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Place North West | Place Capital acquires consultancy Fourth Road

Jim Roberts Dan Anderson merged

From left: Roberts, Anderson

February 1, 2021, 5:25 pm

Sarah Townsend

The real estate redevelopment specialist, founded last month by real estate veterans David Smith-Milne and Peter Martin, has taken over a consulting firm for the development of boutiques as part of its “Buy and Build” growth strategy.

Place Capital Group has bought Fourth Street Place Consultants for an undisclosed sum, it said this week. Fourth Street is a boutique consulting practice that works with local government agencies and developers on location-based development strategies to unlock regeneration projects.

Under the deal, Fourth Street will maintain its brand and management structure and continue to serve its existing customers, which include Developer Councils Delancey, Brighton and Hove, and London boroughs of Camden, Croydon, Southwark and Waltham Forest.

However, with the support and financial backing of Place Capital, the business is expected to grow and expand from its London offices, with a new footprint in the north and additional recruiting to support its expansion.

Fourth Street will also assist Place Capital with its projects and act as advisor to Place Capital’s growing portfolio of partnering contracts with councils and housing associations for the redevelopment of UK housing developments.

Run by Dan Anderson and Jim Roberts, Fourth Street was founded in 2012 after the couple left Colliers International to build their own outfit.

Place Capital was founded that year by Smith-Milne and Martin, the former founders and chairmen of Salford-based regeneration specialist Placefirst, whose regional projects included the 400-house Welsh Streets project in Toxteth and Chatsworth Gardens in Morecambe.

Through a buy-and-build model of buying a target company and making significant additional acquisitions in the same sector to build strength, Place Capital aims to improve the quality of housing across the country by working with councils and landlords to this unlock potential of neglected housing developments.

Smith-Milne, Place Capital’s CEO, said, “The acquisition made perfect sense for Place Capital as the Fourth Street team is fully aligned with our vision of bringing excellence and creativity to the revitalization of the UK’s forgotten housing developments.”

Martin, Chairman of Place Capital, added, “Under the leadership of Dan and Jim, the company has built some excellent long-term customer relationships and significant repeat contracts.

“His reputation as a world-class boutique advisory practice is based on working on some of the most complex and challenging site development projects in the UK and overseas, and unlocking really difficult projects through imaginative placement.”

Anderson, Director of Fourth Street, said, “We were immediately drawn to the Place Capital concept – both its business structure and its ambitious and transformative vision to provide much-needed, imaginative placement to housing developments across the UK.

“The deal will keep everything special and unique about Fourth Street, but with the added benefit of being part of an ambitious, challenging and task-oriented group structure that is introducing much-needed new thinking into the UK’s housing problems.”

The law firms Pannone Corporate and Gunner Cooke advised on the deal.