Steve Smith, Charles Maudsley to spearhead firm’s growth plans
British Land has lured two of Europe’s property veterans to beef up its board ahead of an expected surge in UK real estate investment and possible European expansion, its chief executive said yesterday.
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| London pads: British Land’s intention to invest some £1 billion, unveiled in September, remains intact. ‘What I want to do is ensure we have got the best team available to be making new investment decisions,’ says Mr Grigg |
Britain’s second-largest property company has recruited Steve Smith, global head of transactions at AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, and Charles Maudsley, co-head of Europe at LaSalle Investment Management, to spearhead growth plans for next year and beyond.
‘We said in September it was our intention over the next 12-24 months to invest something like one billion pounds and that intention remains intact,’ chief executive Chris Grigg said.
‘We think we are in a very good financial position, we think we have very good existing assets . . . but what I want to do is ensure we have got the best team available to be making new investment decisions,’ he added.
Mr Smith, who is well-known in the UK property industry for his dealmaking capabilities, will become chief investment officer, while Mr Maudsley will serve as an executive director with responsibility for business expansion.
Both Mr Smith and Mr Maudsley are expected to join British Land in the New Year. Simon Marrison will assume full control of LaSalle’s European property unit, the investment manager said in a separate statement.
‘Charles (Maudsley) worked well with Stephen (Smith) at AXA prior to moving to LaSalle in 2005,’ Cazenove analyst Miranda Cockburn said in a note.
‘They should therefore be a good double act to take British Land forward in property terms, the key now being what the strategy will be, how it will be executed and if there are further appointments to be made or changes to the current management structure,’ she said. British Land shares were up 3.3 per cent at 464.6 pence (S$10.70) at around midday yesterday.
Mr Grigg said that Mr Maudsley’s appointment was inspired by expectations of a steady flow of investment opportunities over the coming months and years as a result of the recent turmoil in global capital and real estate markets.
‘I want to make sure that there is somebody explicitly responsible for making sure we assess, compare and create opportunities. These things don’t just come to you on a plate, you have to go after them,’ he said.
Mr Grigg said that British Land would not overlook the continental European experience and insight of both new hires and could allocate some of its available capital towards overseas buys.
‘Only 3-4 per cent of our assets today are in Europe, I could see that expanding, although I don’t see us becoming a huge multi-national,’ said Mr Grigg.
‘When Stephen (Hester, former CEO) set a strategy around combining down to a couple of sectors, that was in a very different environment. That doesn’t mean we definitely will go into other sectors, it just means I don’t think we’re doing our job if we’re not looking,’ he said.
The appointments come less than a month after the company announced that Andrew Jones, its head of retail property, and two other senior retail executives, had resigned to pursue other opportunities.
They also coincide with a welter of management changes at some of the UK’s largest property investors, including Land Securities and Hammerson.
Land Securities appointed Robert Noel from Great Portland Estates to head up its London portfolio, while Hammerson promoted David Atkins to chief executive following the early retirement of John Richards.
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