Colliers International on Thursday announced the appointment of Rick Thomas to the newly created position of managing director for emerging markets, effective 1 February.
Thomas will partner with the managing directors of Colliers offices in emerging markets across Asia to accelerate growth, the property consultancy said in a press release. The emerging markets portfolio includes operations in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
With Thomas moving up to the regional position, the property consultancy also announced a pair of new leadership changes in its Singapore office focused on serving corporate tenants in the city.
Commercial Leasing Vet
Reporting to Colliers’ chief operating officer for Asia Pacific, Paul Baxter, Thomas is tasked with expanding the agency’s client base and identifying new business and opportunities for cross-border collaboration.
“Our leadership team are highly experienced market leaders who together have laid the foundation for an enterprising leader to drive their vision and expertise,” Baxter said. “I am incredibly excited for Rick to partner with this team of experts to accelerate the growth of our people, clients and revenue and lead our industry into the future.”
Based in Singapore, Thomas has over 22 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. He began his career with Colliers 14 years ago in the corporate solutions business.
In his most recent role as executive director, Thomas headed the occupier services business in Singapore and was responsible for servicing the leasing and project management needs of large multinational occupier clients.
Prior to joining Colliers in 2006, Thomas spent three years as a portfolio manager at Australia’s UGL. Before that, he was a property manager at property consultancy JLL for five years.
Thomas graduated from the University of South Australia in Adelaide with a bachelor’s degree in property. He also completed the Real Estate Management Program at Harvard Business School and received personal leadership training at Columbia Business School.
“I am honoured to have been given this opportunity to develop Colliers’ brand profile and to grow the business,” Thomas said. “Emerging markets in Asia represent the most dynamic economies in the world with rapidly expanding real estate sectors. In this new role, I am looking forward to creating greater internal partnerships with Colliers’ offices, within Asia and across the globe, and attracting the very best professionals and world-leading clients to Colliers.”
Cushman Broker Gets New Namecards
As Thomas begins logging more Zoom hours around the region, Colliers has promoted Bastiaan van Beijsterveldt to executive director and head of occupier services for Singapore, with former Cushman & Wakefield broker June Chua joining the company as head of tenant representation for the city.
Formerly head of business development for Colliers Singapore’s occupier services division, which consults on office strategy, planning and project management to corporate clients, van Beijsterveld now takes the top role in the business unit.
Chua, who spent more than 10 years with C&W, including serving most recently as an executive director, will now be reporting to van Beijsterveld, as will the company’s head of project management for the city.
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