WITH Savills Singapore managing director Michael Ng headed for Singapore Land (SingLand) and its parent United Industrial Corporation (UIC) on Oct 1, his current job at Savills will be assumed by the property consultancy group's Southeast Asia CEO, Chris Marriott.

Business as usual: 'I'm confident there will be no disruption to our existing business,' says Mr Marriott (left), who will assume Mr Ng's (right) job

Two directors at the Singapore office have also been promoted to executive director from Sept 1 - Steven Ming, who heads investment and prestige homes, and Phylicia Ang, who is head of residential sales.

They will join Jessie Yeo, head of valuation, and research and consultancy, who is already an executive director. 'The four of us will together form the senior leadership team at Savills Singapore,' Mr Marriott said in a recent telephone interview with BT.

'I've inherited a strong team and I have worked with all these people for a number of years. I'm confident there will be no disruption to our existing business,' he said.

The 45-year-old, who has been with the group for more than 15 years, has been shuttling between Hong Kong and Singapore since 2004 but recently settled here permanently.

Savills' Southeast Asia hub is run from Singapore. Hong Kong is the headquarters of Savills Asia Pacific, where Mr Marriott is on the board. At the beginning of 2010, he was named... CEO of Savills Southeast Asia.

'We're taking the region more seriously, with the board sending me down here to expand our Singapore operations and our network coverage - both geographic (in Southeast Asia) and service line across Southeast Asia including Singapore,' he said.

Currently, Savills has 'a leading market position in Vietnam and Thailand and strong partnerships in Indonesia and Malaysia'.

Asked what new business the group plans for Singapore and Southeast Asia, Mr Marriott said: 'We're looking at expanding our commercial agency, investment brokerage and advisory, and project management businesses. We're very happy looking at growing both organically and through acquisitions. So I'm in the market to expand our Southeast Asia network that way.'

Savills Singapore has a headcount of about 140.

Mr Marriott is a familiar face in Savills' Singapore office. 'I set up the Singapore office back in 1995 and undertook the restructure when we bought Michael Ng's business in late 2004,' he said.

In April 2002, Mr Ng acquired the Singapore operations of Hamptons International and renamed the business Hampden Real Estate. In December 2004, Savills bought the business, merging it with its commercial business to create Savills Singapore Pte Ltd and Savills Residential Pte Ltd.

'Basically, Michael and I have been in partnership running this business since early 2005,' said Mr Marriott.

Mr Ng retains a small stake in Savills Singapore, which will be sold to Savills when he leaves at the end of this month.

'It's with a tinge of sadness that I'm leaving a business I have built up over so many years,' he said. 'But there's no better time to leave than when the company is in good shape. It's also an opportune time for me to move on to something different and exciting.'

At UIC and SingLand, Mr Ng will be group general manager, overall in charge of property investment and development including overseeing office leasing activities. He will report to Lim Hock San, who is president at CEO of both companies.