- Chris Watt, an in-town retail and leisure investment specialist, joins from Lunson Mitchenall
LONDON, 10 February 2025 - Real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield has further strengthened its UK retail capital markets capabilities by hiring Chris Watt as a Partner.
Watt joins from niche retail and leisure agency Lunson Mitchenall, where he was a Director and spent eight years focused on acquiring and disposing of shopping centres and high street and leisure assets. Prior to that, he worked at WSB Property Consultants in Leeds. His clients include abrdn, Delancey and Northdale Asset Management as well as a diverse mix of institutional investors, private equity firms, local authorities, and private investors.
At Cushman & Wakefield, he will focus on the in-town shopping centre and retail and leisure market, working closely with Marcus Wood, Head of UK Retail Capital Markets, and Joshua Vernon, Partner, Retail Capital Markets.
Watt becomes the third Partner in as many months to join the firm’s UK Retail & Leisure team following the arrival of fellow capital markets hire Jack Lloyd in January and retail park leasing specialist Mark Phelps in December. Both joined from Avison Young.
Dominic Bouvet, Head of UK Retail & Leisure at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “We’re thrilled that Chris has chosen to take the next step in his career with us. He is an excellent cultural fit for our team and clients, which is extremely important, while his deeply analytical approach to investment transactions provides the level of insight that clients expect from Cushman & Wakefield.
“With Chris and Jack we have invested in senior capital markets talent to strengthen our in-town and out-of-town capabilities, with both parts of the market seeing improved liquidity, debt availability and activity. Mark’s arrival was also in line with our focus on growth and he is already adding value to our clients on the leasing side.”
