrove has appointed Sebastian Schoenbach as a development surveyor. He will work on sourcing and securing new development projects, occupier liaison, lease negotiations and project implementation in Germany, Spain and the UK. Aitchison Raffety has promoted James Holmes to director in its planning and development division. He joined the firm in 2007 and will continue to undertake site appraisals, planning applications, local plan representations, and appeals. Lee Rhodes has joined Lambert Smith Hampton as associate director of the building consultancy team in the Sheffield office. He was previously with Rider Levett Bucknall. Carterwood has appointed graduate research analyst Jessica Stainthorp to its consultancy team. The firm has also promoted Alex Taylor to associate, Matthew Drysdale to principal surveyor, and Victoria Millard and Luke Sefton to senior analysts. BNP Paribas Real Estate has appointed Denizer Ibrahim to head a new division focused on advising landlords and retail clients on pop-up and transient retail strategy. He was formerly head of special projects at Appear Here. Redrow Homes has appointed Wayne Morris as construction director and Gavin Powell has been promoted to area sales manager. Eddisons has opened a new office at Cathedral Buildings, Dean Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 1PG. The office will be headed by new associate director Adam Finch.