The combined strength of the two firms will see Jones Lang LaSalle’s shopping centre instructions increase to 110 and dedicated retail specialists rise to 150. Churston Heard's staff will move across hanover Square into the existing JLL headquarters.

Churston Heard's Chris Powell becomes JLL's chairman of retail, EMEA; while Guy Grainger will take on the role of head of retail agency in the UK, working alongside Stuart La Frenais, Damian Sumner and Paul Marshall. Robin Coady will chair and jointly run the expanded UK retail capital markets team with Adrian Peachey. Tim Vallance will lead the out of town team and Stephen Mahon will become the head of asset and professional advisory.

Powell said: “We see Jones Lang LaSalle as a complementary fit to our culture, which is built on client service, market intelligence and expertise. It increases our reach and market share in the UK and drives our business forward across the continent. It will also provide new and exciting opportunities for our people.”

And Stuart La Frenais added:“It is well known that we have been looking to strengthen our retail business and Churston Heard has been top of our priority list for sometime. The structure of their business fits ideally with ours with their areas of strength complementing ours. Having worked at Churston Heard for several years I know a number of individuals well and know that the fit between our teams will be fantastic. I personally look forward to working with Guy again, together with the rest of the retail team at Churston Heard”.

The deal is the latest in a series of moves by the major general practice firms to snap up specialist retail consultancies. Already this year Knight Frank has bought Markham Vaughan Gillingham and King Sturge has bought Leslie Furness, and these deals follow DTZ's purchase of Donaldsons; Savills' purchase of Blair Kirkman and CBRE's purchase of Dalgleish.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend