Platt returns north for LSH role

Richard Platt has been appointed head of public sector at Lambert Smith Hampton in the north.

He was previously head of corporate property at Westminster City Council, where he was responsible for the management of the council's 600 corporately occupied and investment assets.

Based in LSH's Manchester office, Platt will lead the firm's public sector activity, utilising his expertise in property rationalisation and strategy.

He will also work with the wider LSH public sector team in delivering national contracts.

He has previously been involved with the property sector in the North West, having worked with Byrom Clark Roberts in the early 1990s.

He said: "It is wonderful to be involved in the Manchester property world once again, following almost nine years of commuting to London! LSH is an extremely well respected firm, and I am looking forward to getting to know its portfolio of clients and expanding its offering across the north."

Abid Jaffry, head of the Manchester office at LSH, said: "We work with over 250 public sector organisations, from central government to local authorities, emergency services, education and healthcare sector organisations.

"Richard's appointment will further strengthen our national service offering and his recent client side experience helps us to ensure that our service delivery aligns completely with client's needs.

"This will enable us to build upon a pipeline of work that has grown considerably in the last couple of years with key strategic appointments from clients such as Homes and Communities Agency, Transport for Greater Manchester, Lancaster City Council and Nuclear Decommissioning Agency."

The appointment follows LSH becoming a named supplier to the new Government Procurement Service Estates Professional Services framework.

A full range of property related services can be procured through the framework and is expected to deliver circa £25m savings to the public sector during its four year term.