Craig Shute

UK-headquartered property group Knight Frank has appointed Craig Shute as its CEO for Asia-Pacific, effective April 1 2025, taking over from Kevin Coppel who will retire from the partnership in March 2025.

Shute, who joined the company last year and is currently the CEO of its Greater China business, has more than 25 years of experience in the real estate industry, having held senior leadership roles across Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the US. Prior to joining Knight Frank, he served as the managing director of JLL in Victoria, Australia, and previously led CBRE’s operations in Hong Kong and Taiwan from 2008 to 2016.

“With a proven track record of driving growth and delivering strong results across multiple markets, Shute’s leadership will play a key role in shaping the next phase of our Asia-Pacific strategy,” says William Beardmore-Gray, the property group’s senior partner and group chair. “His extensive industry experience and strategic vision will help us continue our growth trajectory in this important region.”

Beardmore-Gray adds: “Coppel’s contributions to the success of our Asia-Pacific operations have been significant. Under his leadership, the region has become one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic areas of our global business, as illustrated recently by our acquisition of the McGrath business in Australia.”

Knight Frank’s Asia-Pacific region consists of 11,000 people in 300 offices across 16 markets.