Mark Robinson

Chair
High Street Task Force

Mark is an award-winning entrepreneur and investor in town centres, having co-founded the developer Ellandi in 2008. At Ellandi, Mark has helped lead its mission to create the UK’s most inclusive and sustainable communities, raising over £1.5bn pounds to invest in more than 30 communities across the UK and Northern Ireland, from Enniskillen to Folkestone.

In a career over 25 years Mark has worked for both owners and occupiers of town centre properties and in 2019 was President of Revo; a leading membership body that represents the interests of owners, occupiers and local authorities in promoting thriving retail places. During this time, he successfully led an initiative to broaden the membership base to embrace the public sector and the launch of the Diploma in Retail and Leisure Place Management in partnership with Solent University.
Ellandi has sponsored the Great British High Street and Mark was a judge in 2019; over the years a number of Ellandi projects have enthusiastically entered and were proud to be shortlisted. Ellandi projects have also been recognised with numerous awards for diversity, design, customer service, marketing, community impact and sustainability on a national and international basis.

Mark is a regular commentator on town centre issues in both industry and national media, including The Times, FT and the BBC. He is an in demand public speaker often covering topics such as The Need/Opportunity for Change in Town Centres and Public/Private Partnerships.

Rebeca Guzman Vidal

Group Head of Retail Strategy
Chelsfield Group

James Cons

Managing Director
Leslie Jones Architecture

James Cons is an architect, he holds a Diploma in Project Management from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Master of Business Administration in Construction and Real Estate and is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

As Managing Director of Leslie Jones, James provides leadership and project direction for both clients and colleagues alike. James is passionate about our town and city centres and the challenges that are being faced through the decline of retail in particular. He is heavily involved in the current debate on our urban futures, commenting: “Such speedy change is challenging the ability of our infrastructure, built environment, policies and occupational models to keep up. Town centres and their stakeholders must find ways to react to this change in the short and medium term such that their long-term strategies might be informed and able to accommodate the way in which we will be living, working and playing in the future.”

James is a keen exponent of collaboration, leading the Urbankind initiative which seeks to bring together appropriate skills focused on improving the futures of our urban centres. James comments further; “Those that succeed in rapidly re-defining their relevance to the changing world and the nature of the communities they serve will thrive.”

James joined Leslie Jones in 1993, having previously worked for the global retail design consultancy, Fitch. He became an Associate Partner of the practice in 2000, a Director in 2005 following incorporation of the practice and then Managing Director in 2013. With a heritage in retail design James has been an active member of this community having chaired the Revo Gold Awards in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Shamik Narotam

Managing Director
Morgan Stanley Real Assets

Shamik Narotam is an Executive Director in Morgan Stanley’s real estate private equity division (MSREI) having worked there for the last 12 years. Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) is the global private real estate investment management arm of Morgan Stanley. As at the end of 2018 MSREI had $33bln under management and is one of the worlds largest investors in Real Estate. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Shamik was a structural engineer AKT and graduated from Imperial College. He holds an MBA from London Business School.

Bruce Findlay

Managing Director - Retail, Shopping Centres & Retail Parks Portfolio Management
Landsec

Bruce joined Landsec in December 2020 as Managing Director for Retail. Bruce has over 25 years of consumer brand experience where he’s developed his operational leadership and strategic management skills.

He brings a global perspective from his most recent roles; Chief Commercial Officer of Furla and prior to that as the VP Global Retail for Diesel, where he led the brand’s Direct to Consumer business through its transformation from a traditional wholesale manufacturer to a modern Omni-channel retailer.

Lord Bob Kerslake

Chair
The UK2070 Commission

Lord Kerslake is Chair of Peabody, Chair of Be First (Barking and Dagenham Council’s regeneration company), Chair of Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation, Chair of the London Collective Investment Vehicle (London CIV), Chair of Sheffield Theatres, Chair of Sheffield Hallam University, Chair of the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS), Chair of the New Economics Foundation and President of the Local Government Association (LGA).

In addition to this, he chairs the UK2070 Commission, an independent inquiry into city and regional inequalities in the UK.

Prior to these roles, Lord Kerslake was Head of the Civil Service, Permanent Secretary of DCLG and served as Chief Executive for Sheffield City Council and the London Borough of Hounslow.

Tom Bloxham MBE

Chairman
Urban Splash

The company is responsible for development projects across the country, including Manchester, Liverpool, Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford Sheffield, Bristol, Plymouth, North Shields and Morecambe. In 1999 Tom was awarded an MBE for Services to Architecture and Urban Regeneration.

Tom also upholds a number of other positions including;Chairman of Manchester International Festival, and trustee of Tate, the Manchester United Foundation and The Bloxham Charitable Trust.

In 2016, Tom and Urban Splash co-founder Jonathan launched House by Urban Splash – their modular housing concept which is being rolled out across the country. House is created using modern methods of construction allowing for customer specification. The first homes are completed, fully sold and occupied at sites in Manchester, Salford and North Shields, with other modular homes on sale in Manchester, Birmingham and soon to launch in Cambridge, Walsall, the Wirral and Milton Keynes.

Deborah Vogwell

Frameworks Manager
Homes England

Jamie Parr

Director & Founder
BD Solutions

Jamie founded BD Solutions in 2017 after spotting a gap in the market for impartial, honest and agnostic advice on Offsite & Modern Methods of Construction. With the drive to do things ‘better’, he draws on his experience and lateral thinking skills to unlock complex issues and simplify them for his clients. With over 14 years of construction sector experience in a technical & commercial capacity for built environment focused organizations, including an Offsite manufacturer and Architectural Practice.

Jamie also operates in an interim capacity as Project and Research Lead for Buildoffsite, the leading membership association for the Offsite sector with over 150 member organizations from across the construction sector, including major players, client and government bodies.

He is regularly invited to speak at industry events & webinars as a leading commentator on the sector and is involved in several MMC working groups. He was a credited contributor to the Housing Forum, MMC Affordable Housing report and is the founder of ‘The Offsite Collective’ an innovative multi-disciplinary hub set up to share knowledge, resources and develop new working practices.

Tara Gbolade

Co-Founder
Gbolade Design Studio

Waheed Nazir

Chairman
Arden Cross

Fiona Fletcher-Smith

Group Chief Executive
L&Q

Prior to joining L&Q, Fiona was the Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment at the Greater London Authority (GLA).

As part of the senior management team for the GLA, she was responsible for overseeing the delivery and implementation of key strategies such as the London Plan, the Economic Development Strategy, transport, environment and climate change and in overseeing the operation of the Mayor’s powers in relation to significant planning applications in the capital.

Sir Howard Bernstein

Former Chief Executive
Manchester City Council

Sir Howard Bernstein is the former Chief Executive of Manchester City Council (1998-2017) and former Head of Paid Service for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (2011-2017). A strong believer in the transformative power of cities and one of the chief architects of Manchester’s well-documented urban, social and economic resurgence over the last four decades, Sir Howard now serves as a strategic advisor to several public, private and academic institutions in the UK and internationally.

Over a distinguished career in public service, Sir Howard was instrumental in a range of projects and initiatives benefitting Manchester, Greater Manchester and the United Kingdom. This has included significant improvements in transport and other infrastructure across Greater Manchester, the long-term regeneration of disadvantaged parts of Manchester in partnership with government, the private sector and local communities, and cementing Manchester’s status as a thriving hub for sports, culture, media and creativity and an active player in promising fields such as advanced materials, life sciences, informatics and translational medicine.

Sir Howard is widely recognised for his pioneering use of innovative financial instruments, planning mechanisms, governance arrangements and public-private partnerships to attract investment, accelerate development and deliver marked improvements in social and economic outcomes for people and businesses in Greater Manchester. This assertive approach has also been evident in the devolution of significant responsibilities for transport, planning, housing, skills, health and social care services from the UK Government to local authorities in Greater Manchester in recent years, including the piloting of ground-breaking new models for the delivery of health, social care and early intervention services at the neighbourhood level.

Following his retirement from the Council in 2017, Sir Howard was appointed as an Honorary Professor of Politics and a strategic advisor to the University of Manchester. He is also a strategic advisor to Deloitte, an Honorary President of Manchester City FC and President of Lancashire County Cricket Club.

Sir Howard was knighted for his services to Manchester in 2003.

Richard Upton

Chief Executive
U+I

Richard is a creative entrepreneur and patron of the arts, who is passionate about quality of place, architecture, heritage and provenance. Over the course of his career, he has established, built and sold four property investment and professional companies and developed more than six million square feet of mixed-use real estate.

Pioneering Mount Anvil in 1991, Richard delivered 5,000 student bedrooms and regenerated several award-wining social housing projects. In 1998 he co-founded Cathedral Healthcare and Cathedral Group PLC, nurturing the latter to become a market-leader in public-private partnership developments and building a pipeline of over £2bn.

In 2014, Cathedral merged with Development Securities, which ultimately became U+I in 2015. U+I is a listed public company with a development pipeline of >£11.5bn. Together with U+I’s Chief Executive Matthew Weiner, Richard is a driving force behind the strategic direction of the company, whose vision is to create long-lasting social and economic change for communities and sustainable value for shareholders.

Faraz Baber

Director
Terence O'Rourke

Faraz is currently a Director at the interdisciplinary planning and design consultancy Terence O’Rourke which has offices in London, Birmingham and Bournemouth. He leads on planning policy, stakeholder engagement and business development for the company.

Prior to joining Terence O’Rourke, Faraz served as Executive Director for Policy at London First. His previous experience also includes senior management policy and public affairs roles at Surrey County Council, British Property Federation (BPF) and the Royal Institution of Chartered surveyors (RICS).

A highly experienced and multi-skilled professional with extensive knowledge within the property sector, Faraz has successfully delivered on a number of high-profile policy led campaigns. He is a dual qualified chartered surveyor (FRICS) and chartered town planner (MRTPI). He was a member of the Department of Communities and Local Government Planning Sounding Board which provided industry advice to Government. Faraz is a Board member of the RICS P&D Professional Group and also serves as Chairman on the RICS Planning Policy Panel.