Our Team

Josh Leigh

Founding Director

BSc (Hons) MRICS

Registered Valuer

About Josh

Josh Leigh is the Founding Director of The Keel Group, which he established in 2023. He leads the firm and sets its strategic direction, overseeing its professional work and standards.

Josh began his property career in 2006 and has extensive experience across private practice, corporate advisory and private family office environments. He has advised nationally across a broad range of asset classes within the commercial and mixed-use sectors.

Josh advises privately held property companies, family offices and structured wealth platforms on complex UK property portfolios and strategic matters. Acting for established private investment vehicles and fiduciary structures, he leads portfolio management and asset repositioning for private real estate investors across predominantly commercial holdings, delivering disciplined, commercially focused execution.

Previous Positions

Prior to founding The Keel Group, Josh served as Lead – Commercial Assets and Group Surveyor for the Englander Federation, a privately owned multi-family office. In this role, he worked across a nationwide commercial and mixed-use portfolio comprising retail, retail park, industrial and office assets, with secondary responsibility for associated residential elements. His responsibilities combined strategic involvement in portfolio management and capital allocation with day-to-day client-side oversight across asset management, landlord and tenant matters, development initiatives and transaction processes.

Earlier in his career, Josh was Associate Director within the Valuation department at Lambert Smith Hampton. He undertook loan security and development valuations across commercial and residential sectors, acting for major and secondary lenders on instructions including single assets up to £100 million. He also acted as principal valuer on behalf of HS2 as part of its discretionary scheme. Josh has held positions within other general practice firms, acting across a range of professional matters and developing a reputation for disciplined analysis and commercially focused outcomes.

He is an APC mentor and mentors students through the University of Westminster.

As The Keel Group has grown, Josh has established a senior team working closely together across a range of disciplines to support clients with both day to day matters and complex property and portfolio requirements.

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David Cohen MRICS

Associate Director

About David

David is a Chartered Surveyor with 15 years commercial real estate experience across the UK, specialising in investment strategy and hands-on asset management

He previously held a Director role at Ellandi, having begun his career at Avison Young, and has also worked independently advising clients on income optimisation, portfolio strategy and disciplined capital deployment.

David has been involved in transactions and asset management mandates exceeding £2 billion across retail, industrial, office and alternative property, including operationally intensive assets.

His background combines institutional investment advisory experience with private equity-backed operational real estate. He has underwritten acquisitions, structured value-add business plans and worked closely with sponsors and lenders to enhance income, manage risk and improve capital outcomes.

David brings financial rigour, commercial judgement and a disciplined approach to protecting capital and enhancing long-term value.

Notable Projects

Prior to joining Keel, David was involved in the onboarding and asset management of Midsummer Place in Milton Keynes, supporting its operational performance, as well as the disposal of Griffin Industrial Estate in Feltham and the acquisition of a high street development opportunity in North London.

Since joining Keel, he has led asset management strategy across retail and industrial holdings, including income optimisation initiatives on a high street parade in Watford, strategic direction for an industrial estate in Bury and landlord and tenant matters across multi-let assets nationwide.

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Mark Hoffman FRICS

Registered Valuer

Senior Associate

Investment and Disposal

About Mark

Mark is an investment specialist with over 25 years’ experience advising on the acquisition and disposal of commercial property across the UK. He has acted for pension funds, insurance companies, private and public property companies, and high-net-worth individuals.

Previous Positions

He has held senior roles at The Prideview Group and previously founded Hoffman Partners Investment Agency and Welbeck Asset Management alongside his father, Peter Hoffman. Between 2005 and 2017, these businesses operated a strategic alliance with Keller Williams, advising on commercial investment opportunities in the UK and North America. Earlier in his career, Mark worked in private practice at Jones Lang LaSalle, CWM and Kenneth Peters.

Mark is also the founder and owner of APC Training Ltd, established over 20 years ago. He acts as an APC Mentor for the Central London region on behalf of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and has guided more than 1,000 candidates successfully through the APC process, working with corporate, national and private clients.

Notable Transactions

Mark advises our clients on a wide range of commercial and mixed-use acquisitions and disposals of investment property across the UK, including assets in Euston, Maida Vale, Watford, Sutton and Rayleigh.

Notable transactions include the acquisition of the Post Office site on New Oxford Street for £110 million, the purchase and subsequent sale of an office building on Eastbourne Terrace, Paddington (£54 million acquisition; £75 million disposal), and advising a pension fund on the acquisition of three student accommodation assets in Birmingham, Dundee and Edinburgh for £50 million.

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Simon Hamilton

BSc (Hons) MRICS

Senior Associate

Planning & Development

About Simon

Simon is a planning and development specialist with over 20 years’ experience advising on residential, mixed-use and hospitality schemes across the UK. He began his career in finance at Deloitte before qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in Planning & Development.

Simon has held senior roles at BNP Paribas Real Estate and Development Securities Plc and at Keel, Simon advises clients on planning strategy, development viability, implementation and project delivery. He has secured 23 planning consents to date, maintaining a 100% success rate at planning stage, and has been involved in schemes with a combined gross development value in excess of £100 million, comprising over 450 residential units.

His experience spans the full development lifecycle, from early-stage strategy and site optimisation through to delivery and exit.

Notable Transactions

Notable projects include a 163-unit residential scheme in Aylesbury, a hotel development in Bloomsbury, residential-led schemes in Witchford and Hendon, and planning and asset management work in Trowbridge.

Simon has advised our clients on a range of planning and development projects, including a 50-unit residential-led scheme near Heathrow with associated value-add initiatives, the conversion of office to residential accommodation in Hounslow, and the repurposing of a 60,000 sq ft commercial asset to alternative uses in Manchester.

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Avi Smith FCA

Fractional Chief Financial Officer

About Avi

Avi is responsible for the firm’s finance function, including financial strategy, reporting and financial control. He brings deep expertise in financial planning, analysis and financial modelling, drawing on experience advising private equity backed and owner managed businesses.

He supports disciplined, commercially focused decision making across the business to support strategic management. With a strong commercial focus, Avi translates complex financial data into clear actionable insight and is able to assist our clients, with strategic portfolio financial reporting, investment appraisal and modelling to inform investment and capital decisions.