Chairman of Gleeds Worldwide, Richard Steer, has announced a refreshed senior leadership structure to continue to develop the international property and construction consultancy. 

Under the continued Chairmanship of Steer, Graham Harle has been appointed Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the business. 

With the backdrop of fluctuating global market conditions, exciting developments in new technologies and the changing demands of an ever-evolving sector, Steer, together with Gleeds’ equity partners, has decided that now is the time for the consultancy to reshape its structure to better reflect client demands globally. 

 “This is a really important stepping stone in the history of Gleeds and the evolution of our solutions-based approach to continue to best support our clients” said Steer. “There are two main reasons for change. The first is focussing on growth outside of the UK. Whilst the UK will always be a core driver of our operation, it is a very mature market, and there are significant opportunities for us to further develop our business globally, particularly in the USA. Secondly, we have a great breadth of sector experience and we are specifically looking at increasing our market share in the energy and infrastructure sectors. This is already a successful sector for us in the UK and the USA and our wealth of in-house skills and robust networks mean we have a prime opportunity to expand in other global markets” he concluded.  

Formerly Head of Programme and Project Management and an executive board director, Graham Harle has been with Gleeds since 1994. With 28 years of industry experience, Harle has provided strategic advice on a number of high-profile projects worldwide including One Nine Elms, UK; Cairo Festival City, Egypt and Eurovea, Slovakia. 

Graham Harle, Global CEO, Gleeds, said: “I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work with my colleagues across Gleeds to continue to develop our well-established international offering. There is a huge opportunity to evolve different services as well as our support to clients. Our increasingly global approach will allow us to attract and retain the best people and join together our collective, worldwide knowledge, networks and practices for the benefit of our clients, reinvigorating our approach to consultancy and streamlining their property portfolios.”

Joining Harle on Gleeds’ global executive board are dedicated regional heads - David Johnson, who will lead the company’s EMEA division and Chris Soffe, who will direct operations in the Americas. A director of the Asia Pacific region is yet to be announced. The newly appointed senior leadership team also comprises dedicated roles to lead Gleeds’ CSR, information technology, finance, people development and business development arms. Gleeds’ heads of energy and infrastructure and the UK region are also represented. 

Richard Steer, Global Chairman, Gleeds, went on to say: “I believe that now is the right time for new energy to start coming through. Graham has been a trusted and dynamic colleague at Gleeds for many years and I am really looking forward to working with him as the business continues to evolve. This is a time of fresh opportunity for our business, our clients and the wider industry.”

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