After nearly half-a-century in the business and overseeing a commercial portfolio worth £250m, Steve Carlin is retiring as a director of London & Cambridge Properties (LCP) Management.
The retail expert began his career as a chartered surveyor with Frank, Wilde and Glover in 1968 before moving to the Birmingham office of property investment and development company MEPC. In the early 1990s he moved to LCP to manage its retail portfolio and has remained there ever since.
During his time with the London-headquartered industrial, retail and commercial specialist Carlin headed a £250m portfolio of seven principle shopping centres, including the Arcadian in Birmingham, the Wulfrun Centre in Wolverhampton, Dudley’s Churchill Centre, and Aldridge Shopping Centre, as well as high street properties and developments across the Midlands.
He maintains that while the economic cycle continues to turn, and the influence on the politics of planning policy and implementation grows even wider and more difficult to reconcile, one thing has remained the same throughout his career — people.
“Property is a people business and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that we continue to provide qualitative adequate space appropriate to all users,” he insisted. “The thing I have enjoyed most are the relationships forged over those 46 years, with colleagues, consultants and a myriad business associates, many becoming valued and enduring friendships.”
The Leeds office of global property consultancy Knight Frank has strengthened its industrial property team with the appointment of Nick Prescott.
Moving in what he described as “exciting times for the property market” Prescott joins as associate from property consultancy Gent Visick, where he spent seven years concentrating on occupational acquisitions and disposals. He is a specialist in the industrial and logistics sectors.
In a separate Leeds expansion, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has added five graduates to its Yorkshire-based team.
Maria Burrell and Joe Beckett both join in permanent graduate positions on the building consultancy team. LSH has also taken on Kate Boanas, Georgia Pirbhai and Michelle Brennan for placement positions in its lease advisory and property management, office agency and valuation departments respectively.
West Midlands property developer Opus Land — which currently has more 1.4m sq ft of commercial, industrial and retail projects under development — has decided to keep the appointment of a new director of development in the family.
Victoria Smith is joining the firm from Palmer Capital where, as an associate director, she focused on property investment and fund management. “Victoria’s deal-making and investment experience will stand Opus in good stead as we enter a new and particularly buoyant period for the regional markets,” explained her managing director father, Richard Smith.
Malcolm Hollis, one of the UK’s leading commercial building surveying specialists, has promoted Newcastle-based David Cox to partner.
Recently completing an MA in commercial property law, he has also served as an expert witness in several dilapidation claims and disputes in connection with lease break clauses.
Manchester-based commercial property lawyers Abacus Solicitors has taken on Howard Gruber as senior consultant solicitor. He has over 30 years’ experience in commercial property law and commercial conveyancing matters.
Story: Cliff Goodwin
Photo: Elliot Brown (cc)
