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Government appoints £370bn property head

10/12/09 4:11 pm By Richard Heap
The government has named Ernst & Young’s John McCready head of its £370bn property portfolio.

Today, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills revealed that McCready would head up the new Property Unit within the Shareholder Executive. The unit will have government departments and local authorities maximise the value of the state’s £370bn property assets.

The estate includes central government properties, its operational estate including the National Health Service and Ministry of Defence, and the local government estate excluding social housing.

McCready will be in charge of reviewing options for the estate, as the government outlined on Monday in its efficiency white paper “Putting the frontline first: smarter government”.

It would also help local authorities dispose of the £11bn of property assets they are expected to sell as part of Gordon Brown’s £16bn asset sell off, and give the Treasury advice on managing public sector property better. The Property Unit will work closely with the Office of Government Commerce.

McCready joins from Ernst & Young, where he is senior partner in charge of housing and regeneration. He has headed up Blue Circle Industries, Whitecliff Properties, and Bluewater Park Plc. He will be a member of the Shareholder Executive Board.

McCready said: “The government said this week it wanted to be smarter with its assets, creating efficiencies and cutting waste and duplication. Nowhere is this aspiration more relevant than in the strategic management of its estates. I will use my experience in property and in business to help the Government make the best and most efficient use of its property assets.”

Stephen Lovegrove, head of the Shareholder Executive, said: “This is one of Britain’s biggest property management jobs, and we are delighted that someone of John’s experience and calibre will be joining us.”

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2 Comments »

  • Eric Hundin said:

    I found your blog on MSN Search. Nice writing. I will check back to read more.

    Eric Hundin

    # 10 December 2009 at 4:15 PM
    • Richard Heap (author) said:

      Thank you very much for your comment Eric. I am editor of publicpropertyuk.com and, as it is still early days for this website, I am sure you will see a lot of changes here over the next few months.

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      # 10 December 2009 at 4:37 PM

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