Siemens has appointed Susanne Seitz as CEO of the Buildings Business Unit, which is part of Smart Infrastructure. The unit is a newly formed business unit which brings together all Siemens’ buildings-related businesses into one entity, effective October 1, 2024. With a combined portfolio of products, software and services, the
British Land has announced the appointment of Kelly Cleveland to the newly created position of Head of Real Estate and Investment, consolidating her leadership role within the company. Cleveland, who currently serves as Head of Strategy and Investment, will officially take on the expanded role in mid-October. Having joined British
VIVID has appointed Ian Playford to its Board as a non-executive director who brings with him a wealth of knowledge on property development and investment in customer centric environment. Mark Perry, Chief Executive of VIVID says: “Ian will bring a fresh perspective to our property development and investment decisions as
GMI Construction Group has announced the appointment of Gareth Jones as Group Managing Director. He has been promoted from Divisional Managing Director for the Midlands, where he has played a fundamental role in the establishment of GMI’s presence in the region. This has included helping to diversify its portfolio of
Promat has appointed a new fire test manager for the UK market, underlining its commitment to the very highest standards in fire testing classification and certification. The introduction of the Building Safety Act has increased demand for clarity on exactly how and where passive fire protection products can be used.
CBRE, the global real estate advisory firm, is pleased to announce Tej Singh as the new head of its Southampton office. He takes on the role from 1st October 2024. Tej succeeds James Brounger, who will move to a new role focusing on client management and major pursuits across the
STARK Building Materials UK Ltd is pleased to announce the appointment of Edwin de Silva as STARK UK Business Development Director, effective Monday 23 September. de Silva joins STARK UK from EDS Building Connections, having previously worked in a range of senior leadership roles across the building and construction sector.
THE GOVERNMENT Property Agency (GPA) has confirmed the appointment of Mark Bourgeois as its new Chief Executive Officer. He was confirmed in the permanent position after holding the interim seat for 10 months. Mark brings more than 30 years’ experience in strategic and operational leadership across the fields of investment,
LEADING provider of innovative product solutions PermaGroup has boosted its restructured commercial team with the appointment of five key team members. John O’Connor, Adam Walker, Thom Brown and Craig Batton have all joined as technical specification managers, while Jamie Eliades has been appointed as area sales manager covering East Anglia.
Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), London – Arcadis, a leading global company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets, has appointed senior industry figures Rory O’Hagan and Simon Carter to strengthen its architecture and urbanism capabilities across the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe. Best known in the
Siemens has appointed Susanne Seitz as CEO of the Buildings Business Unit, which is part of Smart Infrastructure. The unit is a newly formed business unit which brings together all Siemens’ buildings-related businesses into one entity, effective October 1, 2024. With a combined portfolio of products, software and services, the Buildings Business Unit is a technology partner for digital transformation, focused on reliable and cost-efficient building operations, decarbonization and energy efficiency, as well as successful business operations for customers across wide-ranging industries. “Making existing and new buildings more sustainable has never been more urgent. After all, buildings generate more than 40 percent of annual global CO2 emissions and we have a responsibility to drive their decarbonization,” said Matthias Rebellius, managing board member and CEO of Smart Infrastructure. “Smarter buildings bring value to their owners, users, operators and to the world around them. I am confident in the newly-formed leadership team. Together with the combined expertise of almost 30,000 people globally, we can take our leadership position in the buildings market to the next level and pave the way to smart buildings of the future.” The Buildings Business Unit works with customers and with an expanding ecosystem of partners across more than 60 countries and in key industries, including healthcare, data centers, higher education, commercial real estate, pharmaceutical and life science, and food and beverage. The business unit’s portfolio includes products for building control, fire safety and security, automation and operation, data-driven services, decarbonization programs and software, including Building X, Siemens’ scalable digital building platform to digitalize, manage and optimize building operations. “I am excited to have the opportunity to grow this dynamic business. With innovative technology we can accelerate the transformation of buildings to make them smarter, self-adaptive and more autonomous, harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence, IT/OT convergence and digital services. This supports our customers in reducing their emissions and costs while improving user experience in buildings,” said Seitz. Based in Zug, Switzerland, Seitz previously served as the Head of Sales and Marketing at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, leading the transformation towards digital sales and marketing globally. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President EMEA at Landis+ Gyr and Member of the Group Executive Management. For some 16 years preceding this, Seitz held different positions at Siemens, including Head of Strategy and M&A, Head of Security, Vice President for the global buildings systems and solutions business. She is a Swiss native and holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Technology from ETH Zurich and an Executive MBA from the University of St. Gallen. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
British Land has announced the appointment of Kelly Cleveland to the newly created position of Head of Real Estate and Investment, consolidating her leadership role within the company. Cleveland, who currently serves as Head of Strategy and Investment, will officially take on the expanded role in mid-October. Having joined British Land in 2011, Cleveland has steadily risen through the ranks, gaining experience across investment, strategy, and treasury. She became a member of the executive committee in 2020 and took on her current role in 2022. Her promotion follows the departure of Darren Richards, British Land’s current Head of Real Estate, who has resigned to join LondonMetric Property as Chief Investment Officer. Simon Carter, Chief Executive of British Land, commented:“Aligning our asset management, leasing, and investment activities is more critical than ever as we actively recycle capital and seize emerging opportunities in the market. Kelly brings a wealth of real estate expertise, having led major transactions such as the sale of our stake in Meadowhall earlier this year and forming joint venture partnerships with Allianz and AustralianSuper. She has also been instrumental in expanding our presence in the retail park sector, which we’ve doubled down on as an attractive sub-sector.” Carter also expressed gratitude to Richards for his two decades of service:“I’d like to thank Darren for his unwavering support and significant contribution to British Land over nearly 20 years. We wish him all the best in his new role.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
VIVID has appointed Ian Playford to its Board as a non-executive director who brings with him a wealth of knowledge on property development and investment in customer centric environment. Mark Perry, Chief Executive of VIVID says: “Ian will bring a fresh perspective to our property development and investment decisions as we continue to towards our vision More Homes: Bright Futures. We are committed to remaining one of the largest providers of new affordable housing in the sector. I am pleased Ian has joined us as we continue our ambitious development programme delivering many more affordable, high-quality housing solutions.” Ian has experience of operating at Board level across the UK and international organisations. He has worked in a diverse range of companies such as Kingfisher Group Plc, in private equity and the UK Government. As a non-executive director, Ian’s experience ranges from property development and management, with a focus on customer and business transformation. Commenting on his new challenge, Ian said: “Joining VIVID’s Board will enable me to contribute to the organisation’s ongoing commitment to making more homes available to those who need them most across the central south of England, in a sustainable way with a sharp focus on positive customer outcomes, services, and quality.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
GMI Construction Group has announced the appointment of Gareth Jones as Group Managing Director. He has been promoted from Divisional Managing Director for the Midlands, where he has played a fundamental role in the establishment of GMI’s presence in the region. This has included helping to diversify its portfolio of projects, extending its reach further south into the region. As a result, the group’s Midlands division contributes in excess of £85m towards GMI’s revenues, with notable projects for MIRA Technology Park, St Francis Developments, Trebor Developments, Evans Property Group and Alumno Group. With more than 20 years’ experience in construction, Gareth has quickly risen in the industry. He started as a trainee Site Engineer aged 17, also studying for a degree in Construction Management and Civil Engineering. This became the foundation of a 12-year career with Galliford Try during which time he progressed to site management and project management roles before the age of 24. Gareth Jones joined GMI Construction initially as Construction Manager, before progressing he spent two years as Construction Director for the Midlands before becoming Divisional Managing Director for GMI. Transitioning into the group role during the last quarter of 2024, Gareth will lead the business alongside new Group Commercial Director Richard Davies, previously Commercial Director of the Midlands who Gareth worked closely with over the previous few years. Gareth Jones, Group Managing Director, said, “I am absolutely delighted to be leading GMI in achieving its strategic objectives, alongside continuing to place our people at the forefront of the group. We have developed a fantastic business working with some outstanding clients across our core regions. “Our contribution to the development of the built environment in Yorkshire, the North East, North West and the Midlands continues to be an essential part of the UK economy, through the creation of employment opportunities, new homes and business premises. This is a huge achievement that I’m incredibly proud of and I look forward to working closely with colleagues and clients across our key regions.” Jarrod Best, GMI chairman said, “This is an incredibly well-deserved appointment. Gareth has done a fantastic job delivering for multiple regions and is an asset to the team. Gareth’s dedication and strategic approach to growth will drive the profitable consolidation we are focusing on and will ensure our projects are delivered to a high standard. A huge congratulations to Gareth and we look forward to the new era of GMI”. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Promat has appointed a new fire test manager for the UK market, underlining its commitment to the very highest standards in fire testing classification and certification. The introduction of the Building Safety Act has increased demand for clarity on exactly how and where passive fire protection products can be used. Promat already has the industry’s most extensive testing database and the appointment of Dan Gibson will further strengthen this. His role will see him co-ordinate testing activities across the Promat business to ensure test data is available for an expanded range of applications – in turn acting as a key source of data for those designing and carrying out construction projects. Dan will also offer bespoke support for larger projects, helping to demonstrate that products meet the required safety and compliance standards for the intended application. With a background in fire testing, Dan is looking forward to working with Promat to further demonstrate the capabilities of its systems in a range of applications across construction projects. He said: “Following the introduction of the Building Safety Act the demand for clear, demonstrated fire testing certification is stronger than ever. The commitment to standards at Promat is impressive and I look forward to working closely with the product development teams to fully demonstrate the capabilities of Promat’s products.” Technical Director Nigel Morrey said: “Promat is committed to delivering tested systems that have the transparency, detail and level of performance needed to give architects, specifiers and contractors the confidence they need in a life critical product. “Rigorous testing is essential to demonstrating compliance and performance, and Dan will play an important role in organising fire tests and liaising with testing laboratories and certification bodies.” Promat is a leading manufacturer of passive fire protection systems that are an essential part of building design to help contain the spread of fire to allow occupants time to escape, and protect the integrity of the building and assets within it Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
CBRE, the global real estate advisory firm, is pleased to announce Tej Singh as the new head of its Southampton office. He takes on the role from 1st October 2024. Tej succeeds James Brounger, who will move to a new role focusing on client management and major pursuits across the South Coast, as well as continuing to support with the overall growth of the Midlands and South business. Tej joined CBRE Southampton in 2014, where he has worked with investors, developers, lenders, local authorities and occupiers across the UK and the south coast. He was promoted to Director in 2019. Tej said: “I am honoured to take on the role of Head of the Southampton office. The real estate market on the south coast has fantastic potential and I look forward to continuing to work with our talented colleagues across all services to deliver exceptional client outcomes.” James Brounger has led CBRE Southampton for 14 years and will remain based in Southampton, continuing to work with clients alongside his new role. He said: “It has been a privilege to lead the Southampton office and I am proud of all we have achieved. Tej has an impressive track record in the local market and with our clients, and I have no doubt he will be an outstanding successor.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
STARK Building Materials UK Ltd is pleased to announce the appointment of Edwin de Silva as STARK UK Business Development Director, effective Monday 23 September. de Silva joins STARK UK from EDS Building Connections, having previously worked in a range of senior leadership roles across the building and construction sector. He is an active champion for small and medium builders and women in construction, supporting organisations including the Regional Builder Hub, a partnership between the King’s Foundation and University of Estate Management, The Developers Club and R&B Developers Forum. Under the previous Conservative Government, Edwin was Secretariat for All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for SME Housebuilders. Commenting on the news of his appointment, de Silva said “I’m delighted to be joining this incredible business at what is a very exciting period in my career. My new role will be focused on developing our approach to further accelerate the growth of the housebuilding sector, across STARK UK’s business brands. With the ‘Build Build Build’ mantra coming from Westminster, it could not be a better time to support housebuilders.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
THE GOVERNMENT Property Agency (GPA) has confirmed the appointment of Mark Bourgeois as its new Chief Executive Officer. He was confirmed in the permanent position after holding the interim seat for 10 months. Mark brings more than 30 years’ experience in strategic and operational leadership across the fields of investment, development and asset management within commercial real estate. He is a former Managing Director for the UK and Ireland division at FTSE listed developer and investor Hammerson plc, and prior to that Executive Director at Capital & Regional plc. He also has extensive expertise in regeneration in partnership with local and city authorities, including acting as Interim Corporate Director for City Development at Liverpool City Council. Georgia Gould MP, Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, said: “Mark has demonstrated exceptional leadership of the Government Property Agency during his tenure as interim Chief Executive over the past year. “With decades of experience, Mark will be instrumental in enhancing the financial and environmental performance of the government estate while delivering world-class workplaces for civil servants nationwide.” Pat Ritchie CBE, the GPA’s chair, said: “I am delighted to confirm Mark in the permanent role, he has already had a huge impact on the leadership of the GPA. “Working closely with the board and executive team, Mark will continue to play a fundamental role in the way property is managed across government and creating great places to work for civil servants, supporting economic growth and local communities. “He and the executive team will further build the agency’s commercial organisational culture, with our client and customer needs being at the heart of this. With Mark’s experience in real estate and building, inspiring and developing teams, he is the ideal leader to take the GPA to the next stage of our development.” Since launching in 2018, the GPA has grown to manage around 1 million sq m of the government’s office portfolio – acting as an expert partner to departments for strategic planning and workplace services including design, property technology and workplace experience. The agency is also responsible for the Government Hubs Programme – bringing civil service teams closer to the communities they serve across the UK. Recent milestones within the programme have included the opening of the Peterborough hub last year which last month was awarded Leesman+, and acquiring 5.5 acres of the former Central Retail Park at Ancoats in Manchester earlier this year which is currently the subject of a public consultation on the future development of Manchester Digital Campus. Mark Bourgeois said: “I am thrilled to be appointed as the permanent CEO at such a pivotal time for the GPA. During my time as interim, the collaborative support from departmental clients has been excellent and I’m hugely grateful to impressively talented colleagues for all their continued dedication and commitment. We’re well placed to further strengthen the GPA culture, deliver financial efficiencies and productivity gains across the civil service, all in support of the Government’s missions. I’m looking forward to the continued challenge.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
LEADING provider of innovative product solutions PermaGroup has boosted its restructured commercial team with the appointment of five key team members. John O’Connor, Adam Walker, Thom Brown and Craig Batton have all joined as technical specification managers, while Jamie Eliades has been appointed as area sales manager covering East Anglia. The new appointments signal PermaGroup’s continued trajectory of growth and success following the appointment of group head of sales, Steve Greaves, earlier this year, and in under four years the commercial division of the business has grown extensively. With more than 30 years in the industry John brings with him a wealth of roofing knowledge, including expertise in both flat and pitched roofing, while Adam has worked in the industry for the last ten years, building valuable relationships with a wide range of stakeholders including architects, building surveyors, local authorities and roofing contractors. New area sales manager Jamie has hopes to manage a team of her own at PermaGroup and to pass on her 20 years’ worth of knowledge and experience, and is looking forward to immersing herself into learning more about EDPM products. Having spent a large portion of his career working in interiors for large national brands, Thom has ambitions to grow PermaGroup at scale and to continue to develop his existing industry relationships, while Craig is keen to learn from his new colleagues to build on his ten years of roofing knowledge in both supply and installation. Steve Greaves said: “Building our restructured commercial team has been a very rewarding process, and each of our new recruits brings something different to their role. It’s an exciting time of change for the business and it was the right time to expand on the foundations we had in the commercial division by solidifying our dedicated team in that area of the business. Commercial roofing is central to our overall growth and development, and our team is looking forward to working together to achieve strong results. “Our company culture at PermaGroup is very important, and we’ve had fantastic feedback from the newer members already, which is extremely encouraging. We always want our people to feel valued, so to hear that our new team members are settling in well and are enjoying their work is all we can ask for.” To find out more about PermaGroup, please visit: www.permagroup.co.uk Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), London – Arcadis, a leading global company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets, has appointed senior industry figures Rory O’Hagan and Simon Carter to strengthen its architecture and urbanism capabilities across the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe. Best known in the UK for its engineering, project management and construction solution services, Arcadis distinguished its capability as one of the strongest innovators among global consulting players with its acquisitions of IBI Group and CallisonRTKL (CRTKL) last year. As a result, Arcadis is now recognised as the second largest architecture firm in the world and is now advancing its design and delivery services, built-asset specific decarbonisation strategies, deep retrofit programs, green certifications, and supporting digital tools with greater focus and scale than ever before. Strategic hires continue to play a key role in the firm’s growth, particularly in the UK where Rory O’Hagan has been appointed to lead Arcadis’ residential and hospitality design work, which includes the design and delivery of over 3,500 Build to Rent homes and award-winning schemes including Station Hill in Reading, Corkfield in Birmingham, City Suites II and Lampwick Quay in Manchester. Bringing together the Build to Rent (BTR), Co-living, Senior Living, Student Living and Hotel portfolios, Rory is focused on a creating a culture of collaboration and designing assets of enduring value with strong social and sustainable impact. Having held the position of board director at AJ100 London practice Assael Architecture and with over two decades of experience, Rory has an enviable track record spearheading some of the UK’s first purpose-built BTR communities. Also new to the firm is Simon Carter, who has been appointed as an associate principal to advance Arcadis’ work and innovation in life sciences. Drawing on the group’s proven track record in the allied health and education sectors, Simon is finding new opportunities for private and public sectors with clients including the NHS and major healthcare investors. With nearly 30 years of experience, Simon is a specialist in the design of higher education and research facilities and former partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. The pair join an established leadership team and over 100 registered architects who work across the UK from Arcadis’ design hubs in London, Manchester, Brighton, and Cardiff. Backed by the weight and resource of Arcadis’ global network, this specialist multidisciplinary team is driving forward new design innovations, sustainable solutions and digital leadership with greater focus and scale than ever before. Simon Bimpson, Country Director, Arcadis UK and Ireland, comments: “Arcadis has formed one of the most dynamic and diverse design firms in the world. Here in the United Kingdom, the expansion of our architecture and urbanism expertise means we are now able to add value to every stage of a project’s lifecycle and imbed sustainability best practice in from the outset.” “With Rory O’Hagan and Simon Carter joining our architecture and urbanism leadership team, we deepen the subject matter expertise of a highly skilled group who are proving the power of design in solving some of the most pressing challenges facing our cities and communities when it comes to accessibility, affordability, housing, healthcare, education and wellbeing.” Rory O’Hagan, Principal – Living at Arcadis Architecture and Urbanism, comments: “At the intersection of architecture, engineering, and construction, Arcadis is uniquely positioned to deliver insights, efficiencies, and innovations in ways other firms can’t because we provide services across all three pillars not just one or two. We see the full picture and are able to zoom in on the minutiae of every stage of the development lifecycle, with 3D, model-based workflows and digital tools that enable us to generate new efficiencies and design safe, sustainable and deliverable buildings for our clients.” “We also unlock a great deal of cross-sector learnings from our work across placemaking, residential, healthcare, hospitality, education, industrial, retail, life sciences, and workplace around the world. This is what I am most excited about, the opportunity to champion hybrid solutions borne off the overlap between these sectors, for instance our healthcare design work in pediatrics informing pedagogy and our K-12 education design philosophy, so too our work on luxury hotels around the world which we’ve applied with our healthcare expertise to create new senior living concepts. We are only just scratching the surface, with Arcadis better positioned than ever to positively impact on the design, development and resilience of this country.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
