Our People | Cavendish Maxwell

Vidhi Shah

Partner, Head of Commercial Valuation

Vidhi Shah is a Partner and Head of Commercial Valuation at Cavendish Maxwell, bringing over 15 years of experience in property valuations and financial modelling across the UAE. She specialises in advising financial institutions, corporations, and government entities on valuations for diverse asset classes, including residential, commercial, industrial, retail, and land.

Prior to rejoining Cavendish Maxwell in 2024, Vidhi worked with several multinational companies in the region, where she gained extensive experience in the real estate sector, leading complex valuations and advisory projects.

Ronan Arthur

Head of Residential Valuation

Ronan Arthur is an experienced property consultant, Chartered Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer with a demonstrated history of working in the real estate industry across various markets including Dubai, London & Ireland.

As well as being an RICS Registered Valuer he is also a registered valuer with the Land Departments of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Ajman.

In his previous roles Ronan has gained valuable experience in residential and commercial property sales, valuations, negotiation, luxury real estate and real estate due diligence. With 18 + years’ experience and a BS(Hons) focused on Real Estate Management from Oxford Brookes University, Ronan is also a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland.

Ronan has built up a sound technical knowledge of real estate valuations and having been based in the Middle East for over 10 years, has extensive experience advising many local and international clients including multinational and local banks, developers and family offices on their property asset valuations.

In relation to the advancement of Tech in the valuation process, Ronan has worked closely with Property Monitor, the real estate and market intelligence specialists, who are part of the Cavendish Maxwell Group in the development of Valuation Hub a bespoke digital, property valuation and data platform which is a market leader in innovation in the property valuation industry which benefits the clients of both.

Jessica Price

Associate Partner, Commercial Valuation

Jessica is an Associate Partner in Cavendish Maxwell’s Commercial Valuation team. Jessica has 11 years’ experience in real estate valuation and advisory and has been permanently based in the United Arab Emirates since 2019.

Prior to moving to the Middle East, Jessica gained extensive experience valuing mixed commercial, development and residential properties at leading international practices in London and across the UK. She has wide ranging experience, from the valuation of offices and student accommodation through to large mixed use development sites and retail malls.

Jessica is a Member of the RICS (MRICS) and an RICS Registered Valuer with extensive experience providing valuation and consultancy advice to clients for a range of purposes including for loan security, internal purposes and financial reporting.

Jessica is responsible for providing strategic valuation advice to a range of clients including banks, private individuals, funds and other corporate entities, predominantly within Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

Jessica is fully conversant with the requirements of the RICS and ensures the highest quality reports are delivered in a timely manner in accordance with RICS Red Book and the International Valuation Standard Council (IVSC) standards. Jessica is also an RICS accredited APC assessor.

Andrew Laver

Associate Partner, Commercial Valuation, Abu Dhabi

Andrew, a seasoned chartered surveyor, brings a wealth of international expertise cultivated across the United Kingdom and the Middle East since 2002. His professional journey commenced with DTZ in the UK, handling diverse valuation endeavours catering to clients hailing from both the private and public sectors.

In the realm of valuation surveying, Andrew stands as a highly accomplished professional with an impressive track record spanning over 15 years in the UAE's dynamic real estate market, with a strong focus on Abu Dhabi. His clientele comprises a wide array of stakeholders, including institutional banks, private offices, investors, and developers. Throughout his career, Andrew has fostered robust professional relationships, spanning residential, commercial offices, retail establishments, hospitality, and strategic land holdings. His valuation expertise has consistently served as a cornerstone for facilitating secured lending, precise accounting, and financial reporting, meticulously aligned with the standards set forth by the RICS and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Himanshu Joshi

BEng MSc MRICS

Partner, Head of Plant and Machinery

Himanshu is a chartered surveyor and RICS registered valuer, with over 20 years’ experience in plant and machinery valuation. His experience spans a diverse mix of industries in over 30 countries and he has worked with some of the largest FTSE-100 clients during his time with PwC in London.

Himanshu has played a significant role in developing plant and machinery valuation advisory practices in India and the UK, ensuring best practices and international valuation standards are achieved.

Himanshu is a mechanical engineering graduate with an RICS-accredited master’s degree in plant and machinery valuation and he has a business management qualification from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-C).

Tamas Steinfeld

Co-Head of Oman – Professional Services

Tamas is an Associate Partner in the Commercial Valuation team at Cavendish Maxwell, based at our Oman office. He is an RICS member and a registered RICS valuer.

With over 14 years of experience in real estate valuation and advisory, his expertise spans various asset classes, including hotels, retail, office spaces, industrial properties, development land, mixed-use, and special-purpose real estate.

Tamas has an extensive background in valuations for a variety of purposes including acquisitions, sales, secured lending, internal decision-making, and financial reporting. His clients include banks, investors, developers, governmental institutions, and real estate funds.

Within Cavendish Maxwell, Tamas specializes in the valuation of large-scale commercial properties and portfolios. He also oversees a team providing valuations for diverse real estate asset classes and identifies growth opportunities for the firm.

Tamas holds an MBA specializing in Real Estate and Finance, earned from the Central European University & Schulich School of Business, York University. In addition, he holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics, with a focus on International Management.

Gergely Balint

Associate Partner, Specialist Valuation

Gergely has 15 years of valuation experience in real assets positioned in specialist sectors including hotels, large scale mixed-use projects, hospitality and leisure facilities, across Europe.

Gergely recently joined Cavendish Maxwell as an Associate Partner from CBRE Munich, Germany. He holds a Bachelor degree in hospitality management from the University of West London as well as completed an executive program in Hotel Real Estate Investment and Asset Management with Cornell University. He is a professional member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) as well as a RICS registered valuer.

Gergely has experience in providing valuation and related advisory for financial reporting, secured lending, asset disposals and business restructuring purposes. His experience covers more than 100 notable valuation assignments spread across Europe.

Gergely currently assists on overseeing Cavendish Maxwell’s commercial valuation operation in their Dubai office.

Siraj Ahmed

Partner, Head of Strategy and Consulting

Siraj is a seasoned real estate professional with extensive experience in market research, financial feasibilities, strategic advisory, and master planning support across the GCC region. As the head of the strategy and consulting team at Cavendish Maxwell, he brings a wealth of expertise in guiding clients through complex real estate projects and developments.

With a master’s degree in real estate development from New York University, Siraj has utilised his skills in various facets of the industry, allowing our clients to unlock maximum value from their real estate portfolio. Moreover, Siraj has been at the forefront of strategic master planning for various government clients with scopes ranging from finding solutions to national housing issues to creating new special economic zones to enhance GDP levels, and trade volumes of a country.

Siraj's consulting portfolio spans a diverse range of projects, from single plot mixed-use developments to large-scale master plans. He has worked with property developers, investment funds, government entities, and sovereign wealth funds, providing tailored real estate consulting services to meet their specific needs and objectives.

His expertise extends across multiple industry sectors, including residential, retail, hospitality, office, education, industrial, and entertainment asset classes.

Zacky Sajjad

Director, Head of Business Development and Client Relations

Zacky is a distinguished executive boasting over 18 years of multifaceted experience in Construction and Real Estate Development, encompassing diverse roles across all asset classes. His unwavering passion for real estate development has driven his career across the global landscape, encompassing key regions such as the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Australia.

At Cavendish Maxwell, Zacky holds the esteemed position of Head of Business Development and Client Relations, where he leverages his extensive expertise. With a profound understanding of the GCC market, with a particular focus on the UAE, his tenure of nearly 35 years in the region equips him with an intricate knowledge of the intricacies necessary for operational success.

Zacky possesses a natural affinity for interpersonal relationships, facilitating seamless navigation between both public and private sector entities. His unwavering commitment to core values such as teamwork, integrity, and an unyielding work ethic underscores his professional ethos.

Zacky has a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate Management from University College of Estate Management.

Kieran Burley

Head of Commercial Agency

Kieran Burley leads Cavendish Maxwell’s commercial agency team, providing transactional services and advisory across the commercial real estate sector.
Kieran comes with over 17 years’ experience in the UAE real estate market from both a developer and client-side background. Kieran specialises in commercial real estate and has represented a number of high profile MNC tenants and provided commercial advisory on multiple Grade A assets in the region.
In his previous role, Kieran led the transactional services team at Asteco. There he was responsible for advising clients on real estate sales and marketing strategies, account management, investment advisory and disposal services. Kieran was also responsible for launching the investment sales team and commercial tenant representation.

Kieran obtained his G. Dip in Real Estate Management from Anglia Ruskin University and has held a RERA broker license since 2013.

Nick Witty

Group CEO

Nick has over three decades’ experience in real estate advisory, with more than 25 years based in the Middle East, having maintained a permanent presence here since 1998. He has extensive real estate experience, including property management, valuation and consulting.

As Group CEO, Nick is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, growth, and operations of the business across all territories. His mission is to leverage his extensive industry knowledge, network, and expertise to provide unparalleled customer service, innovative solutions, and value-added advice to clients across the real estate spectrum.

Prior to joining Cavendish Maxwell, Nick was the CEO - MENA at Chestertons, while also serving as the CEO - Chestertons Global Franchising. He has also enjoyed success in a number of senior leadership roles in the UK and across the MENA region in prominent organisations, including Deloitte and Cushman Wakefield.

Nick is a RICS and RERA Registered Valuer.

Khalil Alzadjali

Co-Head of Oman – Business Development

Khalil Al Zadjali has served as the Head of Cavendish Maxwell in Oman since 2017. He has a BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) in business and finance from the UK and brings over 14 years of experience in valuations across the Sultanate in commercial, residential and investment properties. Khalil’s expertise has helped cement relationships with government agencies and high-profile clients in Oman and the wider GCC.

Prior to his role at Cavendish Maxwell, he led the Valuations team at Hamptons International, using his in-depth industry knowledge to accurately value various real estate assets. Khalil retained a substantial number of clients in the move to Cavendish Maxwell, and his strong, long-lasting relationships with all major banks in Oman have been invaluable to the growth of the company’s presence in the Sultanate.

Jay Grant

MSc, IRRV (Hons), MRICS

Founder

Jay is from the UK and moved to Dubai in May 2008 before setting up Cavendish Maxwell with a business partner 5 months later. Following on from this in 2014, Jay set up the real estate intelligence platform, Property Monitor.

Jay holds a BA honours degree in economics and accountancy and a master’s degree in estate management. He spent 6 years in the City of London with Sanwa International and JP Morgan before embarking on a career in property and subsequently qualifying as a chartered surveyor in 2006.

Jay’s real estate experience covers valuation, landlord and tenant, property management, commercial agency, fund management and investment. Jay is a creative business thinker and the driving force behind Cavendish Maxwell’s emergence from a niche valuation company into a larger multidiscipline surveying practice. The flame of ambition still burns very bright he says, as the next few years will demonstrate.

Away from work Jay is an Arsenal season ticket holder, Ironman triathlete, white collar boxer and keen cyclist who cycled half the Tour de France route in July 2017 averaging 200km a day.

Jessica Taylor

HR Director

Jessica Taylor joined Cavendish Maxwell in 2016. As HR Director, Jessica is responsible for the development and execution of all HR strategies, policies, services and programmes. She brings to the HR team over 10 years of extensive people-management skills and hands-on experience leading HR initiatives.

Jessica's expertise is founded on understanding and translating business objectives into meaningful strategies and policies that engage and motivate employees and create a positive work environment. Placing immense importance on employee engagement, Jessica believes in the principle that people tend to support what they help to create.

Prior to her role at Cavendish Maxwell, Jessica held various positions within private and public sector companies in the UK. Her meticulous approach, passion to understand what motivates people, and her support in helping them achieve their full potential has inspired positive change in the organisations where she has worked.

Her key areas of expertise includes policy design, employee engagement, compensation, performance management, recruiting, compliance reporting, HR workflow development, training and development, and benefits administration.

Stay up to date

Julian Roche

MA (Oxon), MPhil, PhD

Chief Economist

Julian joined Cavendish Maxwell as Chief Economist in January 2019. Coming from an old real estate family in Ireland, his career as an economist began with a first-class honours degree in philosophy, politics and economics at the age of 19, following which Julian was an analyst with the UK Government. He later helped develop and launch the UK’s residential forecasting service with the firms that merged to become Global Insight. Julian subsequently developed derivatives in the City of London and established real estate futures contracts for what is now the International Commodity Exchange. He also ran a property development and management firm, before eventually serving as an international consultant and trainer to governments, central banks and notable firms including AXA, Citibank, DBS, Deloitte and Thomson Reuters.

Julian fills his work-free time with academic pursuits; he holds several postgraduate degrees, including a PhD in International Risk Management Policy, and also the Licensed Conveyancer qualification. Julian has published many business and academic texts and articles, and is also a keen walker – especially fond of the Scottish Highlands.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_ga	2 years	The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_34E12VSHW6	2 years	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_gat_gtag_UA_66458947_1	1 minute	Set by Google to distinguish users.
_gat_UA-66458947-1	session	A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to.
_gid	1 day	Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-statistics	1 year	This cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Statistics".