Strategic property consultancy Rapleys has acquired a team of six retail agency and investment experts from Avison Young as it accelerates its strategic growth plan.
Dan Kent, who was formerly Principal & Managing Director of UK Retail at Avison Young, joins Rapleys as Head of Retail and an Equity Partner, with his whole team also moving across to further strengthen the Partnership’s retail capabilities.
Dan is joined by Partners Scott Mitchell and Rob Fraser, Senior Surveyor Ella Traynor and Surveyor Rian Dunne, with a further team member (to be appointed as an Associate Partner) arriving in the near future. All will be based in the London office. The team has extensive experience and a long-term track record in out of town, high street and shopping centre retail and leisure, retail investment as well as foodstores, where Rapleys is also a market leader. The team advise a number of large retail occupiers including Sainsbury, Argos, Boots, Boots Hearingcare, Sue Ryder and BFT (Body Fit Training). The team also advise major institutions, investors, developers and high net worth clients including London Metric, Abrdn, AXA , KFIM, Quadrant Estates, Manchester Airport Group, University of Sheffield , Kilo Properties, Alterity Investments, Augur Group and NGM Inv.
The move comes following the launch of a new Cardiff office in January 2025 and three further senior hires in Chris Cook (Partner in Building Consultancy/Education), Dan Jones (Partner in Project Management and Head of Cardiff office), and Natalie Jordan as Company Secretary (and member of the Ops Board).
In the last two years, Rapleys has acquired five other businesses – CSJ (Planning), Aston Rose (Commercial), Mellersh & Harding (Commercial – office agency), Blue Brick Consultancy (Building Consultancy) and s106 Affordable Housing (Residential). It has also launched several new services including Rapleys Living (a brand aimed at living sector development and agency), Utilities Consulting (advising housebuilders on their utilities and connectivity strategy), and brought in new expertise in Public Sector, Policy, Data Centres and Renewables amongst others.
Robert Clarke, Senior Partner at Rapleys, says: “Commercial is one of our core Divisions, and we have been looking at ways to grow this part of the business, having already brought in Aston Rose and Mellersh & Harding. We are therefore delighted to bring in both an experienced and strategic Retail Head who is well known to the market to work with the existing senior teams in Commercial, and a retail agency and investment team that will strengthen our retail services to clients, adding to our existing status as market leaders in foodstores. We know that the team are looking forward to working with us and share our values and collaborative culture as it’s always important to get the right fit in order to continue to grow sustainably and make the most of such opportunities for the benefit of the business as a whole. We have strong ambitions, and we will continue grow strategically across all of our divisions via both acquisition and recruitment to provide clients with the best action-oriented and unique advice in both the traditional and alternative property sectors.”
Dan Kent says: “Rapleys is one of the market leaders in the foodstore and roadside retail market with an impressive stable of existing clients and it has been looking to leverage its full-service expertise more fully across the wider retail sector. We are all delighted to bring a team of retail agency and investment experts to the business, and we are excited about the opportunity to grow Rapleys market share in the retail sector with our combined experience, knowledge and capability. For me personally, I am also looking forward to taking on a new strategic role as Head of Retail where, like the wider business, we have further exciting and ambitious growth plans.”
Rapleys has been on a strategic growth drive since relaunching the business in late 2022 with a refreshed brand and commitment to invest in people and infrastructure. In the last 18 months, Rapleys has invested in new prime premises in London (Golden Square), Cambridge (Station Road) and Birmingham (Colmore Row) in addition to launching its Cardiff office.