BNP Paribas Real Estate has completed its acquisition of Strutt & Parker and confirmed a new UK board, led by former Strutts senior partner Andy Martin.
Under the deal, Strutt & Parker’s residential, rural, development and planning teams will continue to operate under the Strutt & Parker name, while the commercial arm of the business will operate under the BNP Paribas Real Estate brand.
Former Strutts employees occupy seven of the 11 seats on the UK board.
Meet the board:
Andy Martin – chief executive
Martin is the new chief of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory UK. Previously, Martin was senior at Strutt & Parker, having joined the firm in 1985 and been head of its commercial team from 2005. He assumed the role of senior partner in 2009. Martin’s areas of expertise are in funding, investment, development, masterplanning and placemaking, with a particular emphasis on business parks. He has provided strategic advice to the Arlington Business Parks Partnership for more than 30 years. He was involved in their flotation in 1986, the sale of Arlington by BAE in 1998 and has acted as their investment and strategic adviser for more than 20 years, which recently culminated in its disposal for £450m. As a result of his expertise in this arena he created the Business Park Index with the IPD, now regarded as a benchmark for the industry.
Etienne Prongué – deputy chief executive
Prongué previously headed the International Investment Group, which he grew from three people in 2013 to 28 investment specialists situated in Europe, Middle East and Asia and today advises on all types of assets across Europe, with new offices in Hong Kong and Dubai. In addition, he was responsible for the relationship between Real Estate and Wealth Management and CIB. Since 2012, the team has concluded 70 deals with Wealth Management clients with a volume of €1.5bn, and €5.6bn of deals with CIB clients in the last two years. Prongue began his career in the UK, where he spent eight years working in London for Lambert Smith Hampton. As such, he is familiar with the UK market, culture and clients.
Damian Cronk – head of commercial transaction
Before his appointment as head of commercial transaction in the new organisation, Cronk headed the commercial business and the West End team at Strutt & Parker. He has over 30 years’ experience in the UK property market and was previously head of the national agency team, providing him with extensive knowledge of the Thames Valley and Greater London markets. Cronk also headed up the combined Central London initiative, working closely with the City and national teams. He joined Strutt & Parker in 1985 and has acted on behalf of a number of clients including The Crown Estate, WELPUT, Grafton Advisors, Schroders, USS, Standard Life, LaSalle Investment Management, Goodman and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Simon Kibblewhite – head of residential development & planning
Prior to this appointment, Kibblewhite led the UK development and planning teams that operate within London and nationally, advising landowners and developers on delivering residential, commercial and mixed-use projects. He joined Strutt & Parker in 2006 having previously worked for Savills and Countryside Properties. Kibblewhite expertise has traditionally been in the acquisition, valuation and development of land across the UK. He is experienced in dealing with strategic development opportunities, brownfield redevelopment sites and town centre mixed use schemes, specialising in advising landowners and developers on option, promotion and joint venture agreements. He acts as an expert in matters relating to valuation disputes within land and development agreements.
Paul Abrey – head of property management & professional services
Abrey joined BNP Paribas Real Estate in June 2012. He is head of property management and professional services at BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory UK, and a member of BNP Paribas’ UK Diversity Council. Abrey has more than 35 years’ experience as a chartered surveyor, having operated across the main European markets, but with a particular emphasis on central London, for 25 years. He has been involved with many high-profile deals focusing on investment, landlords and tenants, as well as asset management. In the last few years he has been responsible for growing the property management business.
Stephen Wolfe – head of valuation
Wolfe heads a team of UK professionals, based in London but operating nationally, split into teams providing valuation and occupational advice. He was also responsible for a wider group of registered valuers operating across our regional network and for the co-ordination of professional work across the firm’s commercial business. His background is in professional and advisory work, with a bias towards providing strategic property and acquisition advice to large corporate occupier clients. He joined Strutt & Parker 28 years ago following a three-year stint at a subsidiary of Lloyds Bank and was seconded to a global media client for 5 years in the late 1990s.
James Farrell – head of rural
Farrell is head of rural at BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory UK. Previously, Farrell was national head of rural consultancy and chairman of Strutt & Parker’s northern region covering Yorkshire and the North East. He started his career with Strutt & Parker in 1989 in the Canterbury office, moving to the Northallerton office in 2000. James is now based in the Harrogate office and took on his role as national head of rural consultancy in 2011. James has more than 25 years’ professional experience providing strategic and consultancy advice to private clients and owners of traditional landed estates and rural property portfolios across the UK.
Guy Robinson – head of residential agency
Robinson is head of residential Agency at BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory UK. Previously he led the residential estate agency department of Strutt & Parker, overseeing 60 offices across England and Scotland including, seven in prime central London. Robinson studied agriculture at the University of London and went on to lecture at Berkshire College of Agriculture, before changing tack from teaching students to selling property. Robinson’s estate agency career has spanned over 30 years, first working at Hamptons and then 14 years at Savills, where he became a director on the residential board and head of the Home Counties region from 2008.
Mark England – chief operating officer and co-chairman of the regional executive
England joined BNP Paribas Real Estate as a graduate 30 years ago, starting his career in South East office agency. He was chief executive from 2005 to 2012, during which time the UK business made several acquisitions and strengthened its relationship with parent company BNP Paribas. In recent years, England has been chief operating officer and responsible for BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory UK’s regional business. In his new role, England remains as COO but also becomes co-chairman of the regional executive, maintaining his responsibility to lead our regional offices.
Will Gemmill – co-chairman of the regional executive
Before the merger, Gemmill was national head of farming and eastern regional chairman for Strutt & Parker. Gemmill joined Strutts in 1994 and helped build up a successful farming team specialising in farm management, agronomy, business consultancy and recruitment. The team now comprises more than 40 specialists offering management and agronomic advice on over 250,000 acres of land. His professional role involves strategic farm management, and he sits on the board of a number of progressive farming businesses in England. He is involved in the recruitment of senior personnel for farmers and landowners.
Pascal Maury – managing director support functions & integration
Maury joined BNP Paribas Real Estate 10 years ago. Before the merger, he was deputy managing director of BNP Paribas Real Estate, member of the management board, in charge of human resources, strategy & innovation. Since August 2010, Maury has been head of human resources at BNP Paribas Real Estate. Maury began his career in 1998, at JCDecaux Communication Extérieure (outdoor advertising) as deputy head of human resources. He then moved to Carlson Wagonlit Travel (Accor Group) in 2005, taking the position of head of HRs for the leisure division.
Thierry Laroue-Pont, chief executive of BNP Paribas Real Estate, said: “This merger is an opportunity to create a new major European adviser by bringing together the strengths and skills of two exceptional groups of people. Our new UK board reflects this, demonstrating our balanced business model and ability to offer clients complete coverage in every asset type, across the UK. For each position we have identified the best person for the job to create a leadership team that is ideally-placed to drive the growth of our new business and achieve further success for our clients.”
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