Hammerson appoints first-ever COO

British shopping centre operator Hammerson has appointed Grégoire Peureux as its first-ever chief operating officer (COO).

Peureux will join the group executive committee and will concentrate on the performance of strategic initiatives at a group level.

With more than 17 years of real estate industry experience, Peureux joins this role from Rove Capital Partners, a real estate investment advisory firm, where he was a founding partner.

Previously, he has worked at Ivanhoe Cambridge for over 13 years as Europe’s chief financial officer and subsequently acting as head of Europe.

Rita-Rose Gagné, chief executive of Hammerson, said in a statement: “Grégoire’s extensive experience and new perspective will ensure we become more agile and are in the best possible position to respond to this period of extraordinary change and disruption.”

Peureux added: “I am really looking forward to being part of the Hammerson team, getting under the skin of the business and the assets and identifying and leveraging the opportunities we have with the future make-up of the portfolio and the breadth of Hammerson’s proposition.”