Knight Frank has appointed Charlie Barke as the firm’s new head of UK capital markets.
Barke, who joined the firm in 2016 as a partner, having spent 16 years specialising in retail investment at Cushman & Wakefield, was previously head of retail capital markets at Knight Frank.
He takes over the role from Richard Claxton who will remain on the commercial board as sub-divisional head of capital markets at Knight Frank.
Barke said: “As well as heading up the capital markets team, I will very much be continuing my day-to-day involvement in retail investment. With rents and values now properly re-based, the retail market looks set for better times and I look forward to working with clients to unlock the best opportunities and make some positive returns in the sector. At Knight Frank we are well placed to bring together leading teams from across all sectors, commercial and residential, new and old.
“My experiences on drawing teams together to work on asset repositioning will be key. We’ve already achieved excellent results combining retail and residential expertise, such as our recent sale of West 12 Shopping Centre for Landsec. We are now focusing on the re-positioning opportunities within other sectors and we can use our experiences from the retail sector to assist our clients in these areas.
“Working in retail over the past decade has taught me a huge amount – primarily to ensure that your client always receives an exceptional client experience, regardless of the challenges the market throws at you. I look forward to driving our broad offering forwards in what we all hope will be an improving market.”
Claxton added: “Charlie is an outstanding operator with a market leading reputation within the capital markets arena, having a detailed knowledge of our client requirements and unique partnership culture. Charlie will without a doubt drive our business forward as we navigate an ever-changing market.
“The last 12 months have been complex for capital markets however our teams have performed admirably, particularly industrial. The absolute key for our clients is our unique access to global private wealth. Our dedicated team tracks this investment of capital, and you simply cannot effectively sell an asset without knowing this group of buyers.
“Positively, we expect to see more stock after Easter and with the Bank of England now giving a clear sentiment that rate cuts are ‘on their way’ we expect activity to increase.”
