Howsy bolsters team with senior hire

Lettings management platform, Howsy, has announced the arrival of Adam Ali who has joined the business as sales director leading the enterprise sales team.

Ali, formerly the head of Flatfair’s partnership team, was credited with propelling the firm from a prop-tech start-up to an established property industry supplier.

Ali previously worked at Fine and Country and the Guild of Property Professionals, as well as having experience within the property media and publishing sphere.

At Flatfair he signed up a number of major players in the private rented sector and Build to Rent (BTR), with Hunters, CBRE and Greystar amongst the most notable.

Ali will be teaming up with Richard Berridge, Howsy’s head of strategy and enterprise, who also joined the Howsy team recently, as the firm continues to grow.

Working together, the pair have their eyes on further establishing Howsy’s presence in the BTR sector as a key area of focus for the coming year.

Berridge said: “We are thrilled to appoint a new sales director with the ability, experience and track record that Adam brings with him.

“We are currently building an incredible team at Howsy, with the extraordinary vision of shaking up the rental and management business.

“Together I’m sure we will do great things both for the company and for the lettings space as a whole.”

Granger Reis announce the appointment of Jamie Lyon and Marcus Shepherd

Granger Reis has announced that its pro-bono services for property industry charity LandAid has led to the appointment of Jamie Lyon, European COO / CFO at LaSalle Investment Management, and Marcus Shepherd, CFO at U&I plc to the charity’s Finance, Governance & Risk committee.

With a combined 33 years of experience within international real estate both Lyon and Shepherd have extensive knowledge of the industry and are well equipped to be a useful resource of knowledge for LandAid.

As part of their new positions they will both work with committee chair and trustee Susan Hickey and other members of the committee to guide LandAid’s growth and the roll out of its new strategy due to be published in April. In particular they will be helping enhance LandAid’s governance structure and framework in line with charity best practice at this crucial time.

The appointments mark the completion of Granger Reis’ initial assignment after pronouncing its partnership with LandAid in August 2020. Industry specialists, Granger Reis support some of the world’s leading real estate funds, developers and advisers with executive and non-executive search and advisory services, both in the UK and throughout EMEA & North America.

Paul Morrish, chief executive of LandAid, said: “Jamie and the Granger Reis team worked very closely with us to understand the brief deeply. In doing so, they helped us get a better grip on what we really needed. Their reach across the industry helped identify an extraordinary and impressive range of talented professionals keen to join LandAid as volunteer committee members – and in a way we could never have achieved alone.

Octagon group executive chairman retires 

Colin Tutt, the Octagon Group executive chairman has announced he will be stepping down from his role at the housebuilder on 31st March 2021 after a successful 35 year tenure.

Since leaving school at the age of 15 and joining George Wimpey & Co as an indentured carpentry & joinery apprentice two days after his 16th birthday, Tutt commenced a long and fruitful career in the building industry.

After spending 13 years with George Wimpey, he joined Octagon in January 1986 aged 29 as development manager. He rose to development director with a seat on the main board in 1988. He was subsequently appointed CEO in 2001, a position he held until 2017 when he took his current role of executive chairman.

Tutt commented: “As I approach the age of 65, and after nearly 50 years in the building industry, I feel it is the right time now to close my toolbox and retire to enjoy more leisure time with my wife and spend time with our two sons, their wives and our grandchildren.”

He added: “I will be leaving a predominantly new board of directors to continue the ethos of Octagon whilst taking the Company on a rapid growth path and further success.

“It has been both a pleasure and my good fortune to work with so many talented people during my career and I feel now is the right time to step back and empower others with different skillsets to take the Company forward.  I look forward to the next chapter of my life in retirement which I hope will be as enjoyable and fulfilling as my working career”.