Knight Frank Names Jonathan Rideout Head of Office Services for Shanghai 

Knight Frank has hired former CBRE business park specialist Jonathan Rideout as head of office services for the company’s Shanghai office, according to a company press release.

“I am delighted to be joining Knight Frank and look forward to working with an exceptional team to grow our office and business park market in Shanghai,” Rideout said in the statement. He added that, “Occupiers and landlords increasingly demand seamless and innovative services, and Knight Frank’s commitment to investing in the platform will ensure we will continue to deliver outstanding results for our clients.”

Rideout takes over as office leasing boss in China’s commercial capital from Peter Zhang, who left Knight Frank after eight and a half years to pursue another career interest, according to a company spokesperson.

13 Years of Shanghai Biz Parks

The University of Maryland College Park alum brings to his new role at Knight Frank over 13 years of experience at international property consultancies in Shanghai.

Before joining the UK based agency Rideout had spent two years as an executive director at CBRE where he held the title of head of business parks with the company’s advisory and transaction Services division.

The veteran broker’s stint with the green team came after he had spent just over three and a half years with Cushman & Wakefield from 2014 to 2018, where he served as deputy general manager for occupier services.

From 2008 to 2014 Rideout specialised in business park brokerage with Colliers International in Shanghai after having started out with JLL in the city during 2007.

During his time matching tenants with suburban office locations, Rideout has worked with corporates including Nike, Union Pay, L’Oreal, Air Liquide, Autodesk and Nvidia, among others.

Aiming for Growth

In his new role, Rideout will be working with the global property consultancy’s office services team in Greater China to improve service delivery standards, according to the Knight Frank statement.

His appointment was announced just one week after Knight Frank brought on board former JLL executive, Zann Quek, to head its international property marketing in Beijing.

“I have every confidence that Jonathan’s expertise and well-established standing in the industry will help accelerate our current trajectory to grow and continuously improve our service delivery standards to become a dominant force in the market,” Ying Shin Lee, Managing Director of Knight Frank Shanghai, said in the press release.