Ocon to expand into ‘selective development’
Rob Greaves, senior acquisition manager of student housing giant Opal Property Group, has been promoted to the new role of development director of subsidiary Ocon Construction.
Greaves joined Manchester-based Opal in 1998 and has helped the company build up a 10% share of the UK student beds market. Opal, which is 100% owned by Stuart Wall, has 20,000 rooms in 16 cities in a portfolio with a net asset value of nearly £250m.
Andrew Barker, managing director of Ocon, said: "We are extremely successful as a construction contractor and part of that success has been built on providing clients with added value and a solutions-driven approach to making projects happen. This move towards becoming a contractor with a proven development skill takes that culture to the next level, not only enhancing our routes to market and offering clients additional possibilities for working with us in new ways, but also creating our own construction work through selective property development."
Greaves will be tasked with sourcing commercial development and joint venture opportunities to sit alongside Ocon's continuing contracting work. He will work with Ocon's business development manager, Nick Williamson-Corbett.
