Gary is a Chartered Surveyor, a proven performer with over 25 years experience in commercial property, having worked in both public and private sector organizations across all property sectors, UK wide and Swiss Real Estate. Gary has experience of holding a variety of board level directorships and managing joint ventures, with work involving major corporate companies and world class brands.
In the early part of his career he qualified in Estate Management and Asset management with a large Public sector organization and a major property company, London based.
Relocating to the North East in a Development Executive role for a subsidiary of London & Edinburgh Trust, Gary covered the early inception of the 200 acre Royal Quays regeneration project, covering Residential units, Marina development, Factory Outlet Shopping Centre and Water Leisure Park. This led to roles with Amec Developments and Northern Trust, undertaking land assembly for the Port Wakefield development and setting up the North East Asset Management arm of Northern Trust specializing in the marketing and leasing of mainly industrial property.
Gary has also worked with Rail Property Limited London prior to its sale into Lambert Smith Hampton to manage all the property issues leading up to the privatization of Rail Freight Limited and managing the property assets of English & Welsh Railways.
Prior to setting up FDP, Gary was Development Director at UK Land Estates for over 12 years. While at UKLE Gary increased UK Land Estates Partnership property portfolio by over £75m through new development and redevelopment, leasing and sales to end occupiers of industrial, office, retail, leisure and hotel property. This represented over 70% of capital value, establishing UK Land Estates as a major industrial property company based in the North East of England.
Award wining Developments included Maingate, Team Valley, a 15,000 sqm mixed use scheme including offices pre-let to Regus, a 115 bed hotel prelet to Tulip Inn (purchased by Premier Inns), leisure and retail plus, the pre-let 1,500 sqm regional banking office and retail hall for HSBC bank. Also the Waterfront, Newburn Riverside, a 30,000 sqm mixed development in partnership with Northumberland Estates and the land owner The Regional Development Agency. The development provided pre-let BREEAM excellent offices for the Ambulance Authority, the Strategic Health Authority, DEFRA, and hi-tech industrial units with prelets to McFarlane Packaging, Porcelanosa and pre-purchase agreement for a large children's nursery. Responsibilities also covered the asset development and portfolio leasing of the £110m joint venture portfolio with the Regional Development Agency and also a joint venture with Northumberland Estates, UK and Switzerland (UKLI and Swiss Land Estates).
Other developments have included pre-lease agreements with WH Smith (Smith News), a 3,700 sqm distribution facility, a pre-lease agreement to provide a manufacturing facility for Protech Plastics, a pre-sale of 2,500 sqm for a training/distribution warehouse for Millennium Nails, a pre-lease agreement for 3,600 sqm including 1,000 sqm offices for Express Engineering, and a pre-sale for a 3,500 sqm technical training Automotive Centre of Excellence for Gateshead College, leading to two further pre-sale agreements for additional training and educational facilities nearby.
Gary has worked successfully managing a multi-disciplinary team through the development process.
Award winning redevelopment of a former Victorian warehouse for the famous Maling pottery, Maling Exchange has transformed the space into a cutting-edge office hub, delivering superfast broadband and connectivity to new and growing firms in the creative sector.