The Duke of Bedford has announced that Mark de Rivaz, Steward at The Bedford Estates’ London Estate, will be leaving his position, after 23 years. His retirement from full-time employment will take effect from March 2016.
Mr de Rivaz has been responsible for running all aspects of The Bedford Estates’ historic central London estate and directed an active programme of investment through major refurbishment of the Estate’s office, retail, residential and educational properties, resulting in consistently low vacancy rates and increasing rents.
Key projects have included the refurbishment and modernisation of the north side of Bedford Square (Grade 1 listed), the retail and residential regeneration of Store Street, the joint venture with Threadneedle Pensions to refurbish 60,000 sq ft of offices in The Heal’s Building on Tottenham Court Road, and the development partnership with Exemplar and Ashby Capital to develop a new flagship 115,000 sq. ft. office & retail development fronting Tottenham Court Road.
De Rivaz said, “The time for goodbyes is still a long way off. It’s business as usual and I will continue to lead my team until I step down next year. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at The Bedford Estates and experienced many challenges and triumphs through peaks and troughs. Although retiring from full time employment, I hope to be able to share my years of property and business management experience through new opportunities, to include consultancy roles and non-executive positions. I would like to thank everyone at The Bedford Estates who has supported and worked with me over the years”.
The Duke of Bedford, said, “Over the many years as the London Estate Steward, Mark has been absolutely instrumental in the successful development of the Estate and in its standing today. Mark has successfully delivered through both the good and the more difficult times. He will be sorely missed. On behalf of The Estate I wish to thank him for his unrelenting effort and enthusiasm and wish him well with whatever he decides to do next”.
Daniel Van Gelder, Co-Founder of Exemplar, said, “Mark is one of the industry’s quiet maestros; he has spearheaded the revitalisation of one of London’s great estates, and we’ve greatly enjoyed working with him on our development of 1 Bedford Avenue. A true gentleman and his presence will be missed.”
The Bedford Estates will be starting the process of recruiting a successor in the near future.
