6 July 2011
Alan
Somerville has joined Capita Symonds’ real estate
division as Energy Director for Scotland & Northern
England.
Alan’s remit will be to develop the energy business throughout
Scotland and Northern England with particular focus on renewable
energy; environmental and carbon strategy; and natural
resources.
He joins the company from Scottish Resources Group (SRG) - the
largest open cast coal mining company in the UK - where he was
Managing Director of Estates & Renewables. SCG has a historic
land ownership of 25,000 acres and controls a further 10,000 acres
of operational land. Alan managed the portfolio which consists of
development land (residential, commercial and industrial sites);
operational land (open cast mines, rail terminals and distribution
points); agricultural land; forestry; leased commercial and
residential buildings; leisure / tourism projects and wind energy /
biomass projects.
During his time with SRG, Alan was an integral part of the
company’s turnaround, helping to increase revenue by 59%, the
workforce by 50%, and shifting operating profit from a loss of
£6.2m to a profit of £33.1m. He created two new divisions - SRG
Estates & SRG Renewables – which had a combined external
valuation of £100m at the time of IPO in 2010.
Alan also had group responsibility for SRG’s media and public
affairs, including the introduction of a defined set of corporate
environmental principles, as well as leading lead the company’s
response to the growing issue of environmental activism.
His other experience includes:
- London real estate consulting and brokerage where he worked on
a number of high profile projects, such as Canary Wharf and Brent
Cross Shopping Centre, for a cross section of blue chip clients
including Hammerson, Harvey Nicols, Lloyds TSB and Royal
London.
- Managing the £1bn development portfolio for Grosvenor, the
private property company of the Duke of Westminster, in the
Scottish and Irish Republic markets. While at Grosvenor, Alan
worked on a number of joint venture projects with partners such as
RBS, Miller, Hermes and the University of Edinburgh including
shopping centres (Liffey Valley, Dublin and Princes Square,
Glasgow); out of town offices (South Gyle Park, Edinburgh); leisure
(Fife Leisure Park, Dunfermline); residential (Springside,
Edinburgh); and science parks (Edinburgh Technopole). He also spent
time on projects across the Eurozone and South East Asia to
facilitate the sharing of best practice across the company.
Alan says: “I’m delighted to have joined Capita Symonds at a
time when they have committed to developing their energy business
throughout the UK. Energy and climate change are two of the
critical challenges facing our country in the short, medium and
long term and Capita Symonds is well placed to deliver solutions to
both the public and private sectors across the energy and carbon
markets.”
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