CEO Monthly Issue 8 2018

6 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 8 2018 , Established in 2008, CavendishMaxwell is a highly-regarded independent firmof surveyors and property consultants, working across theMiddle East and Africa. In June, Cavendish Maxwell’s Chief Executive Officer, Nigel Armstrong, was named as the UAE’s Real Estate CEO of the Year, in CEOMonthlyMagazine’s esteemed 2018 CEO of the Year Awards programme. On the back of this well-deserved achievement, we profiled Nigel to see howhe has built the exceptional career he celebrates today. Profiling an Award-Winning Real Estate CEO Nigel Armstrong, who is well known in the UK for being a CEO with a rich history of operating and scaling businesses, talks about his latest undertaking at Cavendish Maxwell where his prowess has led him to be selected UAE’s Real Estate CEO of the year 2018. The firebrand Chief Executive of Cavendish Maxwell tells us why his firm is one of the most respected and reliable real estate consultancies in the GCC. We also delve into his experience before he took the reins of this young and dynamic consultancy, which has since helped him take the brand and the company above and beyond its projected growth. Nigel has always been a proactive leader with a passion for developing and executing business plans. Starting his career with reasonable qualifications, he was eager to venture straight into the workplace and approached Pannell Kerr Forster, where he subsequently spent four years gaining hands-on experience in all disciplines of accounting. Simultaneously he also studied part-time to obtain professional qualifications in accounting, economics and business studies. After vital years spent in practice, working as a management accountant in the manufacturing industry and subsequently being headhunted to run a national transport and distribution company, aged 26, his experience gave him the platform to be engaged for the formation of Bannatyne Fitness Ltd, where he later became the group’s CEO. Nigel gained vast experience with the group, through his fundamental role in growing the number of health clubs under him from scratch to a portfolio reaching 37 clubs nationwide, additionally 14 children’s day nurseries under the Just Learning brand, (which was later disposed off to Alchemy in 2001), in a very short period, which led him to become a prominent name in the health and leisure sector. Following months of due diligence, in 2006 he was instrumental in spearheading the acquisition of 24 health clubs from Livingwell, owned by Hilton International. As Managing Director during that time, Nigel carried out all negotiations for the deal. In his own words, “Being involved in the refinancing of the whole company to raise an additional circa £100 million for the acquisition was an immense experience to be so centrally involved with.” This acquisition brought the total number of health clubs under him to 61, with over 30 additional day spas, reaching a membership base of 180,000. In addition to demonstrating confidence in the UK health sector, this deal was designed to give the chain stronger geographical presence in the UK, the group also boasting several hotels within the portfolio, both built and/or acquired during his tenure. In 2014, as Chief Executive for the same group, Nigel’s career encountered another defining moment, when he led the sale and lease back of the ground leases of 39 health clubs with M&G Investments, one of the world’s leading investment management businesses. This