The Manchester office of Watling Real Estate continues to grow with the appointment of Ian Whittaker as a director, whose primary focus will be to enhance and expand Watling’s investment and agency capabilities.
He joins this week following five years with commercial agency Ryden where he worked in investment in their Manchester office, providing specialist advice to property companies, funds, private investors, landlords and developers.
He was previously with GVA (now Avison Young) where he spent ten years in property restructuring providing strategic advice to banks, insolvency practitioners and LPA receivers.
Whittaker’s appointment follows the recent arrival of Callum Clark from LSH who has joined as an assistant surveyor to assist with both agency and restructuring advisory work.
Manchester director Chris Walker said: “Ian’s expertise in investment agency and asset management alongside his corporate restructuring background makes him an invaluable recruit to our team.
“We will continue to recruit as we build our North West team as we continue to be engaged across a number of significant restructuring and agency assignments in the region.”
Watling Real Estate, whose north west office is at 125 Deansgate in Manchester, was created on 1 June 2023 by a management buyout of the real estate restructuring division of Avison Young to establish a national footprint which includes offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol.
In the first three months of the new business, Watling Real Estate transacted over £130 million of real estate spanning both the traditional core and alternative sectors.
Ian Whittaker said: “It is clear that Watling is already really making its mark in the North West, and I am delighted to be joining the team during such an exciting period of growth.
“I am looking forward to helping grow the Manchester office further alongside Chris and drive forward Watling’s investment and agency offering. It will be good to catch-up with some old faces but also continue to work closely with existing clients. The opportunity to create something different in the market here is huge”.
