Leisure and Retail Property Investment expert James Welch has joined Stockford Anderson.

The specialist retail warehouse and leisure property advisory firm has appointed James within its Investment team. Based in the firm’s London office, James will be working alongside Matthew Stockford, Tom Watson and Jack Lavin.

With over 35 years’ experience in real estate, James started his career at Jones Lang Wootton (JLL), setting up the leisure business there, before co-founding ASW/Cortex Partners. James has spent the last four years as a Partner at Gerald Eve.

James says: “I’m very excited to be going back to my roots, working in a small, focussed agency practice alongside a great team of out-of-town retail and leisure specialists who cover investment, agency and lease advisory. I’ve known some of the team for many years and look forward to a successful working partnership.”

James works with a variety of clients from institutional investors to family offices. His leisure deals have included the acquisition and the sale of Fiveways in Birmingham for Blue Coast Capital, the sale of Star City Birmingham and acquisition of Brighton Marina for X Leisure, and DTZ Investors’ purchase of Printworks in Manchester.

Matthew Stockford, Co-Founder of Stockford Anderson, says: “Having met James in my Jones Lang Wootton days, it’s great to be working with him again and to add his leisure and retail warehouse knowledge to our team of experts.”

James joins as Stockford Anderson starts a new chapter moving to a new, larger office in London. The London team will now be based at 50 Grosvenor Hill, W1.