Real estate bosses discuss juggling work and parenting; Blackstone's BioMed makes key hire for US and UK; Avison Young promotes in Leeds

This week, specialist real estate recruitment firm Madison Berkeley and its co-founder Clare Coe launched the 'REal Juggle, a campaign which looks to highlight issues faced by those juggling a property career and raising young families. The campaign centres around five podcast episodes with senior property professionals, who share candid accounts of their experiences of balancing work and family life.

Coe returned from maternity leave in March after the birth of her second son, taking six months out of the workplace. Despite staying in touch from a management perspective, she experienced some anxiety at the "enormity of juggling two small children, a commute, childcare and running a company". She found she was not alone.

"When I talked to friends and associates in real estate both male and female who were in the same position, I started to hear some difficult stories surrounding parenting while working in the real estate industry. These stories usually centred around a lack of flexibility in the workplace coupled with extortionate childcare fees which were making it almost impossible for some women to return to their positions."

She hopes the 'REal Juggle' campaign, which touches on challenges such as extortionate care costs and flexible working policies, will help real estate decision-makers to shape flexible working and parental policies going forward positively. Click this link to listen to the published podcasts.

BioMed Realty, a Blackstone portfolio company focused on life sciences real estate, has hired Mark Bush to lead its operations across two core markets in the UK and US. Bush becomes senior vice-president of operations for the East Coast and UK markets, leading teams across Cambridge (England) and Boston-Cambridge (Massachusetts). He will be based at BioMed Realty's offices in Cambridge (US) and will report to Colleen O’Connor, the firm's executive vice president of market lead for the East Coast and UK markets. He joins from The Davis Companies, where he was most recently senior vice-president of asset management, and has more than 20 years' experience.

Avison Young has promoted Jill Goodman to managing director of its lease advisory team. Goodman's promotion follows her appointment as principal, along with three others, earlier this year after nearly 14 years with the business. Based in Leeds, the firm said her "extensive career has seen her play a key role in both lease advisory and office agency", as well as leading the firm’s NHS Property Services contract. Goodman's new role will see her manage a team of 11 and oversee new initiatives to "help facilitate growth and increase sustainability in the team". Nick Walkley, principal and UK president of Avison Young, said: "I’m confident that Jill will continue to build on the team's success."

Policy director Ian Fletcher has announced his intention to retire in March next year following more than 22 years at the British Property Federation. Fletcher joined the BPF in 2002 following eight years at the British Chambers of Commerce, where he was head of policy and chief economist. During his time at the BPF he has been at the heart of the property sector’s engagement with government and played a central role as rental homes emerged as an institutional asset class alongside the traditional office, retail and industrial sectors. He will remain in post until March 2025 and will continue to play a key role as the BPF works with government to shape the Renters’ Rights Bill and reform of the planning system.

Investment management firm Nuveen Real Estate is making two senior hires to its strategic transactions team in Europe, with the duo set to work out of its European head office in London. Batih van Leer and Stefano Rubini will join Nuveen's senior leadership team, which oversees the management of the European real estate team’s overall business, starting in January. They take the roles of managing directors and co-heads of European transactions. Van Leer and Rubini both join from Ares. They will work with the firm's integrated sector specialist teams across Europe as well as overseeing its European value add series, working with fund manager David Pearce.

Colliers International has extended its management services agreement with global CEO Jay Hennick by four years in a move it says will "propel growth" and shareholder value. The agreement with Hennick, who founded Colliers' former parent company FirstService, was due to expire in April 2026 but will now extend to January 2029. He also serves as Colliers' chairman and is its largest shareholder. Colliers’ move to extend Hennick’s contract comes as the world’s largest commercial property firms prepare for what they expect to be a bounce back in business after a tough couple of years, when deal levels and revenue dropped. Newmark and CBRE, also recently worked on agreements to retain their CEOs.