Cushman & Wakefield has bolstered its UK retail capital markets team by hiring Chris Watt from niche retail and leisure agency Lunson Mitchenall as a partner.
Watt was a director Lunson Mitchenall and spent eight years focused on the acquisition and disposal of shopping centres and high street and leisure assets. Prior to that, he worked at WSB Property Consultants in Leeds.
In his new role, he will focus on the in-town shopping centre and retail and leisure market, working closely with Marcus Wood, head of UK retail capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield, and Joshua Vernon, partner, retail capital markets.
Watt is the third partner in as many months to join the firm’s UK retail and leisure team following the arrival of fellow capital markets hire Jack Lloyd in January and retail park leasing specialist Mark Phelps in December. Both joined Cushman & Wakefield from Avison Young.
Dominic Bouvet, head of UK retail and leisure at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “We’re thrilled that Chris has chosen to take the next step in his career with us. He is an excellent cultural fit for our team and clients, which is extremely important, while his deeply analytical approach to investment transactions provides the level of insight that clients expect from Cushman & Wakefield.
“With Chris and Jack we have invested in senior capital markets talent to strengthen our in-town and out-of-town capabilities, with both parts of the market seeing improved liquidity, debt availability and activity. Mark’s arrival was also in line with our focus on growth and he is already adding value to our clients on the leasing side.”
