Snakes and Ladders: Who is moving jobs in the City this week?
Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email [email protected] to be featured.
Firms are continuing to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic as they vie to be in prime position to recover from the economic fallout of the crisis.
This week, a £500m leisure development has appointed two new advisors, a funding platform has replaced its chief executive and a retail property consultancy has expanding its leasing service as the sector grapples with the impact of coronavirus.
Industry veterans to advise on £500m UK leisure destination
Valley Ridge Holdings, the owner of a 284-acre Suffolk leisure destination site, have appointed two industry experts to advise on the development, as it aims to create the UK’s premium staycation resort.
Former head of real estate and lodging at Bank of America Merrill Lynch David Church has joined the board. Church previously advised on the £1bn central London Grange Hotel deal last year and the £1.7bn sale of the Broadgate office and retail complex.
Robert B Cook, the chief executive of TGI Fridays, has also been appointed to advise on the project. He was previously chief executive of Virgin Active UK, De Vere Hotels and Malmaison.
The Valley Ridge resort, which is expected to open between 2023 and 2024, will offer year-round winter and water sports alongside a spa, cinema, country club, bars, restaurants and a 350-room four star hotel.
AlixPartners hires Silicon Valley entrepreneur
Global consulting firm AlixPartners has appointed digital transformation expert Narry Singh to its digital practice as a managing director and co-lead of its global digital practice in its London office.
He will join the company from his role as head of growth at Accenture Digital, where he grew the business to more than $20bn with more than 10 acquisitions.
Narry was described as a “successful Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur”, and a “go-to-advisor” for Fortune 500 leadership teams.
He previously served on the boards of Bebe Stores, Proseibensat and the United Nations Global Entrepreneurs Council.
Simon Freakley, chief executive of AlixPartners, said: “As a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, he has actually built several multi-billion dollar digital businesses himself.
“Our clients will benefit tremendously from his pragmatic approach to digital transformation. I am delighted to welcome Narry to AlixPartners.”
Funding platform Spacehive appoints new boss
Spacehive has appointed marketing leader Misha Dhanak as its new chief executive.
Dhanak, the co-founder and former chief executive of The Romans, will replace Spacehive founder Chris Gourlay, who will join the board.
Spacehive is a funding platform for local projects, with £19m raised so far.
Retail property consultancy strengthens team amid “challenging market”
Time Retail Partners has appointed Peter Wrigley, the founder of 360Retail and former CBRE senior director, to head up its new professional services specialism.
The boutique retail property consultancy, which was founded in 2015, counts major UK shopping centres including Bluewater, Manchester Arndale, Newcastle’s Metrocentre and Leeds’ Trinity and White Rose centres.
Wrigley founded 360Retail in September and has since been appointed by Grosvenor to advise on the lease consultancy for Liverpool One, which he will continue alongside his role at Time Retail Partners.
Peter Wrigley said: “While there is no question that we are in the most challenging market any of us have witnessed, in our opinion this only reinforces the need for a full service leasing and advisory offering”.
Newcore Capital expands with two appointments
Social infrastructure investment manager Newcore Capital Management has made two new appointments as it expands its business.
Sophie Cowen, a Cass Business School and City University graduate, has been appointed as fund analyst, to focus on capital raising, fund management, investor relations, investor reporting and supporting the investment team
Former Bravo Investment House property accountant Grace Thomas will join the team as financial accountant.
She will be responsible for the management accounting, treasury functions and internal payroll administrations for Newcore and its family office clients.
She previously worked as the financial accountant at FromCounsel, and is a graduate of Mahatma Gandhi University and is also part qualified as an accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.