LaSalle to work with the banks over £75m of property assets

The property banking mandates, which cover commercial and residential schemes, have come from banks including Santander, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Yorkshire Bank.

The instructions, which are being handled by the firm’s Leeds office, include development sites in Leeds, Sheffield and Middlesbrough, two office schemes in former North East enterprise zones, a portfolio of high street retail units requiring asset management, a residential portfolio of 130 units incorporating a part-complete scheme in Greater and south Manchester and a former nightclub in Nottingham. To handle the new business, Jones Lang LaSalle has appointed a new director to its real estate workout and banking advisory group.

David Scott joins from Lloyds Banking Group after completing a consultancy secondment providing turnaround, restructuring and realisation advice across the bank’s distressed real estate loan book following the 2008 financial crash.

Mr Scott, previously a partner in the capital markets investment team at King Sturge, re-joins the team’s regional director, Colin Fell and director, Simon Cullimore, as the third qualified receiver.

The team operates across mainstream and specialist sectors including hotels and licensed leisure, student and healthcare accommodation, project and development management and machinery and business assets.

Mr Fell said: “The Government is putting significant pressure on banks to strengthen their balance sheets and recycle money into both the corporate and commercial, small enterprise and retail banking sectors to stimulate growth in the economy.

“Our main focus in these instructions is to advise the banks on the preservation and enhancement of asset values as they look to support their clients whenever possible.

“With many property commentators forecasting further erosion of secondary commercial property capital values in 2012, we are predicting an increased demand for our services and have looked to strengthen both the workout and recovery business lines.”

The team works along the M62 corridor, north to the Scottish borders and south to Birming- ham.