Student living conglomerate The Dot Group has announced the appointment of Paddy Allen as the new Chief Executive Officer of Kinetic Capital, its specialist lending arm in the purpose-built student accommodation sector.
Allen will join the business towards the end of the summer and will lead the team at Kinetic to deliver the next stage of significant growth.
Since Kinetic was launched in 2020 by Steve Grant and fellow co-founder Nicholas Porter, CEO of Dot, Grant has led the business, securing capital investment with world-class institutions while deploying debt financing to student housing investments across the United Kingdom and Europe.
Grant will transition within the Group to become Dot’s Chief Corporate Development Officer while continuing to work closely with Kinetic.
As Chief Corporate Development Officer at Dot, he will be responsible for corporate development globally, leading major transactions, M&A, partnerships and new market development across all Group businesses. Prior to joining the Group, he was Chief Financial Officer of Urbanest and managing director, Asset Management of UNITE Group.
Allen is a highly experienced professional, currently head of Operational Capital Markets at Colliers, with close to 20 years’ experience in real estate and a specialist knowledge of PBSA including the wider living sector. He brings expertise in capital markets, including debt and equity raising as well as transaction execution, operations, and real estate technology.
Previously, he was a partner at Cushman & Wakefield and earlier in his career held positions with Global Student Accommodation (GSA), a Dot company.
Nicholas Porter, Chief Executive Officer of The Dot Group commented: 'Having worked with Steve for over 20 years, his unrivalled knowledge of the Group and deep sector expertise will be instrumental in achieving strategic and focused growth. This move signifies the level of opportunity that exists for our Group and appetite to build out our growing team and attract high-calibre talent.'
