Leading national property advisor GVA has appointed Alastair Robertson-Dunn as a Director of its Retail team in the Midlands.
Alastair, who has ten years’ experience specialising in the Midlands retail sector, joins GVA from Robertson Brown, a company which he set up with partner Dominic Brown five years ago.
Originally from Solihull, Alastair began his career with Jones Lang LaSalle in Birmingham. Following a move to its West End office in London, he retained his specialism in the Midlands retail market, further developing his reputation with clients representing institutions, property companies, developers, banks and retailers.
Alastair will be involved with a number of high-profile instructions at GVA, including The Cube, Opus Aspect, Opus 40, Regency Wharf, ground floor retail at 2 Colmore Square, and Fort Dunlop. He will also be looking after a number of key regional shopping centres, including Cannock Shopping Centre and Castle Bromwich Shopping Centre.
Alastair said: “After five fantastic years at Robertson Brown, I realised that I was missing the corporate environment and felt that the time was right to move on. I’ve been very fortunate to have retained a number of my clients from my time at JLL and Roberson Brown.
“As a multi-discipline agency, GVA can provide clients with a full service offering, enabling us to bring in experts operating across a number of different sectors on a project-by-project basis to provide the best level of support possible.”
GVA’s retail team has seen substantial growth over the last four years and has now returned to pre-recession strength, with 30 people working across the business’s regional offices.
GVA is making a series of high level appointments to bolster, strengthen and expand in market growth areas in both London and the regions. This latest appointment will further strengthen GVA’s national network of Retails advisory teams.
GVA has entered a period of growth allowed largely by the restructuring of the business last year, coupled with some robust trading performances which have turned GVA into a safer and stronger proposition.
Jason Sibthorpe, Senior Director and National Head of Retail, GVA, said: “GVA is a national business that is strengthened through our regional presence and it is vital that we have people on the ground who understand the requirements of specific markets.
“Alastair is here to take retail in Birmingham to a new level and ensure that we are growing both as a business and within the sector. His appointment is a key part of our strategy to continue to build GVA’s national profile through our strong regional centres.
“While we have created similar roles in Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and London, finding the right person for the Birmingham market was challenging. However I am confident that in Alastair we have made an appointment that will be a great benefit to the business both regionally and nationally and will continue to drive our growth.”
Alistair joins Paul Brewer, the existing Retail Director in Birmingham, who will continue to specialise in providing consultancy advice to local authorities, landowners, developers and food store operators on town centre mixed use regeneration developments and opportunities.
Despite seeing some signs of increased consumer spending, GVA is urging cautious optimism, as the retail market is yet to demonstrate any significant improvement overall.
Jason said: “The growth of the internet has had a huge impact on the retail sector and has become increasingly entrenched, changing the way that future generations will view their retail experience and forcing the market to think differently about how it can respond to these changes and take a share of consumer spending.”
