CBRE’s Strong to step down at year-end

Michael Strong is to retire as executive chairman of CBRE’s EMEA business at the end of 2015 after more than 40 years with the property adviser and its predecessor companies.

Strong has served as executive chairman since 2001 and as chief executive officer from 2005 to 2012. For the past two years, he led the EMEA region together with CEO Martin Samworth.

‘This has been one of the most difficult decisions of my career,’ Strong said. ‘CBRE has been a central part of my life for decades, and leaving behind my colleagues and valued clients will not be easy. But the timing is right. Our business in EMEA is in great shape. We just completed one of our best years ever in 2014. The Norland integration has exceeded expectations, and the EMEA region has a strong management team in place under Martin to lead us into the future. Now’s the perfect time for me to hand over the leadership reins and move on to the next phase of my life.’

Under Strong’s leadership, CBRE’s total revenue in EMEA has grown from $450 mln to $2.3 bn over the past 10 years. The company’s EMEA workforce has increased from 3,600 to nearly 12,000 and its client base has expanded by more than 50% over the same period.

‘Mike has been a terrific mentor to me and scores of other people at CBRE,’ said Samworth, who was appointed CEO EMEA in March 2014. He previously served as managing director EMEA.

Nr 2 in Top Brokers ranking
CBRE took second place in PropertyEU’s Top Brokers ranking for 2014 based on investment deals in Europe of over €20 mln. The firm advised on investment deals worth €38.6 bn, slightly less than the €38.8 bn recorded for JLL.

‘Last year we saw a notable increase in investment activity across the region,' Samworth told PropertyEU in an interview. 'London continues to be a key target of core investment strategies and will continue to perform well in the coming year. The fundamentals are very strong, both for offices and retail, and there is good reason to believe that domestic and international investment will continue through 2015.

CBRE also saw a significant increase in investment in France, Spain, Ireland and Poland in 2014, Samworth added. 'Those trends will continue in 2015 although at slightly different rates.'

PropertyEU's Top Brokers special report appears in the March edition of our magazine