Client Overview

Our client is a global real estate services firm providing commercial property advice to occupiers, investors, and developers. With offices across multiple continents, they deliver integrated real estate solutions across diverse sectors including office, retail, industrial, and mixed-use developments.

The Challenge

Following a strategic review, our client identified the need to establish a dedicated consulting division to enhance their advisory capabilities beyond traditional property services. They required an experienced Head of Consulting to build and lead this new practice, developing innovative service lines and driving business growth in increasingly competitive markets.

Our Approach

We developed a targeted search strategy focusing on strategic consulting leaders with property sector experience and the entrepreneurial mindset to establish a new business function.

Leadership

Project led by Tom Brooks, Director at Hintel, leveraging his extensive networks within real estate advisory and management consulting sectors to identify candidates with the ideal blend of strategic vision and property market understanding.

Methodology

Talent Mapping

We conducted comprehensive mapping of consulting leaders across property advisory firms, strategy consultancies, and corporate real estate functions, identifying individuals with experience building advisory practices from the ground up.

Executive Search Framework

Our multi-stage assessment process evaluated candidates against key competencies including practice development, team leadership, and commercial acumen, with particular focus on their ability to translate consulting concepts into tangible real estate solutions.

Bespoke Candidate Pack

We created detailed information materials showcasing the strategic importance of the role in transforming the client's service offering, highlighting both the commercial opportunity and the professional challenge of establishing a new consulting practice.

Results

• Delivered shortlist of six exceptional candidates within five weeks
• 85% shortlist-to-interview conversion rate
• Successfully appointed candidate with background spanning property advisory and Big Four consulting
• New Head of Consulting secured £1.2m in new business within first six months
• Successfully built team of eight consultants within first year

Client Testimonial

"The Hintel team truly understood our ambition to evolve our service offering. Tom's approach identified candidates we simply wouldn't have reached through our networks. Our new Head of Consulting has transformed our advisory capabilities, bringing fresh thinking and commercial focus that has resonated strongly with clients. The speed at which the new consulting practice has established itself has exceeded our expectations." — Managing Director

Key Success Factors

Success stemmed from our deep understanding of the evolving property advisory landscape and the specific skills required to build consulting capabilities within a traditional real estate environment. Our candidate assessment went beyond technical expertise to identify individuals with the entrepreneurial drive to establish new service lines and the credibility to win work in competitive markets.