Neil Mitchenall, founding director of Lunson Mitchenall, passes away

It is with great sadness that we announce that Neil Mitchenall, one of our founding directors, has passed away after a short battle with cancer. The whole team would like to share its deepest sympathies with Neil’s family and friends.

Neil founded LM with David Lunson in 1980 and was instrumental in shaping the retail sector in the UK over the course of his 50-year career. He was a pioneer in the shopping centre development and leasing market, advising on over 40 major schemes and projects across the country totalling over 30 million square feet of space. His legacy can be seen at destinations including Lakeside, The Bullring, Cribbs Causeway, White Rose, Cabot Circus and Braehead.

He was at the forefront of innovative shopping centre design and leasing, including championing the introduction of turnover leases. Neil applied his knowledge and experience to numerous major international projects in locations including Beirut, India, Abu Dhabi and Buenos Aires. He travelled extensively to see best in class developments across the world and became chair of the ICSC Awards Panel.

After standing down as Chairman in 2010, Neil remained active in the market as a consultant to our team, providing a source of wise and respected counsel to our valued clients. Throughout his career, he held a number of industry positions and accolades including President of BCSC and Chairman of the Association of Town and City Management. He also became a non-exec of Evans of Leeds and Silverstone Holdings.

His enthusiasm, passion and zest for life has energised LM for over four decades and our company culture is testament to his collaborative spirit and genuine love for what he did. Throughout his career Neil showed great respect to everyone he met and worked with, he was generous with his time and will be missed by all those who had the pleasure of dealing with him. We all owe him a huge debt and he will be greatly missed by us all.