Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services company, announced today the strategic hiring of Jason Sibthorpe in London.
Effective immediately, Sibthorpe becomes a Principal of Avison Young and Managing Director of the firm’s U.K. region. Based in the firm’s London West End office, he will accelerate growth across all of the firm’s business lines through strategic expansion into new U.K. markets and the recruitment of top commercial real estate talent. He will partner with Avison Young’s existing U.K.-based Principals and also manage the day-to-day operations of the company’s London West End and London City offices.
Sibthorpe brings to Avison Young 28 years of commercial real estate experience. He was most recently with Bilfinger GVA in London where he was chair of the company’s retail, hotels and leisure group – leading a team of 50 specialists, with a focus on occupier strategy and mixed-use development. In addition, he recently led the company’s transactional and capital markets teams and, prior to that, managed the firm’s London office, which comprises more than 500 employees and 23 business units. Sibthorpe was also a member of the U.K. executive board at Bilfinger.
“Since entering the U.K. in 2014, we have enjoyed steady growth in the region, and we look forward to expanding our market share with Jason on board,” comments Rose. “Jason’s background in retail, experience in senior leadership roles, deep industry knowledge and extensive client base will be of tremendous value to our company, clients and business partners as we continue to expand throughout the U.K. and actively recruit leading industry professionals. With Jason leading our talented Principal-led team, we will also be able to leverage the skills, knowledge and expertise of our highly experienced U.K. professionals.”
Prior to joining Bilfinger in 2002, Sibthorpe was a retail director with Lambert Smith Hampton (1998-2002), retail associate with Strutt & Parker (1996-1998), retail surveyor with Cushman & Wakefield (1994-1996), and assistant manager of Lloyds Banking Group’s property department (1987-1994). He has represented such clients as Link City, London Borough of Newham, Wal-Mart, Staples, Nuffield Health, Build-A-Bear Workshop, KPMG, Peel, Virgin Money, RBS, Opus Land, Lloyds Banking Group, Ignis, Tristan Capital, Brockton Capital and Milligan Retail.
Sibthorpe is active in the commercial real estate industry as a member of the Shop Agents Society, International Council of Shopping Centers, the British Council of Shopping Centres, Accessible Retail, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. In his lead position at Bilfinger, he played a key role in corporate fundraising efforts for the national charity Together for Short Lives (TFSL), supporting Richard House Hospice in London, LandAid, and Woodland Trust charity. Sibthorpe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in land-use planning and management/development from the University of East London.
“I am excited to be joining the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, whose attractive Principal-led ownership structure creates a culture of empowerment and offers a unique client-service model delivering holistic solutions,” says Sibthorpe. “We have plans for significant growth in all leading market sectors across the U.K., and I look forward to working with my new partners and colleagues and playing a pivotal role in the successful delivery of new, full-service real estate solutions to our clients and business partners.”
Avison Young entered the U.K. market in April 2014 when the company acquired London-based commercial real estate services firm Haywards LLP and opened new Avison Young offices in the London West End and Thames Valley. These London-area locations represented Avison Young’s first offices outside of North America and a milestone step in the firm’s ongoing aggressive global growth and expansion strategy. In December 2015, the firm opened an office in the City of London. In January 2016, Avison Young further widened its U.K. footprint by expanding to the Midlands with the opening of an office in Coventry through the acquisition of North Rae Sanders. Most recently, in June 2016, Piers Leigh, Chris Barrs and Tom Bridgman joined Avison Young in London from Capita Real Estate to serve the South East office investment and agency market.
Over the past seven and a half years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 79 offices and from 300 to more than 2,400 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe.