CBRE appoints Fenn-Smith as ESG MD

CBRE has appointed UK executive board member Kaela Fenn-Smith as managing director of sustainability services and ESG for its UK and Ireland business.

The firm said the appointment reflected its “ongoing commitment to enhancing and expanding its range of sustainability and ESG capabilities for clients”. 

Fenn-Smith returned to CBRE in November 2020 as head of UK advisory and transaction investor services, and will continue to oversee CBRE’s strategy on A&T investor services, of which sustainability will form a critical part.

In her new role, she will be responsible for implementing the firm’s growth strategy of sustainability services and providing sustainability advice across the business. Her appointment follows a series of key hires, including Sophia Gibson who joined earlier this year as social value lead and Sam Carson and Ross Cooper, who have both joined CBRE’s UK valuation business with a focus on valuing sustainability and renewable energy assets respectively.  

Ciaran Bird, divisional president of advisory services UK and Ireland, said: “We recognise the unprecedented social and environmental challenges facing our industry today, and we are committed to build back better through our people, clients and industry partnerships. In this new role, Kaela will help us drive impactful and meaningful change on behalf of clients and the wider built environment and ensure sustainability is integral to everything we do from how we operate as a business, to serving our clients in helping them meet their own targets.”

Fenn-Smith added: “We have an enormous opportunity to influence the behaviour of the property sector, both as a business and through our relationships with our clients and peers. I am looking forward to taking on this huge growth opportunity, where we can deliver exceptional results for our clients while driving forward positive change across the industry, influencing pace on social impact and decarbonising the built environment.”

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