TORONTO – Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, announced the strategic hiring of leading global property markets analyst Nick Axford.
Effective immediately, Axford becomes a Principal of Avison Young and assumes the newly created position of Global Director of Research. He will oversee the firm’s research operations, expanding best practices and driving the development of products and services to support the company’s clients and business units across the globe. He was most recently Global Head of Research at CBRE.
Based in Avison Young’s London, U.K. office, Axford will work closely with the firm’s national research practice leaders as they provide best-in-class interpreted data and insight into the key trends driving commercial real estate markets around the world.
“We are very pleased to have attracted someone of Nick’s calibre to Avison Young as we expand our research operations and offerings in conjunction with our firm’s aggressive global expansion strategy,” comments Rose. “Nick will play a leading role in expanding the scope and structure of our research operations and services across the company. He will leverage Avison Young’s data analysis and forecast offerings, together with the knowledge and expertise of our market professionals, for the benefit of our clients across all asset classes and service lines, including brokerage, property management, consulting and advisory, facilities management and project management.”
Rose continues: “Nick is a passionate and dynamic business leader and his professional stature, positive client relationships and extensive industry experience will be of tremendous value to our company and our clients. By employing the top research talent in our industry, we will continue to provide the highest level of market intelligence that enables our clients to find strategic solutions to their real estate concerns.”
Avison Young’s multi-disciplinary group of dedicated research professionals works collectively across the globe to deliver market analysis and insights that drive value in real estate decisions.
Axford brings 29 years of commercial real estate industry experience to Avison Young, 24 of which were with CBRE. During his tenure, he acted as the research leader for the U.K., EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia-Pacific(where he was based in Hong Kong) before becoming Global Head of Research in 2013.
“I share Avison Young’s goal of enhancing our clients’ market knowledge and real estate intelligence through comprehensive data analysis, forecasting and innovative thematic research,” says Axford. “The client is the driving force of all of our activities, and we understand the importance that owners and occupiers place on real estate intelligence as they seek solutions that maximize the potential of their properties and, ultimately, their organizations. Avison Young is focused on leveraging the full power of the collective market knowledge and intellectual capital of our teams across the globe – for the benefit of all our clients. I am absolutely delighted to be joining such a dynamic, ambitious organization and look forward to working with my new colleagues around the world.”
Axford holds a doctorate degree in economic geography and an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in geography from the University of Southampton. In addition, he obtained a Diploma in Surveying with distinction from the University of Reading’s College of Estate Management, where he was a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) prize winner as the top-performing student. He is active in the industry as a member of Corenet and the Society of Property Researchers.
