Nick Cook, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company’s U.K. operations, has announced that Graham Halkyard has joined Avison Young as Director of Global Occupier Solutions in London.
Halkyard is the latest addition to Avison Young’s rapidly growing senior consulting team. Effective immediately, he will focus on helping clients deliver business transformations by using the built environment in a more innovative way. In addition, he will be consulting on major change initiatives, efficiency improvements, cost saving, supplier selection and real estate strategy, as the company increases its capabilities for clients with an international platform. Collaborating with his U.S. and Canadian colleagues, he will also help further raise Avison Young’s profile as a real estate solutions provider to clients with international portfolios.
Halkyard brings more than 20 years of real estate industry and management consultancy experience to Avison Young, most recently as a director of Selsby Consulting, a niche property and facilities management consultancy. He continues to chair the board of the RICS Management Consultancy Professional Group.
“Graham will be a key addition to Avison Young’s U.K. global occupier solutions team. His experience in European real estate management, operational excellence and service alignment, along with his background as an in-house strategic business partner, will give our clients access to a unique perspective on corporate real estate and facilities management,” comments Cook. “We’re delighted to have him on board in London as we continue to expand and develop our service offering.”
Prior to joining Selsby Consulting, Halkyard served as a property business partner and estate management director of Barclays Bank. Before that, he was a partner at Donaldsons LLP where he was responsible for a team delivering multi-discipline services to key corporate clients.
During his career as a strategic adviser and subject matter expert, Halkyard developed a track record for delivering complex organisational transformation and operational change projects on behalf of a mix of corporate organisations across the U.K. and Central Europe.
“I look forward to continuing my career at Avison Young, which is the most dynamic and innovative company in the real estate services sector,” states Halkyard. “The Principal-led firm has tremendous energy and a culture that promotes collaboration and knowledge-sharing, and I look forward to working with my new colleagues to achieve the company’s goal of building the leading global real estate solutions company by aligning the interests of our clients with the skill sets and intellectual capital of our professionals.”
At Avison Young, Halkyard will work alongside Andy Hammond, who was recently appointed Director of Workplace and Occupier Solutions; and Duncan Hamilton, Director of Global Client Services who, in recent years, has managed corporate projects comprising more than 2 million square metres across the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions.
Avison Young launched its European presence in April 2014 when the firm acquired NAI Haywards and opened new offices in London and Thames Valley, U.K.
Over the past six years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 67 offices and from 300 to more than 1,900 real estate professionals across Canada, the U.S. and in Europe.
Avison Young is the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 1,900 real estate professionals in 67 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial and multi-family properties.
