Steve Young, a former director in JLL’s central London retail team, has joined niche retail and leisure agency Lightlease as an equity director.
Young’s clients include Market Halls and gym chain 1Rebel.
He left JLL last year to launch a property consultancy called Distrkt, alongside fellow JLL retail director Michael Webb and Camilla Topham, who was previously a director at Davis Coffer Lyons.
Young worked at JLL for three years until 2014, latterly as a director. Before he rejoined JLL in 2015 as part of its West End team, he was a retail leasing director at Battersea Power Station.
Tom Pope, founder of Lightlease, told EG he had discussed working with Young “for a number of years”.
Pope said: “We are much aligned on our vision for the future of retail and leisure property, and there is a lot of synergy between our respective clients.
“I can’t wait for Steve to spearhead the business with me and take Lightlease to the next level.”
Young said: “I could not resist the opportunity to lead Lightlease alongside Tom. Our combined experience will enable us to give even better advice, and with genuine international focus it felt like the right home for my current and future clients.”
Separately, Lightlease has also hired Alex Peck, an associate at MMX Retail. Peck has worked on shopping centre schemes including Centre:MK in Milton Keynes and Whitefriars in Canterbury.
Pope, formerly a director at Time Retail Partners, launched Lightlease in May.
The business operates from London and Paris, pioneering software that provides real-time updates on site sourcing, lease negotiations, legal and fit-out processes.
Its clients include McDonald’s, Nespresso, Mango, Kiko Milano, Fitness Space and new leisure operator Action Stadium.
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