Gwyn Richards

Planning and Development Director
City of London Corporation

Gwyn Richards is the Planning and Development Director in the City of London. He oversees the Development Management, Heritage, Sustainability, Transport Planning and Plans and Strategy teams which underpin all development in the City of London. In particular, he oversees the District Surveyor and Building Control functions as well as the Partnership and Engagement team. He has been at the City of London for over 15 years and was previously in senior positions in Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Dee Corsi

Chief Executive Officer
New West End Company

Dee Corsi is Chief Executive at New West End Company, the business partnership for over 600 retail, hospitality, leisure and property companies in London’s West End International Centre.

New West End Company delivers place management, inward investment, destination marketing, insights, sustainability and advocacy services to over 80 streets in and around Bond Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street and Mayfair with 150,000 employees and an annual turnover of £10bn.

Since joining New West End Company in 2016 as Chief Operating Officer, Dee has led on key business support for the District, working in partnership with the public and private sectors to deliver world-class street operations, an unrivalled customer insights programme and the creation, development and implementation of our district-wide Road To Zero Sustainability Action Plan.

As Chief Executive, Dee is the company spokesperson and member of the Board. Prior to joining New West End Company, Dee worked as Head of Commercial Finance at Bauer Media, having spent ten years as a qualified accountant in consumer publishing.

Stella Abani MBE

Director of Economy & Skills
Westminster Council

Stella is currently Director of Economy and Skills at Westminster City Council and has over 25 years senior leadership experience across public, private and charity sector. She joined Westminster City Council from central government (UKHMG) where her last role at the Department for International Trade was focused on strategic and operational delivery of programmes aimed at securing economic growth through an increase in exports and investment opportunities.

Stella is passionate about working with local communities and stakeholders to deliver sustainable outcomes and lasting impact. She has extensive experience delivering strategic policies and programmes in economic development, regeneration, community renewal and sustainability.

Her previous work experience includes leadership roles at London Borough of Croydon; London Development Agency (the economic delivery arm of the GLA up to 2012); the Institute for Sustainability and the Centre for Workforce Intelligence (part of Mouchel Ltd). Her earlier career was as a medical laboratory scientist working in diagnostic laboratories.

Michelle McGrath

Executive Director
Shaftesbury Capital plc

Michelle is Executive Director of Shaftesbury Capital PLC responsible for co-leading the Group’s real estate portfolio and was previously Executive Director of Capital and Counties Properties PLC prior to the merger with Shaftesbury PLC. Michelle is an experienced Corporate Financier and was previously as UBS Investment Bank advising companies across the listed real estate sector.

Michelle is on the Board of the Westminster Property Association and the Federated Hermes Property Unit Trust.

Kristy Lansdown

Head of Development
The Crown Estate (WPA Board Member)

Kristy joined the Crown Estate as Head of Development in September 2022, to lead the Development Strategy for the London portfolio, including Regent Street and St James’s.

Kristy previously worked at Lendlease Europe for 17 years holding a number of roles, most recently as Project Director for two of Lendlease’s flagship projects. These included; Elephant Park, a mixed use neighbourhood of c.3,000 homes, and The International Quarter London, a 2.5m sqf workplace destination on the doorstep to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Kristy brings an array of expertise having worked on the design, planning and delivery of a variety of large-scale projects across residential, workplace and retail uses, with a passion for public realm and placemaking outcomes.

David Lockyer

Head of Development
British Land

With over 30 years property experience, David Lockyer was appointed Head of Development at British Land in July 2023. He is responsible for leading the strategic direction, co-ordination, and delivery of the company’s development activities. He has also been a member of British Land’s Executive Committee and Investment Committee since 2020.

Having worked at British Land for over 13 years, David has been involved with many of the office developments the company has delivered and the investments that have been made over that time.

Prior to joining British Land in 2010, David was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley in their real estate private equity team with asset management responsibility for their UK investments, having previously spent over 8 years working at GE Capital Real Estate.

Denz Ibrahim

Head of Retail & Futuring
LGIM Real Estate

Denz Ibrahim joined Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) Real Assets in 2019 as the Head of Retail and Futuring. He has a creative background in Design and Urbanism with extensive experience in retail, placemaking and re-building the urban environment for the future. Denz is a graduate of the London School of Economics Cities Programme and was previously the Head of Special Projects at Appear Here and then the Head of Placemaking for BNP Paribas Real Estate. Since joining LGIM Real Assets, Denz’ role has been to completely re-invent how the business considers retail, both spatially and culturally, and drives a cross-sector approach to consumer centric placemaking, curating environments, which re-connect people with places and brands. He is responsible for LGIM Real Assets thought processes as an organisation to better understand the cultural shifts in the way people live, work and play across the entirety of its consumer facing environments, delivering future fit places. Denz is a member of the LGIM Real Assets Equity Senior Leadership Team, a frequent contributor to industry journals and press, and sits on the board of Foundry, a co-working provider and business support incubator, co-founded by LGIM Real Assets in 2022.

Mike Keaveney

Director of Land and Development
Grainger plc

Michael Keaveney is Director of Land and Development at Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord. He has overall responsibility for the delivery and growth of Grainger’s BTR development pipeline.

Michael has over 30 years of hands-on real estate and development experience. His expertise includes management of complex residential-led mixed use developments across the whole development lifecycle from identification and acquisition through to town planning, funding, construction, marketing, operation and exit.

Prior to joining Grainger, Mike Keaveney was Development Director at Concord London Developments Ltd, where he led on the acquisition of the Moxon Street car park site in Marylebone, W1 from Westminster City Council and was instrumental in the joint venture with Brookfield to develop out the 50-storey residential tower and affordable housing blocks at Principle Place in London EC1.

Mike’s early career was at Osprey PMI (part of Franklin + Andrews; now Mott MacDonald) where he was an Equity Partner and Board Director responsible for the London Office of Osprey PMI and its Commercial Development projects in the UK prior to moving to Ridgeford Developments Ltd and W1 Developments.

Susan Freeman

Partner
Mishcon de Reya

Susan is a real estate partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya. An experienced real estate lawyer, her in-depth understanding of the property market, the emerging world of tech and her business training as a Sloan Masters MSc (London Business School) graduate, combined with a wide circle of contacts is an effective combination. She is listed in Property Week’s Women’s Power List, which describes her as “a world-class networker” with “a contact book full of CEOs”.
In 2021, Susan received an honorary doctorate from the University College of Estate Management (UCEM), in recognition of her contribution to the built environment.

She is on the board of Central District Alliance, the Holborn and surrounding area’s Business Improvement District and chairs its Property Group and is on the advisory boards of real estate investment company Seaforth Land and of flexible working company Work.Life. She is also an active member of a number of property-related organisations, including Vice Chair of the British Property Federation’s Technology and Innovation Group and member of the ULI Europe Technology and Real Estate Product Council.

Susan hosts the popular Propertyshe podcast where she has now interviewed 80+ of the top influencers who define and make a difference to the real estate industry and built environment. The podcast series is recognised as #1 in the recent Top 25 Best London Real Estate Podcasts (FeedSpot).

Susan writes for Property Week on property industry issues, undertakes regular speaking and panel engagements and is active on social media as @Propertyshe.

David Ainsworth

Executive Chairman
CO-RE

David is Executive Chairman of developer CO-RE. Throughout his 40 year career, David has been responsible for a large number of significant commercial projects in Central London, usually from “cradle to grave”, covering all aspects of the development process and on behalf of many overseas investors.

Current projects on site include Lansdowne House in Berkeley Square, pre-let to Blackstone, 20 Ropemaker in the City, pre -let to Linklaters, 120 Fleet Street & Stonecutter Court in Midtown, and the Fitzrovia in Tottenham Court Road.

David has a BSC in Real Estate, is Past President of the City Property Association, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

David Lunts

Chief Executive Officer
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation

David Lunts was appointed as the permanent Chief Executive Officer of Old Oak and Park Royal Development in January 2021.

He had previously been the interim Chief Executive Officer for OPDC since February 2019, and combined his work on London’s largest Opportunity Area with his duties as Executive Director of Housing and Land for the Greater London Authority.

Between 2009-2012 David led as the Executive Director for London at the Homes and Communities Agency. His earlier career included three years at the GLA as Executive Director of Policy and Partnerships under Ken Livingstone, a leading role in housing and regeneration with Manchester City Council during the 1980s and early 90s and a three-year spell as director of Urban Policy for John Prescott at the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Alexander Jan

Non-Executive Chair
Central District Alliance

Alexander is the non-executive chair of Central District Alliance – the Business Improvement District covering Holborn, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, Bloomsbury and St Giles. He is Chief Economic Advisor to the London Property Alliance, which brings together the Westminster Property Association and the City Property Association to provide a unified voice for the real estate sector across the City, the West End and neighbouring commercial districts. Alexander was formerly Arup’s chief economist. He is currently researching and (slowly) writing a book on the remarkable life of Lord Ashfield, the first chairman and creator of London Transport.