Speaker profile

Mark Dunford

Partner - Head of Investment & Commercial Agency
Cavendish Maxwell

As Partner - Head of Investment Mark leads the investor services and commercial agency teams at Cavendish Maxwell with a focus on transactions, investment advisory and structured finance.

In his previous role at JLL Mark was the Head of JLL East Africa and a Director in the MENA’s Capital Markets team where he oversaw the team’s business operations while managing key assignments and clients across the region. Having worked in over 50 countries, Mark’s other past roles include; Senior Consultant at Lausanne Hospitality Consulting providing strategic advice on large scale mixed-use and hotel development projects. Development Director for Singaporean private equity fund KOP’s Spanish based Stein Management Company and Franklyn Hotels & Resorts where he was heading up the growth of the brand and asset portfolio. With a comprehensive background in real estate, Mark also served in the London offices of Jones Lang LaSalle, where his primary responsibility was working on hotel asset sales and acquisitions.

Mark is a Swiss/Kenyan national with more than 16 years of experience, initially in yield management and hospitality real estate advisory. His broad range of experience includes, owner-operator structuring, brokerage, master planning, development and strategic consulting work across the globe including a focus on Europe the Middle East and Africa.

Mark’s diverse projects have included; chief accommodation advisor to the International Olympic Committee for the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, developing hotels from concept to opening on a single asset and portfolio basis, destination development planning, brand and corporate strategies as well as the creation of learning centres on behalf of governments and private clients across Asia, Europe and Africa. Mark holds a BS & HES-SO in Hospitality Management from École Hôtelière de Lausanne.