Pat Fox loses cancer battle
Pat Fox, one of the founding partners of Bray Fox Smith, has died. Fox, one of the sector’s best-known industrial agents, passed away on 15 January, aged 51, following a battle with cancer. Prior to launching Bray Fox Smith in 2009, he was a partner at Donaldsons and subsequently at DTZ following a takeover deal. He started his career at Kemsley, Whiteley & Ferris.
Blue Inc to close 74 shops
Fashion brand Blue Inc is closing 74 of its 230 shops as part of a corporate restructuring. The company said it had decided to slim down its physical store presence after online sales grew by 50% over the Christmas period.
Kontor hires flexi office specialist
Niche agency Kontor has hired Sam Dawson from serviced office broker Instant Offices. The appointment is designed to boost the creative, media and tech specialist’s capacity to advise companies seeking flexible leases. Kontor was co-founded by former CBRE agents Luke Appleby and James Townsend.
Property Race Day founder dies
Derek Lucie-Smith, founder of Property Race Day, has died after a long illness. The former chief executive of property investment trust Gresham House was a horse-racing fanatic who helped develop Property Race Day from an annual gathering of 400 professionals at Sandown 10 years ago to a 1,000-strong event at Ascot, which has raised £1.2m for children’s charities.
Correction
Last week Estates Gazette reported that Mike Strong had been appointed non-executive chairman of NHS Property Services (16 January, p29). Strong has in fact been appointed non-executive director. Estates Gazette is happy to make this clarification.
To send feedback, e-mail amber.rolt@estatesgazette.com or tweet @AmberRoltEG or @estatesgazette
