LOS ANGELES-Having established a brand separate from parent UGL, global real estate solutions firm DTZ, based here, is mounting its next big push . . . to expand its Americas footprint.

The strategy hinges on a single point of contact, and that contact comes in the form of Nick Westley, who, as GlobeSt reported exclusively, came aboard in October. Now his role is expanding from president of global corporate services to also encompass the position of chief executive, Americas. In addition, George Keches, a 20-year veteran of DTZ, has been named to the newly-created position of president, global facilities management. Both men report directly to group president Robert Shibuya.

Rounding out Westley's Americas team are Greg Schementi, EVP for US occupier services and tenant representation, and Rob Cookson, EVP for Americas global corporate services. Westley is based in L.A., while Keches' home base is Auburndale, MA. Schementi works in the Chicago office and Cookson in Palo Alto, CA.

In an exclusive interview with GlobeSt.com in New York City Thursday morning, Shibuya explained that Westley will oversee the expansion of the DTZ footprint across all major cities throughout the Americas, including Canada and Latin America, and “ensure that there's true integration among all of our lines of business.”

More than 130 professionals around the globe have been marshaled under Westley's guidance, “high-level managers,” Shibuya explains, “capable of speaking the language of the C-suite,” where the strategic fiscal responsibility for CRE resides. You can expect that number to grow infuture weeks, along with its contingent of transactional brokers.

Shibuya reveals that the firm has been tapped by Big Pharma firm Roche, “an assignment that would have been much more difficult pre-DTZ,” he says, referring to the creation of DTZ as a US-based service provider late last year. It will fall to Westley and team to put more of that sort of assignment—for multinational and smaller clients—on the board.

“We're prepared to make a big push in the Americas,” he says, “and we see tremendous upside potential for our full-service platform, including investor services, capital markets, project management and leasing.”