Ross Campbell, Head of Asset Management & UK Investment and Transactions

Ross 20+ years’ experience in the retail & leisure property sector and is responsible for the asset management of various large retail and leisure assets, he oversees the asset management team and is Head of UK Investment and Transactions.

He has extensive experience in retail & leisure leasing, investment, and excellent retailer & leisure contacts.

Ross currently is the asset manager for Clyde Shopping Centre, the 750,000 sq. ft scheme is a sub-regional centre for West Glasgow and has seen an increase in tenants during the last 3 years bucking the national trend. In Clyde we have been successful in securing funding for the first disabled changing host in the area and are working up a further leisure extension.

He is also Asset Manager on The Meadow shopping centre in Chelmsford, where the client is looking to develop a new leisure and retail scheme.

Leasing highlights include working on the repositioning of The Street at Westfield Stratford after the Olympics. Advising on over a million sq. ft of retail warehousing, Fort Birmingham, Monk Cross York, Lakeside Retail Park and advising Uniqlo on their entrance to the UK.

So far during his career he has advised on over £2.7b of shopping centre purchases or disposals including the disposal of Grand Central Shopping Centre in Birmingham, achieving a record 3.75% yield and £345m c. £100m above the client’s valuation.

Ross is married with two kids and spends his weekends trying to keep fit and tire out his dog.

Andy Conway, Asset Manager

Andy has 10 years experience in the retail property sector and is responsible for the asset management of 5 Shopping Centres across the UK.

Andy is currently responsible for all the asset management at Thamesgate Shopping Centre located in central Gravesend. Whilst managing all lease events and vacant properties he is also working with architects to establish the feasibility of a residential development within the ownership of the shopping centre.

He works closely with Torbay Council following their recent purchase of the Fleet Walk retail scheme in Torquay town centre. He is the asset manager on the 128,908 sqft scheme where Estama has recently secured vacant possession from a number of tenants to undertake a key letting to Vodka Revolution expanding the leisure offering. He is therefore well versed in the reporting procedures required from Torbay Council.

In the last 5 years he has been involved with the purchase and sale of 5 retail assets and in excess of 15 industrial and office assets. He has also been involved in the development of a 110,000sqft retail park in Basingstoke called St Michaels Retail Park and the development of Apex Park Industrial Estate in Leighton Buzzard containing 13 industrial warehouse units.

Andy started his career in a property management role and therefore has experience in both property and asset management. Whilst Andy now solely focuses on asset management at Estama he has an excellent understanding of the management role and understands the importance of cohesion between the property and asset management teams.

Leasing highlights include his involvement in lettings at the new retail development in Basingstoke mentioned above. Andy did deals with the likes of Smyths Toys, Tapi Carpets, Currys and Food Warehouse whilst also creating an F&B/Leisure offer by securing deals with Nando’s, Costa Coffee, Greggs and The Gym Group. Two years into the development he was involved with the relocation of Tapi carpets within the park to facilitate the amalgamation of two retail warehouse units, this enabled DSG to occupy a flagship 20,000 sqft unit. Once fully occupied he was involved with the sale of the investment to Glasgow City Council.

In addition Andy was involved with the development of Apex Park in Leighton Buzzard and successfully let all 13 units within 10 months from completion of the build. This asset was then sold achieving a yield of 3.25%.

Prior to Estama Andy was a Senior Surveyor at The William Pears Group.

James Taylor Senior Asset Manager

James is responsible for the asset management of several shopping centres across the UK. Prior to joining Estama, he has spent 10+ years working for and with numerous public sector bodies, including the NHS and Network Rail. Across all his portfolios he has attracted major retailers to the public estate for the first time, helping them navigate governance and compliance requirements whilst maximising returns for the public purse.

When the government bought the UK train estate back in house following Covid-19, he worked directly with Department for Transport contract managers to deliver £4.5m pa commercial income under a stringent Opex budget on the Greater Anglia train network.

At Network Rail he was responsible for lettings at major London and national train station, within a retail team managing an overall rent roll in excess of £200m pa. He was part of the team that developed and let 82 retail units at London Bridge station during its transformational £1bn redevelopment. Here he worked closely with the council on a first of its kind Affordable Retail scheme to ensure a place for local retailers within the regenerated station.Prior to this, he was part of a team that developed and implemented an estate-wide masterplan for the Royal Free NHS trust at a time of significant cost pressure, crystallising around £50m of asset value from land sales and commercial arrangements.

Sandy Nimmo, Investment Analyst & Junior Asset Manager

Sandy is a Chartered Surveyor and has worked within the retail property sector for over 5 years, previously at Intu Properties and Savills and has been with Estama since December 2021.

At Estama he supports the Asset Management team in the production of annual business plans and reporting on asset performance, the preparation of compliance updates relating to agreed loan covenants and the analysis of tenant sales data and calculation of turnover rents.

In addition, his skills are employed in ad-hoc analytical tasks. For example, the review and analysis of income streams for portfolio valuations and scenario testing for asset disposals.

He worked within the Development team at Intu and provided ongoing analysis of large-scale development projects, including a proposed leisure redevelopment at The Broadmarsh Centre in Nottingham and feasibility studies for a leisure extension at Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the West Midlands. These involved building and maintaining financial appraisals, managing cost budgets and reporting on progress both internally and to external development partners.

He broadened his experience at Savills combining his surveying and analytical proficiencies in the co-ordination of the collection of tenant arrears, taking into account any waivers or deferments agreed by the Client. He also carried out a full lease audit to ensure the data within the property management system is accurate.