Assura hires chief investment officer
Steven Noble will move into the newly created role to help drive the healthcare property investor and developer’s short- and long-term growth.
Noble has more than two decades of experience in the world of finance and investment, having worked at Lloyds, AMP, and KPMG in the past. His most recent past was chief investment officer at Atrato Group, where he negotiated on more than £2bn of property transactions as an adviser to Supermarket Income REIT.
As chief investment officer at Assura, Noble will be based at the developer’s Altrincham headquarters. He will be charged with delivering on the company’s ambitious growth strategy – a strategy that saw it acquire Northwest Healthcare Properties’ entire UK private portfolio for £500m earlier this summer.
Jonathan Murphy, chief executive of Assura, spoke about the firm’s future prospects.
“The UK healthcare crisis continues to worsen with an immense need for improved access to healthcare services across the country,” Murphy said. “These factors are driving demand for infrastructure across an increasingly diverse range of healthcare markets, to which Assura is best placed to respond owning to our market position, sector expertise and capabilities and our strong corporate culture.”
Regarding Noble’s hire, Murphy added: “Steven’s skills and expertise will complement those already within the executive committee to deliver against this demand and our long-term growth strategy.”
For his part, Noble said Assura was already “strategically positioned to capture the significant growth opportunities across broader healthcare markets”.
“The business’ recent acquisition of 14 private hospitals and its JV with USS are a clear indication of the group’s ambition and I am incredibly excited to be part of Assura’s next stage of growth,” he continued.
“I look forward to working as part of an exceptionally skilled and experienced team at the UK’s leading listed healthcare property investor.”
Assura has a £2.7bn portfolio of more than 600 healthcare sites with a capacity for six million patients. Assura has 75 employees.
Earlier this year, Assura announced it had formed a £250m joint venture with Universities Superannuation Scheme. The JV wants to grow its portfolio to £400m.
Recent Northern projects for Assura include the £32m Northumbria Health and Care Academy in Cramlington, which includes a training centre and community care services.
