Knight Frank has made four strategic appointments in its UK business rates team.
Damien Clarke, who has extensive experience in advising both occupiers and owners across the UK, has joined the firm from Colliers as UK head of business rates.
He succeeds Keith Cooney, who will move into a newly created role as chairman of business rates. Cooney will continue to work closely with clients and will collaborate with Clarke to drive the development of Knight Frank’s business rates practice.
Knight Frank has also appointed Ross Haywood and Paul Davinson from JLL as partners within the UK business rates team.
Simon Austen, head of commercial consultancy at Knight Frank, said: “We have identified business rates as a strategic priority for our continued growth and these appointments represent the start of our journey. We are delighted to welcome Damien, Ross and Paul to the team, while Keith’s new role ensures we continue to benefit from his outstanding technical expertise, knowledge and industry relationships. Together, they will play an important part in driving the continued evolution of our UK business rates platform as we respond to the growing demand for clear, actionable advice across an increasingly complex rating environment.”
Henrie Westlake, head of UK cities at Knight Frank, added: “The expansion of our team through these strategic hires underscores Knight Frank’s commitment to investing in our business rates advisory offering which is central to our long term strategy across the UK. Ross, Paul and Damien bring exceptional experience, and we look forward to the impact they will have as we continue to grow our business rates service line with further market leading talent.”
