Sarah Pollard Joins JLL as Division President for EMEA Work Dynamics

LONDON, Oct. 1, 2026 — JLL has appointed Sarah Pollard as Division President, Work Dynamics EMEA, to lead the firm's Financial Services, Public Institutions and Data Centres divisions across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Pollard joins from Meta, where she most recently served as Global Head of Central Operations.

Pollard will be accountable for service delivery and growth across her divisions, working in alignment with JLL's Global Industry Leads. She will report to Sue Asprey Price, CEO, EMEA Work Dynamics and Global Head of Portfolio Services, and will join the Work Dynamics EMEA Board. She will be based primarily across JLL's London offices.

Phased Handover of Data Centres Division

Pollard will initially lead the Financial Services and Public Institutions divisions. Accountability for the Data Centres division will transfer to her at the end of November.

The appointment is part of a divisional restructure intended to deliver enhanced sector expertise as client needs become more complex, and to support delivery of JLL's Accelerate 2030 strategy.

Sarah Pollard's Background Before Rejoining JLL

Pollard previously spent more than two years with JLL EMEA Work Dynamics. At Meta, she led central operations on a global scale, managing real estate delivery frameworks that supported rapid growth and complex operational requirements. Before Meta, she spent four years at Amazon in senior global and regional leadership roles, where she worked on real estate initiatives across multiple markets.

Earlier in her career, Pollard held senior strategy and operational roles at BNP Paribas Real Estate, Regus, Johnson Controls and Barclays.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sarah back to JLL at such an important moment for our business," said Sue Asprey Price. "Her experience leading global real estate operations at Meta and Amazon – two of the world's most sophisticated and fast-moving organisations – gives her a unique perspective on the complexity our largest clients are navigating. Combined with her proven ability to align real estate strategies with complex business objectives, she is perfectly positioned to lead these critical divisions as we deliver our Accelerate 2030 strategy."

Pollard said: "Having spent recent years working at the forefront of global real estate operations with Meta and Amazon, I've seen firsthand the value of having built experience on both the client and supply side. That perspective allows me to understand clients' needs and challenges in ways that strengthen how we build partnerships and deliver strategic solutions at scale."

She added: "My immediate focus is to leverage my client side and operational experience to ensure we have the frameworks in place to set the business and its customers up for continued success."

Data Centre Market Backdrop in EMEA

The appointment comes as the EMEA data centre sector undergoes rapid growth. JLL's EMEA Mid-Year Data Centre Report puts combined live capacity in the FLAP-D markets — Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin — at approximately 3.8 gigawatts, up from 1.8 GW in 2019. Those markets are on track to deliver approximately 453 MW in 2026, roughly three times their 2020 delivery volume.

Vacancy remains tight at 6.4% across FLAP-D, with Frankfurt at 3.1%. Grid constraints are pushing development away from established hubs: hyperscale campuses planned for 2026–2028 sit, on average, 175 kilometres from major hub cities, compared with 46 kilometres for projects delivered from 2022 through 2025. Prime powered-land costs in FLAP-D have risen 82% since 2021, to approximately €2.26 million per megawatt of IT capacity.

London has approximately 1,277 MW of live colocation capacity, Frankfurt 970 MW and Warsaw 150 MW at mid-year 2026. Prime powered land in FLAP-D costs roughly 2.3 times as much as in secondary markets such as Warsaw and about four times as much as in tertiary locations. The five core markets hold 43% of EMEA operational capacity but only 32% of the future pipeline.

Financial Services Occupiers Weigh Expansion and AI

JLL's Future of Work Survey 2026 found that financial services organisations face complexity around AI adoption and portfolio strategy. The sector shows the widest range of AI maturity of any industry surveyed, with 29.8% still classed as bystanders and 18.3% at the optimising stage.

Some 67.1% of financial services organisations plan office expansion, and 38.9% name rental increases a top occupancy cost driver — the highest share among the 15 industries surveyed.

JLL's Recent Performance and Leadership Changes

JLL reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $6.9 billion, up 11% in U.S. dollars and 10% in local currency year over year. Advisory revenue rose 21% in local currency, and Resilient revenue rose 8%. Real Estate Management Services revenue increased 8% in local currency, driven in part by continued strength in Workplace Management.

The Pollard appointment follows other recent JLL leadership announcements, including Paul Morgan as Chief Operating Officer, Ross Petar to lead operational real estate across EMEA and APAC, and Gemma Kendall as head of living for the UK and EMEA.

JLL (NYSE: JLL) reports annual revenue of $26.1 billion, operations in more than 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 112,000 as of June 30, 2026.

Sources

• JLL news release: Sarah Pollard joins JLL as division president for financial services, public institutions and data centres across EMEA