Henry Boot secures British Land's Tim Roberts as its next CEO

Property investment and development company Henry Boot announced the board appointment of Tim Roberts as its new chief executive officer on Wednesday, with effect from 1 January.

The London-listed firm said its current chief executive officer John Sutcliffe would continue to lead the company and drive growth initiatives and operating plans until the end of 2019.

He would then remain in an advisory position until the conclusion of the annual general meeting on 21 May 2020, at which point he would retire and step down from the board.

It said Roberts had spent 15 years running British Land's office team, as well as developing the strategy for its London office business, moving its focus towards more mixed-use campuses and retaining and attracting target customers.

He had been responsible for overseeing large scale developments, transactions and lettings such as the joint venture development and the eventual sale of both the Leadenhall Building and 5 Broadgate, as well as major lettings to customers including Facebook, UBS and Dentsu Aegis.

Roberts also led major transactions such as the purchase of Paddington Campus, and the “super prime” Clarges development site, which was said to be highly profitable and described as “fundamental” in expanding British Land's London residential business.

As a FTSE 100 board director for the last 13 years, Henry Boot said Roberts had “significant” listed company, governance and organisational experience, and managed key relationships with a variety of strategic stakeholders.

“The board has conducted a rigorous selection process, with an external recruitment partner, during which both internal and external candidates were assessed for the role,” said chairman Jamie Boot.

“We are delighted that this has resulted in the appointment of Tim, who stood out from our list of strong candidates due to his track record of success in property investment and development and his delivery of long-term value creation.”