NEW YORK CITY-Though he doesn't start until after the new year, it's already clear that Cushman & Wakefield incoming president and CEO Edward Forst will be charged with making some big changes to the firm.
Forst will need to focus largely on creating more of an international presence for Cushman, chairman Carlo Barel di Sant'Albano—who has served as acting president and CEO—tells GlobeSt.com.
“Our clients are becoming more international and capital is flowing more from East to West,” he says. “Our potential is enormous when you can get the business to really work together across the globe.”
He continues, “We've made announcements recently to clarify that we have a global strategy; we'll be working on office leasing in Europe and Latin America—that's where there's real potential.”
Sant'Albano also expects Forst to make upgrades to C&W's existing offerings, he says. “There are areas where we could do better on our service lines.” He declined to cite specifics, but noted that Forst will be charged with finding C&W's soft spots.
“He'll need to determine how we can leverage our platform to run the business better,” admits Sant' Albano. “He will spend a lot of time listening to teams internally, talking to clients and seeing where our strengths and weaknesses lie. We believe this is someone who can take this biz forward aggressively.”
In addition to Forst's impressive background, he is suited to the top post at Cushman because his view of the firm is in keeping with how the company sees itself, Sant' Albano notes. “Ed is a very accomplished professionals with operational skills, leadership qualities, he's highly regarded, has deep relationships and an absolutely global understanding. Best of all, Cushman & Wakefield had a real connection with him with respect to how he saw the brand, the platform and the potential of the firm to create a best-in-class company. If you're on the same page on those fronts, you share ambitions for the company.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
