Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, has announced the addition of 24 new Principals to the company’s Midlands office.
These appointments – part of more than 100 in total – follow the firm’s recent acquisition of U.K.-based GVA, one of the U.K.’s leading and most diverse real estate advisory businesses.
The new Principals, all based in the U.K., Republic of Ireland and Poland, include senior directors who were formerly with GVA and other new employees from GVA, who have received Avison Young shares along with the right to vote and set the strategy for Avison Young. Avison Young now has more than 600 Principals globally.
In the Midlands the new Principals are: Craig Alsbury, Mark Birks, James Dair, Sharon French, Michael Gill, Mary Greaves, Nick Hardy, Jonathan Hillcox, Paul Holcombe, Greg Judd, Damian Lloyd, David Martin, Rebecca Millard, Simon Miller, Andrew Moss, Carl Potter, Nick Power, Sharon Reilly, Jason Shaw, Thomas Stratton, Ian Stringer, Guy Thompson, Charles Toogood, David Willmer.
Principals of Avison Young are industry leaders who exemplify the firm’s partnership structure, collaborative culture and client-centric business model. In addition, Principals have distinguished themselves in their fields of expertise while embracing the company’s dedication to corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
Carl Potter, Principal and Managing Director for the Midlands at Avison Young, said: “The appointment of these individuals to Principal is a reflection of their commitment and hard work in their respective fields.
“Avison Young has a significant partnership culture, exemplified through Principals having a stake in the business which encourages a collaborative working approach for the overall good and growth of Avison Young. This helps to attract the very best people and drive benefits for our clients and communities.”
“We are delighted and honoured to be able to welcome 100-plus new Principals in the U.K., Republic of Ireland and Poland,” says Jason Sibthorpe, Avison Young Principal and President, U.K. “To have been able to reignite an ownership structure and partnership culture from the legacy GVA business is a privilege for the approximately 500 original Principals at Avison Young. We look forward to working together with renewed purpose as we build further on our success to date.”
The acquisition of GVA, which closed on January 31, 2019, established Avison Young as the only privately held, Principal-led, global, full-service commercial real estate services firm. The combination also established Avison Young among the top five commercial real estate advisory businesses in the U.K.
GVA brought to Avison Young a broad portfolio of national and international clients, including U.K. public institutions, multinational corporations, major space users, developers, owners, lenders and investors. In the U.K. alone, Avison Young now has 18 offices and 1,600 employees working with clients on the transaction and consultancy sides of the business.
Avison Young now has approximately 5,000 real estate professionals in 120 offices in 20 countries.
As a result of the acquisition, Avison Young added offices in: the United Kingdom (London, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Maidenhead, Manchester, Newcastle); Austria (Vienna); Bulgaria (Sofia); China (Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai); Croatia (Zagreb); France (Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Paris); Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki); Italy (Milan, Rome); Norway (Oslo); Poland (Warsaw); Republic of Ireland (Dublin); Romania (Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara); Russia (Moscow); Spain (Madrid); and United Arab Emirates (Dubai).
The acquisition also enabled Avison Young to increase its revenue to 25 times its 2008 level to approximately C$1 billion.
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, with legacies dating back more than 200 years, the company comprises approximately 5,000 real estate professionals in 120 offices in 20 countries. The firm’s experts provide value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management and financing services to clients across the office, retail, industrial, multi-family and hospitality sectors.