The UK private equity real estate investor has made another addition to its senior management team.

Henley has appointed Justin Meissel to the newly-created role of chief operating officer.

Meissel joins from the Blackstone Group, where he was a principal, responsible for sourcing and executing pan-European investment deals. He has also held roles at GI Partners, Warburg Pincus and JP Morgan. His experience includes investing in the UK, Europe, the US, Asia, South America and the Middle East.

Based in London, Meissel will be responsible for ensuring business plans are delivered by Henley’s joint venture partners across the firm’s platforms. He will also be in charge of sourcing further investment opportunities, primarily in the UK and Europe, and maximising value by asset managing platforms and the strategic sale of assets.

The appointment is Henley’s third senior management hire in the last two months, following the recruits of Karen Travis and Will Dickens as directors in the investor relations and capital raising team in July.

Henley, which was founded in 2006, focuses on development, investment and asset management in the commercial, residential, healthcare, debt and alternative real estate market. The firm, which opened its first offices in the US earlier this summer, had around $1.25 billion assets under management as at the end of June 2016.