Development Securities chief exec Michael Marx steps down
Development Securities chief executive Michael Marx will be stepping down after 21 years, the company said yesterday, consoling shareholders with a £10m special dividend.
The FTSE 250 property developer said that Marx, 65, will retire from the board at the annual general meeting in July. However, he will remain on the board as a non-executive director until February next year.
During his time at the helm, Marx shifted the company’s focus from central London offices to larger mixed-use developments, becoming one of the UK’s leading regeneration specialists.
These include the huge 1.2m square feet Paddington Central office-led scheme, now majority owned by British Land.
He will be succeeded by investment director Matthew Weiner, who has been on the board since 2004.
Richard Upton, the founder of Cathedral Group which was acquired by Development Securities last year, will become deputy chief executive.
The management reshuffle came as Development Securities posted an upbeat trading update for the four months from 22 October, confirming it was on track to hit full-year forecasts.
The company sold the Telegraph Works, a 272-home scheme in Greenwich, and 399 Edgware Road in the period, which together will generate £35m in cash. It also announced it has sold the phase of homes at its mixed-use regeneration scheme next to Abbey Wood Crossrail station “ahead of our appraisal values”. Thanks to a “strong flow of cash profits”, it has decided to award a special dividend of 8p per share on top of the final dividend.