Platform has appointed British Land’s former residential head as its new Chief Executive.

Jean-Marc Vandevivere spent five years leading the residential arm of Britain’s biggest property company delivering £800m worth of projects across London. He joined the executive committee of British Land as head of strategy, developing and implementing a new corporate and investment strategy across all sectors of activities.

His appointment as Chief Executive of PLATFORM_ marks its emergence as a standalone business from parent company Westrock. Vandevivere’s move follows a string of senior hires at the company, creating a 20-strong team with the capability to deliver 5,000 units within five years.

PLATFORM_ claims to be the UK’s first nationally focused and fully integrated build to rent brand. Jean-Marc Vandevivere said, “I am delighted to have joined Platform at the start of an exciting journey for our sector. Build to rent is an emerging asset class that many are talking about. Our focus so far has been to deliver and stabilise a national portfolio and we now want to build on this early success.”

“PLATFORM_ has emerged as a leading operator, being one of the first to take the plunge into build to rent and moving it from concept to reality. As the business looks to scale further, the team we have in place and our experience navigating some of the industry’s early challenges will be crucial.”