CBRE, the leading global real estate advisor, announces that it has appointed Dr. Neil Blake as Head of EMEA & UK Research.
Dr. Blake joins CBRE from Oxford Economics, the economic forecasting consultancy, where he was Director of Economic Analysis. Here he had primary responsibility for the analysis of international cities and regional services, commercial property, housing and retail markets, as well as global macroeconomic and financial sector analysis. Prior to joining Oxford Economics in 2008, Dr. Blake was a founding director of Business Strategies Limited, which became part of Experian in 2002.
Throughout his career he has worked for a wide range of both private and public sector clients on real estate focused projects including Henderson Global Investors, Bouwfonds REIM, BNP Paribas, IPD, the Homes and Communities Agency, Greater London Authority, Scottish Enterprise the British Retail Consortium.
At CBRE, Dr. Blake will be responsible for both the EMEA and UK research teams, which are based in the company’s office at Henrietta House in London, W1. He will formally join CBRE in early August.
Mike Strong, Chairman & CEO of CBRE in EMEA, commented:
“Delivering in-depth and innovative research on topics that are critical to our clients is the cornerstone of our business. This focus has seen CBRE publish many of the first analyses of a wide range of markets and issues including Business Footprints, Senior Lending Review, European Valuation Monitor, Europe’s Online Consumer and How Global is the Business of Retail? As a well respected expert in both academic and commercial real estate spheres, Dr Blake’s experience and broader market perspectives will enable us to continue to add significant value to clients and lead the debate on issues of vital importance to our industry.”
Dr. Neil Blake added:
“For some time now CBRE has led the field in generating forward-looking strategic insights in to real estate markets both across EMEA and globally. This has been driven by the breadth of its platform, the services it provides and diversity of market-facing experts within the business. The opportunity to tap into this network and provide leading advice, understanding and analysis of the major themes in the real estate industry is enormous and I look forward to joining CBRE’s Research and Consulting team to build on what they have achieved to date”.
Dr. Blake’s significant international and UK experience includes:
Worldwide
• The development of Oxford Economics’ European Cities and Regions and Global Cities models
• Economic and demographic modelling for land use planning in Abu Dhabi
• Analysis of risk-return trade off in European residential property markets
• Extension of economic analysis to look at the implications for credit markets and credit risk
UK
• Rents, supply and take up analysis in London’s City office market
• Modelling and forecasting IPD sectors in the UK
• Lyons Review: consultant on location of government employment
• Barker Review: consultation on the economic effects of restrictions on housing supply
• Regular scenario analysis of the UK, regional and international economies for UK companies
Dr. Blake has a PhD in Economics and Economic History from the University of York and is the author of a significant number of publications spanning economics, public policy and the commercial real estate and housing markets.