Savills has appointed Fay Lloyd as Chief Operating Officer of its Middle East residential agency division, effective immediately, tasking the long-serving executive with accelerating expansion across the region following a strong first full year of the newly launched business unit. The appointment, announced in mid-January 2026, represents a significant promotion for Lloyd, who has worked within Savills and its predecessor Cluttons since 2014 and served on the Middle East Board for over nine years. The move positions Lloyd to support Andrew Cummings, Head of Residential Agency, in driving growth across the division, which delivered USD 50 million in revenue during 2025 despite launching only in 2024.
Steven Morgan, CEO Middle East and Regional Head of Northern Europe at Savills, described Lloyd's appointment as a strategic move to capitalize on momentum. According to Morgan, Lloyd's appointment reflected her "deep and valuable understanding of the Savills business combined with her strong relationships with regional and global teams fostered over the years." Notably, no external search firm involvement was disclosed in the announcement. Lloyd has been instrumental in several major corporate events, including the critical integration of Savills' 2017 acquisition of Cluttons Middle East, which gave the London-listed firm its first wholly owned business in the region. She also played a prominent role in launching the Middle East Residential Agency business itself in 2024 and supported the marketing of Hudayriyat Island by Modon, described as one of Savills' flagship master agency projects.
Lloyd brings a career spanning two decades in marketing and business development across the Middle East. Before joining Savills in 2014, she worked at creative and branding agencies, starting her career at Brann Worldwide in 1999 before moving through roles at Miller Bainbridge and Partners and The Tribe, where she specialized in account management and business development. Since 2014, she has held increasingly senior positions at Savills Middle East, initially as Head of Marketing and Business Development before being elevated to Operations Director, Middle East. Lloyd holds a BA in Business Studies from UWE Bristol, earned in 1996. Her appointment emphasizes internal promotion over external recruitment, reflecting management confidence in executives groomed within the organization.
Savills, a London-listed firm established in 1855, operates over 600 wholly owned and associate offices globally with more than 35,000 employees across the Americas, UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. The Middle East business, which employs 230 people across seven offices in five countries, has become a growth priority following the Cluttons acquisition. The residential agency division, launched in early 2024 under Cummings' leadership, was designed to capitalize on unprecedented demand in Dubai and the broader Gulf region, where record price growth and high net-worth migration have reshaped the market. The division expanded to over 100 property consultants by the end of 2024, with strategic hires added across multiple functions including off-plan sales, international residential, and business development.
Lloyd's elevation to COO of residential suggests Savills is committed to consolidating the residential business as a permanent operating division rather than treating it as a temporary expansion project. The appointment reflects patterns observed in the real estate advisory sector, where successful new ventures are often stewarded through early scaling by operationally focused executives who understand internal politics and systems. By promoting Lloyd rather than recruiting from competitors, Savills has signaled continuity; her familiarity with both the Cluttons integration and the residential launch should accelerate execution on expansion beyond the UAE, which represents her stated priority. The division's ability to deliver USD 50 million in first-year revenue provides a credible foundation for further geographic scaling into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Oman, markets where Savills already operates commercial practices.
