CBRE boosts Christchurch office leasing team with new recruits

CBRE has welcomed two new agents into its Christchurch office leasing team, appointing Woody Norbert-Munns and Bridget Buchan as Negotiators to expand the business’s coverage across key parts of the city’s office market.

Both will work closely with Mitchell Wallace, Associate Director of Office Leasing at CBRE Christchurch, as the firm looks to strengthen its reach across the CBD and metropolitan office sectors.

Norbert-Munns will focus primarily on leasing suburban office space, while Buchan will operate in the smaller space segment of the CBD office market.

Wallace said the appointments extend CBRE’s reach into more key areas of the city’s office market and strengthen the firm’s ability to support property owners across Christchurch.

“Bringing Woody and Bridget on to the team broadens our coverage of key parts of the CBD and suburban office sectors. The addition of these two returning Cantabrians increases our already strong capability in office leasing, enabling us to effectively cover all sections of the market.”

Tim Rookes, Managing Director of CBRE Christchurch, said the new appointments grow the CBRE team into Christchurch’s largest specialist office leasing team. 

“That scale will come into its own among the large local office occupier base who value CBRE’s full market coverage and expert service.”

Norbert-Munns has returned to Christchurch following four years as operations manager at B:HIVE in Smales Farm, North Shore; widely renowned as the largest purpose-designed shared workspace in the Southern Hemisphere. Prior to that he spent four years as Auckland manager at leading shared workspace provider QbStudios. 

This background equips him with vast experience in the shared workspace sector and a strong understanding of how occupiers use flexible office environments to make smart leasing decisions, achieving greater operational efficiency. 

His expertise will support landlords and tenants across the suburban and metropolitan market, where a broad range of space types and occupier requirements continue to shape the future of the office market.

Buchan is also a returnee Cantabrian; moving back to Christchurch and joining CBRE following eight years in Auckland. Among her roles there were property marketing for JLL; procurement for regional infrastructure projects at Downer; and property-focused business development manager roles at leading law firms MinterEllisonRuddWatts and Chapman Tripp. 

She brings broad experience from these positions to the CBRE Christchurch team, providing a strong platform for working with professional services occupiers and local businesses in the smaller CBD office space bracket. 

Her experience will complement the Christchurch team’s coverage of the CBD and help broaden engagement with the large number of small to medium sized Canterbury businesses seeking CBD premises.