British Land, London's largest office landlord, has hired a former senior Barclays executive to run the company amid the worst property slump in decades.

Chris Grigg, 49, resigned last month as chief executive of the commercial lending unit of Barclays “to pursue other interests”. He will take up the top job in British Land on January 12.

Before joining Barclays, Mr Grigg, 49, worked for 20 years for Goldman Sachs, spending most of his time in its capital markets and derivatives businesses.

The new British Land chief executive succeeds Stephen Hester, another former banker, who returned to his old industry last month when he joined Royal Bank of Scotland as its new chief executive.

Although British Land said that it was not specifically seeking a banker, analysts said that a strong financial background would prove a big advantage at a time when property markets are in a downturn and credit is extremely difficult to secure.

Chris Gibson-Smith, the chairman of British Land, said of Mr Grigg: “He brings deep knowledge of the investment and financial sectors from his time at Goldman Sachs and wide management experience from his roles at Barclays.”

British Land, which specialises in out-of-town retail buildings and London offices, is thought to have picked Mr Grigg from a range of candidates, inside and outside the group.

Jamie Ritblat, the son of Sir John Ritblat, who preceded Mr Hestor as chief executive, and Mike Hussey, managing director of Land Securities, were among the potential candidates suggested by analysts.

Toby Courtauld, chief executive of Great Portland Estates, was an early favourite, but is thought to have ruled himself out of the running for the job.

Mr Grigg joins British Land, which owns the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield and Broadgate Tower in the City, at a difficult time. The group reported £1.3 billion of losses in its most recent two quarters. It has seen about £2.8 billion wiped off the value of its office and shop holdings in the past 18 months, and its shares have declined by more than 40 per cent this year, amid the savage commercial property decline.

The company reported last month that the value of its portfolio fell by 10.8 per cent to £11.6 billion in the six months to September 30, with its net asset value dropping 22 per cent to £10.43 per share, from £13.44 in May. City office values fell by 14.1 per cent and retail warehouses were down by 10.2 per cent. Shopping centres showed some resilience, down only 8 per cent, against a 14 per cent fall reported by Land Securities last week. Pre-tax profits for the half year to September 30 were flat at £144 million.

Mr Grigg is married with five children and lives in Hertfordshire. He studied economics at Cambridge. His first job was with Morgan Grenfell.

Shares in British Land on Thursday jumped by 14p, or 5.5 per cent, to 255p on hopes that the appointment of a new chief executive would help to boost the company's prospects.

Solid foundations

— British Land owns a total of 30 million sq ft of retail space and 5 million sq ft of office space in London

— It owns or manages £15.6 billion of property assets. In London, these include the office developments of 201 Bishopsgate, Broadgate Tower near Liverpool Street station, and Ropemaker Place, as well as 15 office complexes including Regent’s Place and York House. Its office occupancy rate is 96.6 per cent

— The company’s retail portfolio includes 94 superstores tenanted by retailers such as Morrisons, J Sainsbury, Somerfield, Teco and Waitrose, and 108 out-of-town retail parks including Meadowhall in Sheffield and Teesside Shopping Park. The retail occupancy rate is 98.8 per cent

— It has nine joint ventures and three funds with properties worth £7 billion. They include a joint venture with J Sainsbury that holds a £1.2 billion portfolio of 38 Sainsbury’s stores

— British Land shares closed down 29.5p at 565p

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