Strutt & Parker appoints Alistair Heather to lead its new operation in Bath

Strutt & Parker has announced the appointment of Alistair Heather as the new head of its Bath operation to coincide with the news that the business has opened an office in the city.

Heather launches the Bath office with around 20 years’ experience in the industry, having spent just under 10 years with Strutt & Parker as a director and co-founder of the Notting Hill office.

In Notting Hill Heather helped grow the business from the ground up into one of the firm’s best performing offices. Prior to joining Strutt & Parker, he spent four years at Hamptons International as a senior negotiator and before that he started his career at Foxtons.

At the Bath office, Heather will work alongside James Mackenzie and Andrew Cronan.

Heather said: “With its beautiful Georgian architecture and offering the best of both aspects of urban and rural living on the doorstep, Bath represents a great opportunity for the business and I am really excited to build upon the success of the Country House department by offering a dedicated team there.”

“I moved with my family to Bath 18 months ago and now, as a resident, it’s very clear to see why living in the city is so appealing to many different types of people such as families looking for rural life but with access to amenities,” he added.

Hill Group appoints Andy Fancy as regional managing director

The Hill Group has appointed Andy Fancy as regional managing director in charge of Special Projects. He will also be responsible for setting up a new South West division for the business.

Joining from Countryside Plc, Fancy brings extensive experience of strategic development to his new role where he will lead Hill’s growing focus on estate regeneration.

He will manage Hill’s Special Projects division which specialises in Urban Regeneration and Estate Renewal, primarily in London. With over 2,200 units currently under construction and over 6,000 in the pipeline, it is a crucial area of growth for the business.

Current key developments include Fish Island Village in Hackney Wick, the regeneration of the High Path Estate, South Wimbledon in partnership with Clarion, the transformation of the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark with Notting Hill Genesis and the Teviot Estate where Poplar HARCA and the residents recently selected Hill as development partner for the 2,500-home Estate transformation.

In this newly created role Fancy will also set up a new division for Hill in the South West of England, initially centred on a portfolio of projects in Bristol. He will be responsible for recruiting a team to run the new division and oversee its growth and integration within the Group.

Andy Hill, chief executive of Hill Group, said: “Andy Fancy has an outstanding track record in delivering major regeneration schemes in and around London, closely aligning with our business objectives moving forward.

“We are also delighted to launch our new region in the South West starting in and around Bristol, where the market fundamentals and demand for new homes remain strong, and Andy will be one of the driving forces behind that initiative too.”

Ex-JLL and Savills new homes specialists join Avanton

London-based developer Avanton has made a series of new staff appointments as part of taking the group’s sales, marketing and customer care teams in-house.

Reporting to David Ronson, sales & marketing director, the company has appointed an in-house team of senior teams negotiators, ex JLL and Savills new homes specialists, who will report to recently appointed Victoria Lauri, senior sales manager. She was previously a sales manager at JLL for nine years and most recently headed the sales for Atlas in EC1.

On the marketing side Avanton has appointed Olivia Caplan to the role of marketing manager. She was previously at Savills.

Omer Weinberger, chief executive of Avanton, said: “Taking sales, marketing and customer care in-house is what every ambitious London developer does as they grow and mature as a business.”

The sales at developments, such as Coda in Battersea, were previously handled by joint sole agents Savills and JLL who will still be retained by Avanton to undertake international sales and marketing and special projects for the group.

Ronson commented: “We hold the Savills and JLL teams in high regard and will continue to use them for our international sales exhibitions and for special projects when we need to market to buyer groups or global regions where they have expertise.”