Develop North, the Newcastle-based property investment company, has appointed chief executive Michelle Percy to its board as an executive director.

Percy joined the business in January to lead its next phase of growth, as Develop North seeks to move beyond its original property-backed lending model and build a broader regional investment platform covering real estate lending, commercial property and residential property.

The board appointment adds a formal governance role to the chief executive position she has held since January. When Percy was appointed in January, Develop North said she would not join the board at that time. Seven months later, she now sits inside the formal governance of the listed company whose strategy she is leading.

Develop North published a prospectus in January setting out plans to raise up to £58m and expand its investment approach. The company said it was targeting an average net asset value total return of 10 to 11 per cent a year over seven years, alongside a target dividend of 6 to 7 per cent of NAV. Those figures are targets, not forecasts.

The company’s stated ambition is to reach £300m of assets under management within five years. Its March equity issue raised £854,872 through the issue of just over 1m new ordinary shares, while the wider share issuance programme remains available until 15 January 2027.

Before Develop North, Percy spent almost nine years at Newcastle City Council and was most recently director of investment and growth. Before that, she was a director at Clouston Group, where her work included the Stephenson Quarter and Crowne Plaza Hotel in Newcastle.

Develop North chairman John Newlands said Percy had made a “significant contribution” since joining as chief executive and shared the board’s ambition to grow the company into a larger investment platform.

The appointment strengthens the link between Develop North’s investment pitch and Percy’s background in regeneration, inward investment and public-private development work. The company is trying to position itself as a route for long-term capital into North East property assets, at a time when devolution has put more attention on regionally directed investment.