City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week?
City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email [email protected] to be featured.
InMotion
InMotion Ventures, the venture capital arm of Jaguar Land Rover, has appointed a managing director as part of the firm’s latest innovation strategy.
Mike Smeed, who will oversee investment in mobility start-ups, joins from Chery Jaguar Land Rover, a Shanghai-based joint venture between Jaguar Land Rover and Chinese car manufacturer Chery Automobile Co., where he was the vice president of finance.
His appointment follows that of Sam Nasrolahi as principal.
“Under Mike’s leadership the corporate venture capital team will identify and invest in start-ups working in the territories of electrification, talent, connectivity, digital services, intelligent enterprise, sustainability and metaverse that will be critical in creating new value chains for the business,” director of new services, software and open innovation, Igor Murakami, said.
Chestertons
London estate agency Chestertons has hired a real estate veteran to head its research team.
Sebastian Verity, previously a senior member of both Savills’ and Knight Frank’s research teams, brings some 20 years of experience to the firm.
The incoming lead, who first launched his career at Foxtons, joins from Knight Frank after five years.
“Now more than ever, landlords and homeowners need their agents to provide them with good advice and information on which they can base their decisions,” Chestertons’ managing director Richard Davies said. “Sebastian is a master of using this sort of data and our staff and clients will see the benefits of this appointment very quickly.”
Balderton Capital
London-headquartered venture capital firm Balderton Capital has poached its new executive in residence (EIR) from Booking.com.
David Vismans, who previously spent over nine years as chief product officer at Booking.com, is set to provide product-focused support for Balderton’s portfolio companies.
Vismans appointment follows that of Andrew Wigfall and Dave Kellogg as legal and marketing focused EIRs respectively, as Balderton continues to build out its advisory team.
“I am very excited to join Balderton as EIR and work with its portfolio of innovative companies and founders, strengthen the product and technology ecosystem in Europe and contribute to making this continent the best place to build and scale a successful technology business,” said Vismans.