Commercial property firm and operator of Sci-Tech Daresbury, Langtree, has unveiled the newest member of its board. Tony McDonough reports

Commercial property firm Langtree has appointed Josh Downes to its board.

Josh, who is the son of majority shareholder and chief executive John Downes, has worked as a senior development manager for the Warrington business for almost four years.

Langtree now has almost 3m sq ft property under ownership or management with an 89% average occupancy. It is the operator of Sci-Tech Daresbury, the Liverpool city region science and innovation campus.

In January LBN revealed Langtree had posted a sharp fall in pre-tax profits to £251,000 against £5.26m last year. However, this was mainly down to a fall in property values rather than a trading loss.

Josh studied law at the University of Liverpool before securing his Master’s in real estate at Reading. He joined JLL in Manchester from there in 2016 and qualified as a chartered surveyor in 2018, before joining Langtree in 2020.

“I’m delighted for Josh, who has demonstrated his ability and commitment on a range of key projects, such as Parkside, Hollinwood Junction and Sci-Tech Daresbury,” said Langtree chairman Tim Johnston.

“Our model of development partnerships with key public authorities is in greater demand than ever as the country seeks to utilise its brownfield sites whilst bringing its stock of industrial and commercial buildings up to standard.”

Forthcoming projects for Langtree include:

• A planning application for a 1.6m square foot second phase of the giant Parkside logistics and advanced manufacturing development in St Helens – a key component of the new Liverpool Freeport.
• A further phase of the campus at Sci-Tech Daresbury in Halton, with tenders out to build a speculative 40,000 square foot laboratory and 20,000 square foot office building.
• Development of 190,000 square feet of industrial units at Hollinwood Junction in Oldham and a new store for Lidl, announced last week.
• Refurbishment and redevelopment of the 80,000 square foot St James Business Centre in Warrington into the new Warrington Digital Hub.

Josh Downes added: “We have a demanding programme to drive through and real ambition to deliver on the regeneration and job creation that comes with it for our partners.  I’m looking forward to welcoming new members to the team.”