Avison Young announces senior leadership promotions to drive EMEA alignment and growth

The promotions include:

• Jason Sibthorpe – Principal and President EMEA
• Steve Cresswell – EMEA COO and CFO
• Nick Walkley – Principal and President UK
• Jo Davis – Principal and UK Executive Chair
• Elizabeth Bartlett - EMEA Communications Director
• Anjula Devi - EMEA HR Director

To strengthen global alignment and growth across its EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) operations, strategic real estate advisor Avison Young has reorganized its UK and European leadership, promoting a host of senior leadership figures.  Our significant presence in the UK will provide foundational resources and support as we expand and grow the balance of Europe.

Working as a unified EMEA operation will allow the business to scale more quickly, driving growth and service expansion in an integrated way. This serves the ultimate goal of delivering best-in-class advisory and transactional real estate services across the private, public and third sector.

The following members of Avison Young’s UK and European leadership team will be promoted to lead the firm’s EMEA presence.

Jason Sibthorpe, formerly Principal and President UK, is being promoted to Principal and President, EMEA, with oversight of delivering strategy, growth and client development across the region. Working closely with the existing expert teams on the ground, including country heads, sector and service line leads and operations, Jason will ensure optimum alignment and infrastructure is in place to offer a demonstrable value-add service to clients.  

Steve Cresswell, European Finance & Operations Director, is being promoted to EMEA COO and CFO. With full responsibility and accountability of all financial matters throughout the region, Steve will oversee operational support and resource provision to the revenue generation side of the business. Steve’s chief mandate is to safeguard the effectiveness of business operations by ensuring that at each country level within the EMEA region the firm has the most effective financial and operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures, and people systems in place to effectively grow the organization, ensure financial strength, and employ strategies to maximize client satisfaction.

Nick Walkley, Principal and President UK Strategic Advisory is being promoted to Principal and President UK, responsible for the growth and strategy of the UK business, recruitment of top talent and business development. Nick’s mandate is to drive the acquisition and retention of top-tier clients across investors, occupiers and the public sector by taking the UK to the next level of technology sophistication, expanding cross-service line collaboration and business partnerships. Following a career in public service leadership, including as CEO of Homes England, Nick joined Avison Young in September 2021 to strengthen and expand its strategic advisory and consulting capabilities.

Jo Davis, Principal and Managing Director – Planning, Development and Regeneration, is being promoted to Principal and UK Executive Chair, responsible for delivering governance for UK strategy and growth, alignment with global priorities, and ensuring accountability to Avison Young’s UK Principals. Jo’s track record at Avison Young extends over 24 years, guiding the business though significant, transformational change. She established the South West Town Planning business, before taking on the role of Regional Managing Director for Bristol, in addition to her current role as Managing Director for Planning, Development and Regeneration.

Elizabeth Bartlett, Director, Head of UK Communications has been promoted to EMEA Communications Director. In this strategic role, Liz will be responsible for leading and integrating Avison Young’s EMEA internal and external communications teams to drive consistency of message and raise brand profile across these geographies. Liz has been with Avison Young since 2017, and in her time with the firm has significantly elevated the brand in the UK through communications strategy, media outreach and employee engagement.

Anj Devi, Senior HR Business Partner, has been promoted to EMEA HR Director. In this new strategic role Anj will support Jason Sibthorpe and Nick Walkley in the drive to create and grow a community that is truly ‘powered by people’.  She will be responsible for leading on alignment of HR across EMEA ensuring that as a global, multicultural organization, Avison Young recruits the right talent and empowers its people to be best in class. 

Mark Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, said: “Avison Young’s re-organization helps ensure we can better serve clients as an EMEA business. At its core, alignment is about designing the optimal structure that best supports our talented people to deliver exceptional results for our clients. We have a track record delivering multi-national mandates across EMEA and these promotions will allow us to build on this success.”