The European chapter of leading global professional industrial and office real estate association, the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors (SIOR), has appointed Paul Danks as its next president. Danks succeeds past president, Paul McDowell, and will serve a two-year term effective from October 2020.
Danks is a global corporate real estate adviser and a director in DeVono Cresa’s portfolio solutions team. He has previously held senior roles at Newmark Knight Frank, NAI Global, BNP Paribas Real Estate and NAI Fuller Peiser.
Commenting on his appointment, Danks said: “Though it is clearly a challenging time to take on the leadership role, with a membership drawn from the most knowledgeable, experienced and successful global commercial real estate specialists, there has never been a better opportunity to demonstrate the value and support individual SIOR’s provide to our clients and our membership.
The SIOR designation is one of the world’s most valued and prestigious professional designations and the global leadership has targeted European expansion as a key strategic priority.
Danks added: “We aspire to be the commercial real estate association that delivers the most tangible value to members and their customers . With engaged and expert members, an ambitious leadership group and a supportive and deal-driven culture, SIOR offers a platform for members to demonstrate their breadth of knowledge to their clients across both local , regional and Europe wide markets to amplify our members’ presence and expertise to their clients in their respective markets.”
Other strategic priorities for Danks’ term include improving diversity and inclusion, supporting members’ learning and wellbeing and encouraging the next generation of professionals. To this end, a new board has been assembled to collectively drive forward the association’s objectives.
Immediate past president, Paul McDowell, said: “It has been a tremendous privilege to spearhead this unique association over the past two years. With the support of colleagues in Washington, London and throughout Europe, we have significantly improved our footprint and I am confident that Paul’s obvious energy and enthusiasm for the role will deliver the next stage of SIOR Europe’s evolution.”
SIOR is the leading global professional industrial and office real estate association. With more than 3,400 members in 686 cities and 38 countries, SIOR represents today’s most knowledgeable, experienced, and successful commercial real estate brokerage specialists.