Chris Brooke was inaugurated as president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) at a ceremony in Hong Kong today, officially taking the helm of the property industry professional group.
A fellow of the RICS and former CBRE executive, Brooke will lead the industry body for a one year term, succeeding outgoing president John Hughes in the top role of the UK-based organisation.
Promoting the Role of Surveyors
“Professionals operating within the natural and built environments are at the heart of some of the great challenges of our time, including urbanisation, climate change, and technological development,” Brooke said in a statement. “The surveying profession and RICS as our global professional body both have a critical role to play in tackling these issues. By setting and enforcing standards that give confidence to markets and by putting people at the heart of what we do, we will have a positive impact on the future direction of all the regions of the world in which RICS operates.”
Most recently, Brooke co-founded Hong Kong-based property consulting firm Brooke Husband Limited in 2016, and joined the board of Link Asset Management, which manage’s Asia’s largest real estate investment trust, Link REIT, on May 1 this year as an independent non-executive director.
Brooke stepped down from international property brokerage CBRE in 2015, after serving in senior roles for 12 years with the firm, including as CEO and chairman of CBRE China and head of the company’s real estate consulting business in Asia Pacific.
Brooke indicated in the statement that, during his term leading the RICS, he will focus on promoting and highlighting the value of work done by surveyors, ensuring that the profession is ready for the future, and speaking out on key issues.
In Hong Kong for the Long Haul
Brooke’s father Nick Brooke was previously a president of the RICS and was involved in developing Taikoo Place and Pacific Place during the 1980s, when he served as Deputy CEO of Swire Properties.
The elder Brooke, whose property consultancy, Insignia Brooke, was acquired by CBRE in 2003, is now chairman of the Hong Kong Harbourfront Commission and chairman at Chairman at Professional Property Services Group in Hong Kong.
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