Kelly Maw returns to Dacres

Kelly Maw has returned to Dacre, Son & Hartley, 16 years after she first started her career in the property industry with the company.

Maw is to head up the firm’s Guiseley office in Yorkshire, which has been operating for more than 25 years.

Maw said: “I grew up locally and got my first job with Dacres back in 2006 in the firm’s Skipton office. Later I moved with my husband to Dubai and secured a role helping people from all over the world to relocate and settle in the emirate.

“We returned to the UK earlier this year and there was no doubt in my mind we would return to my hometown. When I was offered a role at Dacres, I felt it was meant to be, coming full circle and giving me the opportunity to return to the firm where I first started out in property.

“Dacres is independently owned, with a great reputation and friendly and professional team, and I was keen to take on a management role.”

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, which operates 20 offices across West and North Yorkshire, said: “We know and trust Kelly to do a great job for our clients and are delighted to have her back on our team.”

Chanelle Gray joins Savills as head of diversity and inclusion

Savills has appointed Chanelle Gray as head of diversity and inclusion (D&I) for its UK business.

Gray joins Savills from the Civil Service where she has worked for 13 years in a number of departments that centre around public service and a focus on people. Her most recent role was within the Department of Health & Social Care as deputy director of D&I, Wellbeing and Culture.

At Savills Gray will work with the management team and employees across the business to lead, deliver and evolve the firm’s D&I strategy, which includes overseeing its six D&I groups covering disability, gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, socio economic and age.

She commented: “Diversity and inclusion has, quite rightly, become more than a tick box exercise with businesses realising the importance of valuing and celebrating the differences of individuals across its workforce.

“By allowing and supporting individuals to be comfortable in being themselves both in and out of the workplace, we can achieve so much more together. There has never been a more important and exciting time to be part of the change that D&I is bringing and I am very much looking forward to being a part of this at Savills.”

Richard Rees, managing director at Savills, commented: “This is an incredibly important role for our business and one that we are very excited to be introducing.

“We have made huge progress as a business, and indeed an industry, with regards to diversity and inclusion but there remains a lot more work to be done to ensure that D&I is engrained in everything we do across the workplace.

“As part of this, it is vital that we invest in the right resources and expertise to be able to achieve our D&I objectives and we are therefore very pleased to welcome Chanelle whose extensive knowledge and insight will be a great asset to our people and our business.”

Sladen Estates appoints two new development directors

Housebuilder Sladen Estates has appointed two development directors.

Nick Aylett and Alex Statham have joined the Derbyshire developer from Jaguar Land Rover and property agents Banks Long & Co respectively.

Aylett joins the team from Jaguar Land Rover, where he held the role of UK real estate manager for more than four years.

He said: “Sladen Estates has an exemplar reputation across the industry, so an opportunity to join the team was not one to be missed. There is a strong commitment here to taking the right approach to property development and fostering a collaborative environment that produces results we can be proud of.”

Statham spent over five years as a director at Banks Long & Co in Lincoln, managing the firm’s building and cost consultancy team and leading on all key project management commissions.

He commented: “This is a company that truly understands the development process and how it can get the best results for partners, occupiers and funders alike. The team has a huge amount of experience, and I’m excited to get started.”