CBRE makes Oxford promotions; Newmark hires PBSA specialist; Fisher German adds investment lead

CBRE, the global real estate advisory firm, has promoted three people in Oxford, including Gudrun Hamilton, who becomes a director after spending more than a decade at the firm. She specialises in property valuations and works across the commercial and residential sectors. Hamilton was based at CBRE's London office for more than nine years, specialising in the Central London market. She moved to the Oxford office in 2022 as an associate director and covers the Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford region, with a focus on the growing life sciences and technology and residential and living sectors. Will Davis and Ben Haynes both step up to associate director roles.

Harriet Bantock has moved to Newmark, the global brokerage expanding rapidly in the UK and Europe, from Cushman & Wakefield to take up a role in its specialist purpose-built student accommodation multifamily capital markets team in London. Bantock enters as senior associate, having been an associate at Cushman. Bantock was involved in the 2022 sale of Scape Dublin, with her work extending to PBSA transactions in Europe, including overseeing more than €600 million transacted in Spain and Ireland. Andrew Smith also joins from Cushmans and takes up the role of senior leader. He was head of Student Accommodation at his previous employer.

Fisher German has appointed Simon Eddy as head of investment agency. Eddy's 30-year career began at Lewis Ellis before moving to Richard Ellis as an associate director and then on to Lambert Smith Hampton as a director. He also spent time at GVA, now Avison Young, as a director before returning to LSH in 2016, when he moved into the director of capital markets role. Eddy will focus on the acquisition and disposal of investments and the funding of developments across all sectors for developers and institutions. Eddy said in a statement: "I hope to bring experience, enthusiasm and market knowledge to the London team, national team and Fisher German."

Mark Girling has joined Colliers as an executive director and becomes head of the firm’s retail capital markets team. His career includes stints at Knight Frank, CBRE and latterly 20 years at Montagu Evans, where he founded the commercial transactions department. Girling's sector specialism is in retail parks, food stores and leisure.

Colliers said he will work to join up the wider service line offer to benefit clients and colleagues. The recruit has more than 40 years’ retail and leisure investment experience across the UK and Europe and joins the firm's 40-plus strong capital markets team. Colliers UK CEO John Munday said: "His leadership experience will be invaluable for bringing our team and the wider business together to create opportunities and make strategic connections for our clients – in his areas of expertise and beyond."

Igloo Regeneration, which describes itself as the "UK's original sustainable developer", has appointed Jess Steele as a new member of its Footprint Advisory Board, an independent governing body of experts. With more than 25 years' experience in neighbourhood development, Steele "brings a new avenue of expertise" to its board, which provides external perspective and expertise to its projects regarding the effectiveness of its Footprint implementation. Through her company, Jericho Road Solutions, the firm said Steele works to support grassroots and community-led projects across the country. She is also known for leading projects such as the redevelopment of Hastings Pier.

Jim Lightbown has joined Colliers’ environmental team from consulting firm RPS, a Tetra Tech Company, bringing expertise in contaminated land. As lead for the London geo-environmental team at RPS, Lightbown was responsible for the design, management and delivery of technical risk assessments, remedial and waste management strategies and impact assessments. He has more than two decades' sector experience, having worked for the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, Waterman Energy Environment & Design and Arcadis. Lightbown joins Colliers' existing team of 11 environmental consultants who advise on projects across the UK.

JTRE, the parent group of London developer JTRE London, and one of its senior leaders, Nigel Fleming, have unveiled the group's first ESG report, calling it a milestone on its "journey towards sustainability, transparency and social responsibility". The London business, founded in 2019, is in the process of conducting a comprehensive decarbonisation review of its existing assets to chart a pathway to Net Zero. It is aiming for zero operational carbon emissions of new buildings by 2030. Fleming said: "While this inaugural ESG report highlights JTRE’s efforts in Slovakia, the London team is equally dedicated to embedding sustainability across all our activities."