Gary Yardley, managing director and chief investment officer at Capital & Counties Properties, is to step down from the board and leave the company at the end of the month, after 12 years with the business.
He will not be directly replaced on the board, but CapCo’s group development director Mike Hood will lead on its Earls Court investments, and has been appointed as managing director of the firm’s Earls Court development.
Hood joined CapCo in 2011, and has operational responsibility for Earls Court, including the development management activities of the ventures with TfL, KFI and Network Rail.
Ian Hawksworth, chief executive of CapCo, said: “Gary has developed a talented and experienced team at Earls Court, and under Mike’s leadership they will ensure we remain focused on executing our strategy to maximise the potential of this unique London investment as we prepare for a separation of Covent Garden and Earls Court.”
Henry Staunton, chairman at CapCo, added: “ We are sorry to see him depart the company, and thank him for his extraordinary efforts over the past 12 years, wishing him good health and success in the years to come.”
Yardley said: “I wish Ian, my colleagues and the business every success for the future, as I take some time out to focus on my other interests and improving my health.”
Yardley’s departure comes after it was revealed that CapCo was in talks to sell most of the Earls Cout scheme to Canary Wharf Group.
In May, CapCo reported that its 63% share of its joint venture with Transport for London over part of the Earls Court site had dropped by a further 10.5% over the first three months of the year, to £412m.
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