CBRE Group confirmed on 6 October that its chair of advisory services for Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Martin Samworth, will be retiring from the property agency at the end of 2020.
Samworth began his career in 1983, specialising in investment and development finance before working in corporate acquisitions and rising to the company’s top ranks.
CBRE president and CEO Bob Sulentic credited the firm’s success in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to Samworth in a statement, citing a decade of securing and integrating key acquisitions in the region and attracting talent to the world’s largest commercial real estate services provider.
“CBRE’s success in EMEA is a great credit to Martin … He has also been a tireless champion of the CBRE brand and a great teammate to all of us. On behalf of everyone at CBRE, I want to thank Martin for everything he has done for our company and wish him the very best for the future.”
Stepping Down After Nearly Four Decades
Based in London, the 37-year veteran of the company and its precursors had property in his blood as the son of an architectural technician and a town planner, according to London’s Evening Standard.
He joined St Quintin Property Group in 1985 as a chartered surveyor, becoming an equity partner in 1996. St Quintin was sold to Richard Ellis UK in 1999, becoming Richard Ellis St Quintin and eventually Insignia Richard Ellis, where Samworth stepped into the role of managing director in 2002.
Insignia Richard Ellis merged with CB Hillier Parker to form CBRE in 2003 and Samworth started work as managing director of CBRE UK in 2014.
“I have had an immensely fulfilling and enjoyable career over the past 37 years with CBRE,” Samworth said in a statement. “Along the way, I have worked with many inspirational people, made some tremendous friendships and learnt so much. Now I am looking forward to applying what I have learnt to new ventures and different business sectors. CBRE is a truly amazing business and it has been an honour to have been able to play a key role in contributing to its growth and on-going success over many years.”
In the same year that he took the helm of CBRE’s UK operation, Samworth was also named CEO for the company’s EMEA region, and finally in 2019 took up the role of group president and CEO of advisory services for both APAC and EMEA.
At the beginning of this year he was appointed chairman of advisory Services for APAC and EMEA with his duties focusing on capital markets transactions. Samworth is also a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
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