Stringer heads for Avison Young exit

After 42 years with the consultancy and its predecessor firms, Birmingham office agency stalwart Ian Stringer will leave the business this week.

Stringer has spent his entire career with the firm in its various guises, including GVA, GVA Grimley, and Grimley JR Eve, becoming an equity partner in 1991 and serving on the firm’s board for more than two decades.

As regional managing director of the Midlands office until 2018, he led the UK offices team and later the UK markets division, overseeing multiple sectors including offices, retail, industrial, and capital markets.

Best known for his work in the Midlands office sector, Stringer played a key role in major developments such as Brindleyplace, Paradise, The Mailbox, and Arena Central, and also advised blue-chips on the occupier side including NatWest and RBS – including advising the banks through the financial crisis – KPMG, and PWC.

Since 2018, he has focused on asset and property management for the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, overseeing a diverse property portfolio across the region.

Posting on LinkedIn, Stringer said: “I just wanted to post a thank you to the many committed and talented colleagues past and present that I have worked with over the years, and to the clients, consultants and subsequent friends that have made a career in commercial real estate so enjoyable, much of it spent in office leasing and development in and around Birmingham.

“It was a privilege to be involved with Argent all the way through Brindleyplace from their site acquisition to completion of 1m sq ft of high quality development and public realm, and during the early years of the now highly successful Paradise, both helping to change the face and reputation of the city.”

Stringer will continue as a non-executive director at Midlands property business REI, as well as serving as a school governor.