Tina Paillet, the 142nd President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, says the highlight of her year in post was seeing her work "bear fruit in moving the needle on sustainability" and helping to decarbonise the built environment.

The former Generali Real Estate chief for UK and North America passed the baton on to Justin Sullivan at the beginning of the year, and caught up with CoStar News UK to reflect on her time in the role.

Paillet said RICS's whole-life carbon assessment standard is critical, with the second edition coming into full effect on 1 July. It seeks to measure whole-life carbon emissions, manage carbon budgets, reduce life cycle emissions and deliver a net-zero future for the built environment.

She added: "Our whole-life system is a big piece of work. It is a framework to be used internationally accompanied with guides facilitating its adoption by governments across the globe."

You can read the full piece with the former RICS President here.

Simon Murphy, the former chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company, has received an OBE.

Murphy, who stepped down from his role at the firm in March, was handed the award for his services to real estate, heritage and to the community in London in the annual New Year Honours list. Other figures from the real estate sector to receive honours this New Year included James Darkins, the former chief executive of global real estate investment giant Nuveen and the founder of Yorkshire-based developer Caddick Group, Paul Caddick.

Catesby Estates, a strategic land promoter owned by Urban&Civic, has made Adrian Clack its group land director. The appointment follows the firm's deal to buy L&Q Estates, taking on 11 of its staff to increase its own headcount to 30 people. Clack has a track record in strategic land acquisition, specialising in large, multi-landowner, urban extension and new settlement sites. Catesby Estates said all the recruits have added "significant knowledge and expertise in land, planning, technical matters and asset management".

EYCO, the Edinburgh-based chartered surveyor, has appointed Avison Young stalwart Peter Fraser to its business space team. Peter, who becomes a partner at EYCO, worked at Avison Young for 11 years, where he led its Edinburgh agency team. Fraser has 23 years experience working in commercial property in Edinburgh and across the North and East of Scotland, according to his LinkedIn profile, specialising in offices and industrial. In a previous role he headed up NatWest Group's branch disposal programme in Scotland, disposing of 150 properties across six years.

Turner & Townsend board chair and chief executive Vincent Clancy has joined CBRE’s board after the global property brokerage completed a process to combine its project management business with its majority-owned Turner & Townsend subsidiary. Clancy has been with Turner & Townsend for 35 years and served as chief executive since 2008 and board chair since 2015. Turner & Townsend’s revenue increased under his CEO tenure from $225 million to more than $1.9 billion in 2023.

CBRE announced plans to merge its project management business with Turner & Townsend, the UK-founded global cost consultancy and project management services provider, in June.

Montagu Evans has strengthened its industrial and logistics team with the appointment of lease advisory specialist Amy Bracey, who joins as partner. She moves from Colliers, where she was a director in the business space lease advisory team.

She has more than 14 years' experience in the sector and will join Montagu Evans' national multi-let industrial and trade sub-team, working closely with partner Steve McDonald. He said: "It has been a rare opportunity to recruit such an experienced candidate at the top of the trade market."

The team acts for institutional landlords on 200 trade parks nationally and has instructions in most cities and towns.

Oxford North, the £700 million innovation district being developed in Oxford, has appointed Elodie Siney as its operations manager. The hire of Siney comes as the project continues to build the on-site management and facilities team ahead of its opening this year. She is a clinical neuroscientist by training and has more than 25 years’ experience in research, biotechnology, business development, events and property management. Siney will work alongside the recently appointed Simon Ruck, managing director, and Kevin Reid, energy and engineering manager.