Dubai property company Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate has appointed Neil Palmer as a director.

Palmer joins from London-based company CIT Group where he was a director.

He will take charge of a company which is developing large urban conurbations such as Dubai Festival City and Cairo Festival City as well as assorted assets across the Middle East.

At CIT Palmer managed a €1.5bn (£1.2bn) portfolio of assets.

Prior to his role at CIT, he was managing director of Colliers Jardine, the Hong Kong-based property services firm, and before that, he was deputy managing director at Savills in Hong Kong.