Savills has appointed Greg Stockton as International Head of UK Investment Sales and Distribution, based in Dubai, effective September 2026. The appointment underscores the London-headquartered real estate services firm's strategic bet on the Gulf Cooperation Council as a critical source of capital for UK residential property. Stockton will lead the sales and distribution of UK residential investment opportunities across the region, connecting developers with wealth managers, family offices, private banks and investors across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman. The move reflects an intensifying competition among global property advisers to capture a growing wave of Middle Eastern money flowing into British residential markets.
Steven Morgan, Savills' chief executive for the Middle East, said the appointment reflects the firm's continued investment in strengthening connections between GCC clients and UK opportunities. The firm previously operated a Middle East Desk from its London headquarters to serve international buyers, but the Dubai-based role represents a structural expansion aimed at deepening relationships with wealth advisers and institutional investors closer to capital sources. The appointment carried no search firm involvement and was announced on September 14, 2026, with no previous public speculation regarding succession or organizational changes.
Stockton brings more than two decades of international experience spanning real estate, wealth management and financial services. He has resided and worked across multiple markets including the UAE, Qatar, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore and South Africa. Most recently, he served as Global Head of Property Investment Advisory and Distribution at Global Residential, where he led international growth strategy for a UK property investment business and developed distribution networks across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. His background encompasses strategic partnerships, developer relationships and investment advisory services for international capital sources.
Savills is a FTSE 250-listed firm founded in 1855 and headquartered in London. It operates more than 600 offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, employing over 40,000 professionals. The firm reported 2025 group revenue of approximately 2.55 billion pounds. In the Middle East specifically, Savills has maintained a regional leadership position for over four decades and operates on-ground presence across seven cities in five countries. The firm's service portfolio spans residential and commercial transaction advisory, investment management, property management, valuations and consultancy.
The appointment reflects an accelerating trend in which Gulf-based investors are expanding their share of UK residential property acquisitions. Data from property broker Hamptons shows that Middle Eastern buyers' share of international interest in UK property rose to 14 percent in the first quarter of 2025, the third-largest group after Europeans and North Americans. Analysis by Black Brick indicates that Middle Eastern buyers in London spent an average of 87.27 million pounds each in 2024, up 24 percent from the prior year. The shift appears driven by structural factors including demand for safe-haven asset diversification and the appeal of UK university cities with supply-constrained rental markets. Savills' expanded Dubai presence suggests management views the GCC as a sustained growth opportunity rather than a cyclical capital inflow, with Stockton's mandate to strengthen developer relationships and expand distribution capabilities indicating confidence in multi-year demand momentum.
