This week's London appointments

Linda Robinson, AHTO Group Ltd*

London property investment firm, AHTO Group, has appointed Linda Robinson as its new managing director.

Linda has over 25 years of property experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining AHTO as managing director, Linda was development director at The Guinness Partnership, one of the UK’s largest social housing landlords.

As managing director of AHTO, Linda will operate out of the Central London head office, joining a team of seven existing directors and associates, alongside additional support staff, reporting into the board of directors and AHTO co-founder and chief investment officer Sam Senchal.

Commenting on her appointment Linda said: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining at this pivotal time and helping to lead AHTO’s monumental investment and partnership drive to help expand the UK’s Intermediate Rent-to-Buy sector. Thirteen years is now the average time it takes a UK household to save for a deposit.

“I believe that AHTO’s Intermediate Rent-to-Buy model offers a compelling solution to the UK housing crisis providing a favourable alternative to renting and a financially accessible route into home ownership for households on lower incomes who are struggling to save for a deposit.”

Sam said: “AHTO is delighted that Linda Robinson has joined our team of directors.

“Linda’s impressive property background in both the public and private sectors working for industry leaders such as The Guinness Partnership, Metropolitan Housing Association and FPD Savills, and her track record of portfolio assembly provides a perfect skill-set match for AHTO.”

Stuart Natkus, Barton Willmore

Planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore has appointed Stuart Natkus as partner.

In his former role as planning director, Stuart delivered many planning projects across the North East and Yorkshire, including Gateshead BIG, Throckley and Kibblesworth.

Stuart, who has worked for Barton Willmore for more than ten years, said: “This is a really exciting time to be a planner in the North East and Yorkshire. With so many challenges and opportunities for developers, our expertise is invaluable.

“I’m really proud to have played a part in the regeneration and growth of our regions in my career so far and, I’m looking forward to continuing that role as partner, with my brilliant Barton Willmore colleagues.

“The consultancy is on a very strong footing for growth, with market-leading in-house knowledge, a varied client base and a healthy pipeline of projects.”

Existing partner James Hall said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Stuart joins me as partner. His passion, enthusiasm and insight are driving forces of Barton Willmore and have helped us deliver outstanding outcomes for clients time and time again.

“Stuart’s hard work and tenacity is an inspiration to all the team here.”

Stuart’s appointment is part of a wider round of promotions owing to Barton Willmore’s continued growth. Four other new partners include: Greg Dickson, Colin Lavety, Barry Williams, and Lucy Wood.

Alongside the new partners, there has been a host of new promotions including four new directors – part of a round of advancement that aims to support the breadth of talent across the business’ planning and design teams.

James Featherstone and George Cuthburt, Brawdia

Insurance-focused building and construction consultancy Brawdia, has announced the the appointment of two senior high-net-worth (HNW) specialist chartered surveyors James Featherstone and George Culbert.

Both joined from Savills and have been appointed as senior associate director and associate director respectively.

James Featherstone BSc (Hons) MRICS joins Brawdia with 25 years’ industry experience and will focus primarily on insurance related fire and flood reinstatement works, repair and maintenance, and defects diagnosis.

James specialises in all aspects of professional building and surveying services, including project administration of fire and flood reinstatement works for HNW individuals, landlord strip-out and sub-division works of large retail units and repair, redecoration and reinstatement projects on office, retail and commercial premises.

George Culbert BSc (Hons) MRICS has over 11 years’ experience as a building surveyor working on residential and commercial properties, with a focus on design, specification and contract administration.

He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2015 and specialises in insurance re-instatement and defect diagnosis projects, regularly acting on prime and super prime residential projects, in addition to commercial property insurance claims across the retail and office sectors.

His experience includes feasibility, space planning and architectural design in relation to refurbishment and remodelling projects, as well as re-instatement cost assessments and development monitoring.

Philip Barmby, managing director, Brawdia: “We’re six months on from launching the business and I’m delighted that we are in a position to open a London office and expand our team with the appointment of two, well known and respected, senior surveyors.

“London and the Southeast are key markets for us, and we’ve seen significant growth in recent months. This summer’s flooding in the capital led to a notable spike in high value claims work, particularly within the HNW sector.

“We’ve been working with some of the UK’s largest insurers and brokers, and we’re seeing growing demand for specialist insurance services within the building and construction space, with an increasing focus on issues such as sustainability and resilience.

Philip concluded: “From the materials that we specify on a loss, to future proofing properties from flood damage, such considerations are playing an increasingly important role within claims remediation work.”

John Giblin, CF Commerical

London-based property consultancy CF Commercial continues its growth with the hire of John Giblin as the director of development consultancy & agency.

John joins with a decade of experience working in business space agency, development consultancy and investment working across the Southeast and London.

Prior to joining CF Commercial, John spent three years with Bracketts Chartered Surveyors in Kent and eight years at Copping Joyce Surveyors in London.

John’s recent transactional work includes advising Chancerygate on the acquisition, development and marketing of the Tonbridge Trade Park in Kent which included a new 15 unit 100,000 sq ft trade counter and industrial park.

Craig Fisher, MD of CF Commercial said: “John’s arrival rounds out our workspace and industrial team, which will go from strength to strength under his wealth of experience and keen insight into the investment market.

“CF Commercial is busier than ever, working to shape communities through mixed use schemes across the UK and John brings a dynamic skillset to our team to ensure clients’ needs are met throughout the lifecycle of each project.”