McLaughlin goes it alone

Housing grandee Deborah McLaughlin has departed GL Hearn to become an independent consultant.

McLaughlin joined Capita subsidiary GL Hearn as head of its Manchester office in September 2016. She then stepped up to be managing director of Capita’s real estate projects business, and after a Capita restructure last year, became managing director of GL Hearn.

Speaking to Place North West, McLaughlin said she would be establishing her own consultancy and “working with clients I’ve known for a long time”.

“The role with GL Hearn saw me spending most of my time in London, and I’m really a North West creature, so I’m looking forward to spending more time in the region where there’s so much going on, at a time when it is obviously flourishing.”

McLaughlin is a well-known face in the North West housing sector, as former regional director of the Homes & Communities Agency, now Homes England, and chief executive of Manchester Place.

Recently there have been a number of changes for the Capita/GL Hearn business. Last year saw Capita Real Estate & Infrastructure consolidate four divisions into two, and rebadged as GL Hearn and Capita Infrastructure.

As part of the restructure, Capita and GL Hearn offices across Manchester are seeing their own consolidation; last week, GL Hearn staff moved out of Vantage Point in Spinningfields, into The Observatory, where the Capita Real Estate division has been based for a number of years. Longer term, Capita is set to expand its footprint within Churchgate & Lee House on Oxford Road to create a Manchester hub. The Observatory would then be vacated.

A statement from Capita said: “We can confirm Deborah is leaving GL Hearn to pursue opportunities outside the business. We thank her for her hard work since joining Capita in 2016, and wish her well for the future. Dave Spencer, managing director of Capita’s Real Estate & Infrastructure business, will lead GL Hearn in the interim while a restructure is completed.”