The move is designed to support Knight Frank’s national growth strategy over the next five years.
The Announcement:
KNIGHT FRANK has restructured its West Australian Office Leasing team to support its national growth strategy over the next five years.
From July 1 Rick McKenzie will be promoted to Partner, Head of Office Leasing and will lead the office leasing team locally.
Mr McKenzie joined Knight Frank 15 months ago, and has 11 years property experience across office leasing and valuations, at CBRE and Opteon Property Group.
The other members of Knight Frank’s current team, Ian Edwards, Greg McAlpine and Jeremy Robotham, will remain as Partners, Office Leasing continuing their focus on delivering exceptional service to Knight Frank’s existing client base and pursuing new opportunities across the WA market.
Knight Frank Partner and Managing Director, Western Australia, Craig Dawson said Mr McKenzie’s appointment was an opportunity to strengthen Knight Frank WA’s business development strategy with a focus on increasing market share across all sectors.
“Rick’s experience, knowledge, skills, energy and client relationships, including with institutions, have proven to be an asset to our office leasing team in Perth, with clients also benefitting from his expertise,” he said.
“The current balance of experience and energy in our diverse and cohesive team will provide an excellent platform for growth in a competitive and dynamic market.”
Mr Edwards and Mr McAlpine, who have been joint heads of Knight Frank’s WA leasing team for over 20 years have shown confidence in Mr McKenzie to lead the business as the team embarks on a new strategy for business growth.
“It is incumbent on us as leaders to put things in place so that the business continues to grow into the future from the platform which has already been built,” Mr Edwards said.
“Mr McKenzie’s appointment will future proof our business for the next five years and beyond. “We felt the timing of the restructure was right in that Mr McKenzie will take a longer-term view which extends beyond our tenure in the business.”
Mr McKenzie said in the strengthening office market in WA, Knight Frank would focus on providing strategic and substantiated leasing advice to clients relating to leasing, as well as leveraging the insights of the national collective to assist in formulating bespoke asset repositioning strategies.
“The WA office leasing market is improving as the unemployment rate hit a 13-year low in April 2022,” he said.
“No other state has achieved an unemployment rate below three per cent since current records began.
“Knight Frank is optimistic about the office outlook for Western Australia, acknowledging that the disruption of COVID-19 on workplace behaviours will require ongoing consultation with clients and customers to ensure that the growth in the economy continues to translate to improved occupancy.
“The strength in the market is such that we will look to grow our office leasing team further this year.”
Source: Knight Frank
