More than 600 of fast growing Toronto-based real estate company Avison Young’s 1,700 global staff are set to be in Vancouver this week for networking, education and the company’s annual general meeting (AGM).
“Vancouver is a phenomenal place to hold an AGM,” Avison Young CEO Mark Rose told Business in Vancouver September 8, while on the phone in Chicago.
“Vancouver is an important city for us. It’s a beautiful city, a growth city and a gateway to Asia.”
Avison Young opened a German office this summer and a U.K. office earlier this year. It also has nearly 60 offices across the U.S. and Canada.
Vancouver was one of Avison Young’s 11 Canadian offices when the company merged with four provincial real estate companies in 2008. Back then, the company had 293 staff including 53 partners.
Rose told BIV that the company has made almost 30 acquisitions in the past three and a half years and “we’ll continue at that pace of acquisitions, absolutely.”
Talks are ongoing on future expansion that would see the company double in size by early 2016, he said.
“Most of our people will arrive in Vancouver by Tuesday night (September 9),” he said. “There’s informal preparations and then team building on Wednesday (September 10).”
The company has more than 300 partners who are principals. So, a board meeting and shareholder meeting will take time on Thursday before an evening dinner to recognize top performers.
Friday is the day for keynote speakers, education and strategy sessions.
Saturday will have team building activities and a casual dinner.
“This is the first time we’ve had our AGM in Vancouver since 2006,” Rose said. “Our last AGM was in Chicago. Before that we were in Washington D.C., Toronto and then Montreal.”
