Smith launches development viability advisory at Black Cat

Joining from Aspinall Verdi, where he was head of the Manchester office, Tom Smith has been appointed to lead the service line at the multidisciplinary building consultancy.

Black Cat Building Consultancy founder Ben Golby welcomed Smith to the company’s team of more than 80 property experts.

“We’ve built our reputation on providing practical, delivery-focused advice, and the addition of development advisory is a natural progression for the business,” Golby said.

“Tom has a strong track record of working on complex regeneration projects and understanding what it takes to move schemes forward, and his experience adds a new dimension to the support we can offer our clients.”

In addition to his time at Aspinall Verdi, Smith’s CV includes roles at Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation and CBRE. He has experience in aiding both the public and private sectors in unlocking stalled projects and delivering on challenging sites.

Smith is already hard at work at Black Cat, assisting Amstone Ventures on its £150m No1 Knightsbridge project,  set to deliver 588 apartments off Warren Street in Stockport.

Regarding his appointment, Smith said: “Black Cat is an incredibly exciting and unique outfit which has built a very strong reputation in building consultancy. My focus will be on providing clear, commercially robust viability advice at the point where it has the most impact, helping clients navigate complexity and bring forward deliverable schemes.”

In addition to its new development advisory business, Black Cat provides services in project management, building consultancy, ESG and sustainability, fire consultancy, cost consultancy, and asset management. The Manchester-headquartered company was founded in 2015 and has offices in Liverpool, Birmingham, Belfast, Southampton, London, Bristol, and Dublin.