Pace of change in development market behind new leadership team in Birmingham

Savills has appointed Andrew Galloway and Sadie Janes as joint heads of its Birmingham development team in a move that significantly strengthens its regional operations across the Midlands.

Combined with their office in Nottingham, the Midlands development team comprises 30 specialists and is already one of the largest multi-disciplinary development units outside of London, with this move enhancing their profile as a dedicated mixed-use team.

Both Andrew and Sadie began their careers as graduates with Savills, with their paths following a similar trajectory through to director. Based in Savills’ Birmingham office, they will lead a team that has been at the heart of major regeneration-focused development schemes in Birmingham, and other regional centres, for over twenty years.

With particular emphasis on development of mixed-use schemes in the region, combining commercial and residential expertise, Andrew and Sadie will also be targeting successful and innovative place-making and delivery structures; drawing on wider national specialists from the Savills network when required.

Andrew, who has been at Savills since 2008, specialises in residential strategic land, immediate land sales and development viability work across the Midlands as well as undertaking development consultancy, valuation and investment sales. He has fifteen years’ experience within the house building industry and has been actively involved in a number of high profile national M&A projects over recent years.

Sadie, who specialises in regeneration and education, joined Savills in 2005 and provides commercial development consultancy and agency services. Her focus is on strategy advice and development management of complex development sites and existing buildings or estates, seeking to unlock value, repurpose or drive efficiencies.

This announcement comes as Savills’ latest report reveals activity in the residential land market was strong over the traditionally quiet summer months, with demand for smaller sites, under 150 units, attracting significant interest. 2020 has seen the Midlands development team transact on another 5,000 consented plots, the third year in a row, providing land for well over 10% of new homes across the region, across all tenures.

Similarly, the employment land market, particularly in the B8 sector has seen a stand-out year and the team advised on over 3,200 acres of employment land in the year, with potential to deliver over 53,000,000 sq ft of employment accommodation. The team have also provided estate strategy advice to a wider variety of institutions and corporates with potential to unlock some significant mixed-use activity over the next few years.

Commenting on his appointment, Andrew says: “This is an incredibly exciting time to be leading the team as the West Midlands, and Birmingham in particular, is on the cusp of re-inventing itself. Over the past 5 years, the region’s £100bn economy has grown by over 20%. HS2 presents an unprecedented opportunity to establish the West Midlands as a world-class business location. However, in order to create this destination, Birmingham has to provide considerable new commercial, industrial and residential space to meet its ambitions. As confidence in the city builds, growth and opportunities will be inevitable. That is where our unique, mixed-use development capabilities will benefit clients as we can work closely with them to offer strategic solutions.”

“I am thrilled to be leading such an experienced and motivated team,” says Sadie. “We have an unrivalled breadth of experience across all sectors in the Midlands, having been involved in some of the region’s most prominent development schemes, with resilient work streams and healthy balance of clients. Our stand-out performance in 2020 has raised the bar as we emerge from the pandemic, supporting clients with an extremely exciting pipeline of development activity ahead. There is real optimism across a number of sectors and we look forward to continuing to orchestrate many of those opportunities through 2021 and beyond, and to enhancing our offer as a mixed-use development team.”