CREATING CONNECTIONS... GENERATING OPPORTUNITIES

Eve McCurrich

Director

Whiteburn Projects Ltd

An MRICS qualified Quantity Surveyor, Eve has a wealth of experience managing the delivery of a variety of projects in the UK and Dubai.

Eve has spent over 15 years working in residential development for both PLC’s and Strategic Land Developers.

Eve is the Director responsible for the expansion and delivery of Whiteburn’s residential businesses, focusing on both private for sale homes and Build to Rent.

Eve sits on the Scottish Property Federation’s consultation panel on PRS/Build to Rent investment and delivery, and until recently was a Board member of Hillcrest Housing Association, which specialises in social rent and large-scale housing management in Scotland.

Derek McGowan

Head of Communities and Housing

Aberdeen City Council

Derek is Head of Communities and Housing for Aberdeen City Council, with responsibility for housing management, strategy, property factoring and private sector housing including landlord registration and HMO licensing. He also has lead officer responsibility for community and emergency planning, and

protective services.

He previously worked for City of Edinburgh Council in a number of services including Trading Standards, Licensing, Community Safety and Environment, and Family and Household Support.

Fiona Morrison

Deputy Chief Executive

Hillcrest Group

Deputy Chief Executive of the Hillcrest Group since 2014 with responsibility for the Housing, Development and Property Teams within Hillcrest Housing Association.  Fiona also has responsibility for three of the four subsidiary companies.  The three subsidiaries are - Northern Housing (provider of mid-market rent), Hillcrest Enterprises (commercial activity including open market rent) and Hillcrest Maintenance Services (direct maintenance provider).  Fiona is also Company Secretary.

Fiona’s previous position was as Director of Housing, joining Hillcrest following the merger with Gowrie Housing Association in 2003.  She has been a Corporate Member of the Institute of Housing since 1992.

Andrew Bruce

Head of Project Finance

Scottish Futures Trust

Andrew spent seven years working for a small merchant bank as a financial adviser and investor in infrastructure projects. Since 2009 he has worked for Scottish Futures Trust where he has had responsibility for sourcing and negotiating financing across several workstreams – especially the hub programme, the NPD programme and housing activities. On the latter, he was heavily involved in the set up of the LAR Housing Trust (a new charitable organisation for mid-market housing) and has been supporting Scottish Government’s efforts to promote the build to rent sector.

Gerry More

Managing Director

Stewart Milne Homes, Central Scotland

A qualified chartered accountant, Gerry has extensive sector and UK – wide experience gained over the course of a career spanning more than 25 years. A former board member and chairman of Homes for Scotland, and prior to joining Stewart Milne Homes, Gerry has most recently, as Build To Rent PRS Champion and through this industry body, advised the Scottish Government on Policies and regulatory matters designed to encourage institutional investment in new purpose-built homes for rent. In addition he was also involved as consultant and director with a number of house building and property related companies across the UK. Previous roles also included Chief Executive Officer of stock market-listed, residential mezzanine funding provider Wolsey Residential Finance plc and a main board director of Cala Group.

Jestyn Davies

Managing Director

Murray Estates

Jestyn has spent over 30 years in the UK property industry the last 20 of which have been spent with various Murray family businesses. Previously a  Director with UK Developer, Premier Property Group (PPG) Jestyn set up its sister company Murray Estates in 2008 which was subsequently  the subject of a  buy out in February 2014.  The business continues to focus on the group’s extensive interests in strategic land, mixed use projects and residential developments. Jestyn has a broad range of experience having successfully delivered projects ranging from Inner City offices to residential led urban expansion. Current projects include Edinburgh’s Garden District, a new city district providing over 6,000 new homes and the International Business Gateway at Edinburgh Airport.  He has held various Murray Group and  non-executive positions and is currently  a board member with Edinburgh Leisure. Jestyn is a former Chairman of the Scottish Property Federation  leaving  this position in November 2013. He still serves on the Policy board.

Jestyn holds a BSc (Hons) from Heriot Watt University and an MBA from Edinburgh

University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Gregor Hamilton

Head of Planning and Economic Development

Dundee City Council

Gregor Hamilton is the Head of Planning and Economic Development at Dundee City Council, responsible for the delivery of the Council’s Planning, Building Standards and Physical Regeneration functions. 

He has worked in Dundee for over 25 years.  During this time, the city has been transformed from its industrial past to a vibrant, knowledge based economy with a growing population and increasing sense of ambition and optimism.

Central to this is the Dundee Waterfront Project, one of the largest regeneration projects in the UK, encompassing 240 hectares of land stretching 8 kilometres along the north of the River Tay and involving over £1 billion of investment.

Alison Fyfe

Real Estate Finance Consultant & Non Exec Director

Alison Fyfe Consultants

Alison is a knowledgeable property professional with more than 30 years experience in surveying and banking.  She worked for Knight Frank in London and Edinburgh before moving to RBS where she spent 19 years in a variety of specialist real estate finance roles.  She has extensive experience in the structuring of debt and equity funding, including mezzanine finance and joint ventures, and has worked with a wide variety of investment and development vehicles covering all sectors of the UK property market.

Alison set up her own property finance consultancy business in October 2016. She is currently undertaking advisory work in both the public and private sectors in conjunction with non-exec directorship roles. 

Chris Stewart

CEO

Chris Stewart Group

Chris is an experienced and award-winning property investor, developer and hotelier and has been in business for more than 20 years. He is considered one of Scotland’s – and the UK’s – finest and most skilled property developers.

His group of companies – Chris Stewart Group (CSG) – has ownership and operational interests across the residential, office, retail, hotel, serviced apartment and leisure sectors. In 2013, CSG completed the redevelopment of Advocate’s Close in Edinburgh, which was named by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) as Scotland’s Best Building.

The Group’s latest projects include the redevelopment and regeneration of the former RBS headquarters on the south east corner of St Andrew Square in the centre of Edinburgh as well as the former Glasgow City Council offices on the north east corner of George Square in Glasgow.

Chris is currently Chair of the Scottish Real Estate Forum and was previously Chair of Scottish Property Federation. He has also participated in several committees and boards including the Strategic Historic Environment Forum and Scottish Property Federation Policy Board.

Chris has recently joined the Board of Trustees at Seamab School in Kinross-shire as the new Chair.

Richard Yorke

Director - Analytics

CoStar

Richard has twenty years’ experience working in real estate, predominately in senior management, consultancy & research, and business development roles. Richard is a director of CoStar responsible for analytics and the development of market leading products such as Propex, amongst others. Richard Joined from Cushman & Wakefield/DTZ where he was Head of Research. Previously Richard has been a director of Experian and RCA where he was responsible for developing and managing real estate services. Richard is a member of RICS and holds a master’s degree in economics. Richard has published numerous reports, is a regular presenter at industry events and commentator in the media.

Deborah Cadman OBE

Chief Executive

West Midlands Combined Authority

Deborah became Chief Executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority in September 2017, following a long and distinguished career in public service.

After gaining a degree in politics, she began her career in 1984 with the London Borough of Newham, before moving to Birmingham City Council where she worked on major regeneration projects and gained a master’s degree in economics. Moving to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in 1996 as Head of Policy, Deborah gained a second master’s in management, before taking up a two-year secondment with the Department of Environment Transport and the Regions as Local Government Advisor to the Ministerial Team. In 2003, after being appointed the Audit Commission's Best Value Service Lead Inspector for the London region, she became Chief Executive at St Edmundsbury Borough Council, before becoming Chief Executive of the East of England Development Agency. Deborah was Chief Executive of Suffolk County Council from 2011 to 2017 and has also been interim Chief Executive of Waveney District Council, Babergh District Council and Mid-Suffolk District Council.

She is a trustee of the Joseph Rowntree Trust and Joseph Rowntree Housing Foundation and as a dedicated and passionate female advocate at the forefront of the public sector, Deborah recently won the First Women Award for Public Service. Deborah is listed in Local Government Chronicle’s ‘100 Most Influential in the Sector’. Deborah was awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to local government.

Huw Rhys Lewis

Managing Director

Urban Growth Company

Huw has been Managing Director of the Urban Growth Company (UGC) since it was formed in 2016 and is responsible for spearheading the preparation and delivery of infrastructure and development at the UK Central Hub site in Solihull.  The infrastructure investment value in The Hub over the next ten years is expected to be in excess of £1.6bn.

The UGC has published its Hub Growth and Infrastructure Plan which brings together the ambitions of Birmingham Airport, the NEC, Jaguar Land Rover, Birmingham Business Park and Arden Cross – the site for HS2’s Birmingham Interchange Station – with the potential to generate up to £4.1bn GVA per annum. 

Huw has 25 years’ senior director experience in the private and public sector working on asset, facilities and estates management, design, construction and procurement.  He has lived and worked in the UK and internationally, across sectors including retail, office, leisure, transportation, waste, education, housing, infrastructure and regeneration.

Huw’s previous roles include Development Director for UCI and Village Roadshow Cinemas covering their circuits Internationally, Vice President Stations Metronet, Director at Balfour Beatty overseeing their health and education portfolios and their works at Terminal 5 and Terminal 2, Investment and Board Director at Shanks plc , and more recently Property Director at the City of London Corporation, overseeing all capital projects on behalf of the City of London with a property portfolio of over £2 billion generating a rental income of over £100m per annum. 

Denise Li

Vice Chairman & President

PGC Capital

Award-winning businesswoman, Denise Li, founded PGC Capital in 2015 after an illustrious career assisting companies achieve their international aspirations and expand into China including Formula One, the English Premier League, Porsche, Zespri, Nissan, Omnicom, Hilton Hotels Group and Amway. In 2014, Denise launched the International Financial Summit to introduce sophisticated global investment insights and opportunities to Chinese high net worths, corporations and institutional investors.  The previous year, Denise introduced International GolfWeek to China, before going on to co-found Shanghai International GolfWeek (China) Limited to encourage entrepreneurs to raise funds for China’s most deprived children.

For three consecutive years, Denise received the Centurion Award from American Express, and when she was General Manager for Zespri, the leading kiwi fruit company, she was responsible for increasing annual turnover to 300m RMB with a team of only three.

Denise and PGC Capital have been frequently profiled in the UK property media, The Times (London) and the Financial Times.  She is also a regular panellist at Financial Times Live events. PGC Capital’s first residential development in the UK is situated in the famous Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham.  Known as The Jewel Court, it was Highly Commended at the 2016/17 International Property Awards. At the end of 2017, she was appointed Executive Chairman of the Confederation of China Business UK.   

Dr Colin J Clinton

Regional Project Manager, Midlands Engine Investment Hub

Department for International Trade

Colin started his civil engineering career working in the public sector on major Inner City infrastructure projects and Urban Regeneration schemes for Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, West Midlands County Council and the City of Birmingham for a sustained period from 1971 to 1988. Colin joined Arup in 1988 in their Birmingham office. He managed several projects across Midlands UK, and into Continental Europe. In 1994 he was Senior Project Manager for the first Japanese investment by Toyota into their Car Plant in Derbyshire. In 2002, Colin was appointed a Director of Arup, and in 2004 became the youngest President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In January 2010 he was appointed Director of Business Development East Asia Region (EAR) based in Hong Kong. From June 2011, and in addition to his BD role, he was Project Director for the Rose Rock International Finance Centre (RRIFC) in Tianjin, Northern China. Throughout 2013 and 2014 Dr Clinton developed relationships with some of China’s largest construction and investment firms. In April 2015 he returned from China to the UK and was based in Arup’s Liverpool Office. In Sept 2015 Colin accepted an invitation by UK Gov’t for a part time secondment role as Head of China Business in UKTI Regeneration and Investment Organisation (RIO). He accompanied the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to China for the Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD). From January 2016 Colin has been based in Birmingham supporting the inward investment strategy for Birmingham, WMCA and the Midlands Engine. He directed the production of the ME investment Pitchbook and help launch it at MIPIM in Mar 2016. He joined DIT full time in Jan 2017 as Regional Project Manager within the Midlands Engine Investment Hub.

Jane Kemp

Partner and Consultant

Adducere LLP

Until co-founding niche property consultancy Adducere LLP in 2009, Jane was a solicitor and has over 20 years experience in the Property Market. Her career experience has been both client side, as an in-house solicitor with national property companies, and she has also occupied senior positions with law firms – Eversheds, Hammonds and Clarke Willmott. Jane continues to work with DLA Piper as a consultant. 

In September 2016 Jane co-founded the West Midlands Women's Voice Group which aims to ensure that the voice of women influences emerging policy from the West Midlands Combined Authority. 

Jane’s recent focus is on a joint venture between Adducere LLP and Wilmott Dixon to provide public bodies with an alternative funding model through Adjuto Funding Solutions. 

Gareth Bradford

Director of Housing & Regeneration

West Midlands Combined Authority

Gareth joined the senior leadership team in December 2017 established by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and WMCA chief executive Deborah Cadman.

Gareth worked in central Government from 2010 to 2017, where his roles included a 2.5 year secondment to the No10 Policy Unit as a policy adviser on themes such as affordable housing, land, small businesses, regeneration, planning, build to rent and right to buy.

His previous roles were as deputy director responsible for a cross-Whitehall division for regeneration and infrastructure, leading bespoke housing and regeneration deals in growth areas. Also as a team leader working on planning reform and legislation. Before that he was a senior planning officer and team leader at Devon County Council which he joined on graduation with a MSC in planning from Cardiff University.

Originally from Devon, he is married with a young daughter and is a keen sports fan, playing rugby union for Exeter and Devon as a youth.

Gareth will oversee implementation of the WMCA’s plans to increase the supply of land for housing and employment to help meet growth levels set out in its Strategic Economic Plan.

Paul Brundage

Executive Vice President & Senior Managing Director

Oxford Properties Europe

Paul Brundage is the Head of Oxford Properties’ London office, and is responsible for overseeing and managing the execution of the company’s European strategy, with emphasis on continued growth of the team and expansion into European markets alongside the UK.

Paul has been with OMERS for 15 years. Prior to opening Oxford Properties’ London office in 2008, Paul was accountable for the asset management and operations of Oxford’s 50-million sq ft Canadian portfolio. He has held positions with Borealis Real Estate Management Inc. and OMERS Realty Corporation, Prudential of England and PricewaterhouseCoopers in asset and portfolio management, leasing, business development, acquisitions and dispositions and investment analysis.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics and Geography from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Arts in Urban and Regional Analysis from State University of New York.

Paul is a Fellow of RICS, and is actively involved in the UK’s economics and property landscape. He is Junior Vice President on the Board of the British Property Federation (BPF) and sits on their Policy Committee. Paul is also part of the Bank of England Property Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Henley Business School Strategy Board.

Helen Gordon

Chief Executive

Grainger plc

Helen Gordon is Chief Executive of Grainger plc the UK’s largest listed residential landlord.  

Helen was appointed Chief Executive of Grainger in January 2016 from RBS where she had been Global Head of Real Estate Asset Management since October 2011. Prior to that Helen was Director of Legal and General Property, responsible for the Main Life Fund and c.8 smaller Funds, and Group Property Director of Railtrack and Managing Director of John Laing Developments.

Helen sits on the Board of Derwent London as a non-executive Director and is currently a Board Director of the European Public Real Estate Association and Junior Vice President of the British Property Federation. Helen has held a number of non-exec positions and Government appointments including the Board of Covent Garden Market Authority, Board of British Waterways, TfL Property Board and was a Trustee for The College of Estate Management for nine years.

Andrew Jones

Chief Executive

LondonMetric Property plc

Andrew was a co-founder and CEO of Metric from its inception in March 2010 until its merger with London & Stamford in January 2013.  On completion of the merger, Andrew became Chief Executive of LondonMetric.  Andrew was previously Executive Director and Head of Retail at British Land. Andrew joined British Land in 2005 following the acquisition of Pillar Property plc.

Andrew is also a Non-Executive Director of Unite plc - the UK's leading provider of student accommodation.

Sadie Malim

Head of Special Projects & Legal

Moorfield Group

Sadie has over 10 years of experience in UK Alternative Investment asset management. She has worked in the student accommodation, youth hostels, pubs, build to rent and senior living sectors and now focusses on driving the customer experience across all Moorfield’s operational assets. Sadie’s wider role at Moorfield includes responsibility for overseeing and implementing specific projects that require both private equity and real estate knowledge. She works closely with the Board on multiple fronts including the Moorfield (and its investments) brand and media strategy, together with various other operational matters. She also oversees its ESG policy and transactional, legal and regulatory functions. Sadie has an MA in PPE from Oxford University and a post-graduate degree in Law. Prior to joining Moorfield, Sadie worked in the Private Equity group at Clifford Chance where she advised international private equity clients on acquisitions, disposals, MBOs and listings. Moorfield is a UK real estate private equity fund manager with a 21 year track record of investing across a broad range of real estate sectors. Moorfield has raised c.£1.5bn since 2005 via its value-add MREF funds and its dedicated special purpose fund (MAREF) that owns the senior housing platform Audley.

Melanie Leech CBE

Chief Executive

BPF

Melanie joined the British Property Federation as Chief Executive in January 2015, following nine years as Director General of the Food and Drink Federation.

Melanie began her working life as a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police Service. She joined the civil service (HM Customs) in 1988 and subsequently held senior roles in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Office of the Rail Regulator and the Cabinet Office. Her role is to champion UK real estate and to promote a long-term, sustainable partnership between governments and the sector to deliver a high quality built environment, and to create wealth.

Melanie is a Fellow of the RSA and a member of the Battersea. In 2015 she was awarded a CBE for services to the food and drink industry.

Pete Gladwell

Head of Public Sector Partnerships

LGIM Real Assets

Pete Gladwell joined Legal & General in August 2007, with responsibility for the design and development of new funds and overseeing relationships with pension funds, investment consultants, and insurance clients. He led on the creation of a new generation of property funds particularly focussed on liability matching and Defined Contributions pension funds and L&G’s joint ventures with Dutch pension funds, which now total over £5 billion. In 2013, Pete was appointed Head of Public Sector Partnerships, to lead L&G's direct investments across property and infrastructure into partnerships with Local and Combined Authorities, Registered Providers, Universities, the NHS, and central government, including One Public Estate and the “RIO Regeneration Investment Collective” with the Department of International Trade. These investments total over £4.35bn.

Pete was formally a Senior Analyst in DTZ Research and enjoyed an erstwhile life as a youth worker for seven years in the Oxfordshire area.

Pete is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Member of Brasenose College, Oxford University; holding a post-graduate MA, as well as an initial degree in Computation. He also holds the Investment Management Certificate.

Pete is also a Trustee for the Young Foundation, which works to create a more equal and just society through social innovation, and heavily involved in local community initiatives in Harlesden, London.

Matt Jones

Director, Real Estate Finance

Santander Corporate & Commercial

Matt has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry, specialising in real estate finance across the North West for the last 17 years. Previously at RBS and Barclays, Matt joined Santander in 2013 and currently heads up the North West team, covering Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and North Wales. Matt has been involved in some of the region’s largest transactions, and brings unique experience of the challenges facing the senior debt market.

Karen Hirst

Director

Eric Wright Group

Karen joined as a Director in 2016 and was promoted to Managing Director of Maple Grove Developments, part of the Eric Wright Group, in January 2018.  Her role involves overseeing all of the commercial development opportunities, bringing in and delivering new developments working with both public and private sector partners. Karen is also the lead for the Lancashire Central site which totals 160 acres, acting as Lancashire County Council’s developer partner for the first phase of retail development. Karen also works across the Group supporting the public/private partnerships. Karen spent the last 10 years in Salford as Development Director at Salford City Council and Central Salford Regeneration Company.  At Salford City Council Karen led the Regeneration, Property, Housing, Planning, Transport and Business and Funding Teams.  The Team delivered a number of major mixed use physical development projects working in partnership with both the public and private sector. 

Current and previous roles:

Maple Grove Developments part of the Eric Wright Group: June 2016 to present.

Director at Salford City Council: February 2011 to June 2016.

Director at Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company, prior to the transfer to Salford City Council: September 2006 to February 2011.

Infrastructure in North Wales at the Welsh Assembly Government (formerly Welsh Development Agency – Investment and Area Development Director) where she undertook regeneration projects in Wrexham, Bangor and Caernarfon: September 2001 to September 2006 

Easter Group – Director where Karen managed and developed a multi-million pound property portfolio in North Wales and North West England: November 1996 to September 2001.

Lorraine Donnelly

Development Director

Your Housing Group

Lorraine has worked in a construction environment for more than 30 years, she is responsible for the delivery of the Group's Growth Strategy which will deliver 5,700 homes over the next 5 years.

Lorraine started her career in a busy estimating department for Balfour Beatty Civil Engineers in 1988. This early experience helped her to develop her love of working in a busy, thriving construction environment; so to land a job in the development team back in 1994, to mix construction and housing, was the start of her dream career for her.  During her 24 years working for the Group she has had a number of roles within the team, before taking up the role of Director of Development in the summer of 2015, with overall responsibility to deliver the growth aspirations and provide quality homes that we can be really proud of.

When she’s not on site … Lorraine spends lots of time with her family and friends, she loves visiting places to tick off her bucket list, but more importantly is a season ticket holder at Everton FC.

David Sleath

Chief Executive Officer

SEGRO

David Sleath was appointed Chief Executive Officer of SEGRO in April 2011 having been Finance Director since 1 January 2006. Previously, he was Finance Director of Wagon plc, the international automotive engineering group, from 1999 to 2005. From 1982 to 1999 he worked for Arthur Andersen, latterly as a Partner and Head of Audit and Assurance for the Midlands. He is a board member and the immediate Past President of the British Property Federation.

Bob Weston

Chairman and Chief Executive

Weston Homes plc

Bob Weston is Chairman and Chief Executive of Weston Homes Plc. He left Fairview New Homes to form the company in 1987 and has spent a lifetime in the housebuilding sector. From the first development, a four bedroom, detached house in Essex, Bob has developed Weston Homes into a company which now delivers over 800 homes a year across the South East. Bob is a regular commentator on issues shaping housebuilding in the UK and has been working with government and policy-makers to effect change in the industry.

Claire Dutch

Partner and Head of Planning`

Hogan Lovells International LLP

Claire is a partner and Head of Planning at Hogan Lovells International LLP. She specialises in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious planning law. She has advised on a number of complex and high profile planning projects including Bishopsgate Goodsyard and key sites within Nine Elms and in the London Docklands. Claire also has experience of advising on infrastructure projects and on energy and waste projects in particular. Claire is listed as a "Leading Individual" in both Legal 500 and Chambers UK and has been described in the latter as "calm yet keen, an excellent negotiator and a lawyer who really fights her client's corner". She recently featured in Planning Magazine's 2016 poll of the most influential women in the UK planning system. She was also one of only 6 solicitors listed in Planning Magazine's "Power 100", a poll of the most influential people in the planning industry. She is also a member of the BPF's Planning Committee and the Oxford Joint Planning Law Conference Committee.

Jules Pipe

Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills

Greater London Authority

Jules Pipe is the Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills. He is working on key priorities for the Mayor, including: major regeneration projects across the capital, providing young people and adults with the skills they need for their careers, ensuring London’s infrastructure needs are delivered to benefit all Londoners, and leading on revising the London Plan. Jules has unrivalled knowledge of London government, becoming the first directly elected mayor of Hackney in 2002 and serving as Chair of London Councils from June 2010 to July 2016.

Sir Steve Bullock

Mayor

London Borough of Lewisham

Sir Steve Bullock was elected as Lewisham’s first directly-elected mayor in 2002. He was elected for a fourth term in May 2014. He serves as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group at the Local Government Association (LGA) and is Chair of the Commercial Board. He was elected to the London Councils’ executive in June 2010 and leads on Housing.

Mayor Sir Steve’s local government career started in policy in the then Greater London Council (GLC). In 1982 he was elected on to Lewisham Council, where he served as Leader for five years between 1988 and 1993. He also ran a local Community Health Council and later became non-executive director and then Chair of Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust.

Sir Steve's services to local government were recognised with a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2007.

Bill Hughes

Head of Real Assets

Legal & General Investment Management

Bill joined L&G in 2007 and is responsible for transforming its UK property fund management business into a global-reaching real assets platform. Operating in both the direct investment and lending markets, today it actively invests and manages over £23.2bn AUM across commercial property, private residential, infrastructure, property lending and corporate credit. 

Since the beginning of 2015, L&G has worked closely with Government’s Regeneration Organisation to identify and invest in critical regeneration projects that support UK growth.

Bill previously held positions at RREEF, the Real Estate Fund Management business of Deutsche Bank, and Schroder Property Investment Management. From 2012 to 2015, Bill was part of the Presidential team at the British Property Federation. 

He is currently Chair of the Property Industry Alliance (PIA), bringing together the UK’s leading property bodies to give them a stronger collective voice on issues such as policy, research and best practice.  He also continues to play a role in Sir Michael Lyons’ Housing Review.

Rob Groves

Regional Director

Argent

Rob Groves, Regional Director with Argent has over 30 years of planning, design and construction experience. Prior to joining Argent in 2007 he was an Equity Partner at a large multi-disciplinary consulting engineer practice. His experience includes mixed use residential, commercial, industrial schemes as well as major public sector infrastructure.

Rob has led schemes from feasibility through to planning, compulsory purchase, which includes expert witness work, detailed design and construction and lettings.

Currently Rob is responsible for the Paradise Circus project which is a joint venture with Birmingham City Council for a new commercial led mixed use development of up to 2 million sq/ft in Birmingham City centre.

Waheed Nazir

Corporate Director, Economy

Birmingham City Council

As Corporate Director Economy, Birmingham City Council, Waheed has worked for the authority in various roles for 20 years. Waheed provides strategic leadership and direction across a wide portfolio, including the Council’s property portfolio, planning, regeneration, housing development, transportation and connectivity, highways and infrastructure, skills and employment, business development and inward investment.

Waheed led the major transformation of the city centre through the Big City Plan, bringing forward key projects including Birmingham Smithfield, Snowhill, Paradise and New Street redevelopment. He oversees £2.5bn public sector investment through the Enterprise Zone and HS2 Curzon masterplan. 

Alongside leading Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust, one of the city’s largest housebuilders, Waheed led the Council to set up a series of commercial vehicles including InReach, the Council’s vehicle for building new homes across the city, and the development of an investment vehicle for commercial property to help deliver growth.

Waheed is a non-executive Director of Birmingham Airport Holdings Limited.

Waheed is a columnist for Estates Gazette, and a visiting Professor at Birmingham City University, he mentors a number of graduates demonstrating commitment to support the development of future professionals in the field.

Waheed was awarded an honorary Doctorate by Aston University in July 2017.

Tony Pidgley CBE

Chairman

The Berkeley Group

He left school at 15 to form his own company in haulage and plant hire. At 19, he sold his business to Crest Homes and became a Building Director, before leaving to form Berkeley Homes in 1975. The company enjoyed rapid growth, floated on the Unlisted Securities Market in 1984, and then gained a full listing in 1985 as the Berkeley Group plc.

Tony has gained a national reputation for his pioneering approach to building homes and creating successful places. His judgement of the markets, willingness to put his personal capital at risk, and his drive and commercial flair have made Berkeley one of Britain's best residential developers. In 2011, Berkeley was ranked Britain's Most Admired Company across all sectors and is the only housebuilder to win the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development twice.

Tony is now part of Lord Heseltine's Thames Estuary Growth Commission. His expertise has been used to advise the recent Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, the Mayor on the Outer London Commission and the Government on the disposal of public sector land. He is also a trustee of Open City London, a charity that champions architecture education, and President of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2016, he was nominated New Londoner of the Year in recognition of his contribution to housebuilding across the capital.

Maria Machancoses

Director

Midlands Connect

With a degree in Law and an MSc in International Transport, Maria has spent the last 20 years working in the UK.

Maria is currently Director for Midlands Connect, one of the largest and most successful partnership programmes in the country bringing together 23 Local Authorities and 9 Local Enterprise Partnerships across the Midlands from the Marches to the Wash. 

In March 2017 the partnership published a 25 year pan-Midlands transport strategy for the region, therefore increasing economic activity and helping to power the Midlands Engine. Since its formation the partnership has secured over £17m support from government to accelerate the delivery of its transport priorities from 2020 and beyond.

More recently Maria has been working as Interim Director of the Midlands Engine, a partnership which aims to generate a step change in productivity, economic growth in the Midlands and help drive Britain’s post-Brexit growth.

As part of her previous role, Maria managed the WM Integrated Transport Authority’s input into the HS2 Hybrid Bill and was actively involved in master-planning activities around proposed HS2 Stations in the West Midlands. 

Cllr Nicola Beech

Cabinet Member for Spatial Planning and City Design

Bristol City Council

Councillor Nicola Beech was elected ward councillor for St George Central in 2016 and was appointed by Mayor Marvin Rees to the cabinet in July 2017 to lead on Spatial Planning and City Design. This sees her play a key role in delivering the West of England’s Joint Spatial Plan and Bristol’s Local Plan. She also represents Bristol on the West of England Combined Authority infrastructure advisory board and is the 2017 councillor representative on the West of England Nature Partnership Board.

Following her relocation to Bristol in May 2010 Nicola has worked in the area of brownfield regeneration, and property management and development.

Nicola splits her time and is employed as the strategic communications manager for a multinational utilities company conducting the internal and external communications and stakeholder engagement activity across the UK.

Nicola is also a trustee of the Meadowvale Community Association and a governor of Speedwell Nursery in east Bristol.

Matt Cross

Head of Inward Investment

Bristol & Bath

An inward investment specialist with a masters in International Business from Birkbeck College. Matt has worked in international business in both the public and private sector for most of his career, spanning London, New York, Plymouth and Bristol. He worked for internet companies during the .com boom and inward investment focused accountants. But for most of his career he has worked in inward investment for London building a reputation working for large complex global businesses investing or invested in London.

Currently he is Head of Inward Investment for Invest Bristol & Bath, the West of England Combined Authorities investment promotion agency. 

David Biggs

Managing Director, Property

Network Rail

With over 25 years’ experience operating as a senior executive for major companies, David is the Managing Director for Network Rail’s property division. He has established a new strategic direction for the business based on a strong customer centric philosophy applied across all commercial activities including Retail, the Commercial Estate and Development. David has also been instrumental in the adoption of a partnering approach with developers to drive commercial value from the railway estate and releasing land for housing as well as leading on the Network Rail property disposal programme.

Mayor Marvin Rees

Mayor of Bristol

Bristol City Council (Keynote)

Born and brought up in Bristol, Marvin started his career working for faith based youth charities which led him to set up his own enterprise in 2012, the City Leadership Programme, which invests in the personal development of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He joined the BBC as a broadcast journalist and covered stories of Jamaican women in the drugs trade to tensions between communities in his home city. Eventually he moved on to explore another deep passion of his as he joined the Heaven and Earth Team at Religion and Ethics in Manchester. He also worked on the initial effort to organise the response of faith-based organisations to former President Bill Clinton's Welfare Reform Bill, and sat on the National Executive of the Jubilee 2000 USA campaign for debt relief for the world's poorest countries.

Marvin started working with the NHS in 2008 managing the Delivering Race Equality in Mental Healthcare action plan for Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. Then planned and supported the development of strategic collaborations between city and regional partners and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust.

He took part in the Yale World Fellows Program, the University's signature global leadership development initiative and completed a Master’s Degree in global economic development at Eastern University in the USA. He also joined the Labour Party’s Future Candidates Programme in 2011, learning from recognised leaders the skills and qualities necessary to be a strong and committed representative.

In May 2016 he was elected the second Mayor of Bristol. 

Tony Pidgley CBE

Chairman

The Berkeley Group

He left school at 15 to form his own company in haulage and plant hire. At 19, he sold his business to Crest Homes and became a Building Director, before leaving to form Berkeley Homes in 1975. The company enjoyed rapid growth, floated on the Unlisted Securities Market in 1984, and then gained a full listing in 1985 as the Berkeley Group plc.

Tony has gained a national reputation for his pioneering approach to building homes and creating successful places. His judgement of the markets, willingness to put his personal capital at risk, and his drive and commercial flair have made Berkeley one of Britain's best residential developers. In 2011, Berkeley was ranked Britain's Most Admired Company across all sectors and is the only housebuilder to win the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development twice.

Tony is now part of Lord Heseltine's Thames Estuary Growth Commission. His expertise has been used to advise the recent Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, the Mayor on the Outer London Commission and the Government on the disposal of public sector land. He is also a trustee of Open City London, a charity that champions architecture education, and President of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2016, he was nominated New Londoner of the Year in recognition of his contribution to housebuilding across the capital.

Craig McWilliam

Chief Executive

Grosvenor Britain & Ireland

Craig McWilliam, FRICS, was appointed to the Grosvenor Britain & Ireland Board in 2010. In 2013 he became the Executive Director responsible for the London estate, having previously had charge of all development activities off the London estate. In January 2017, Craig became CEO of Grosvenor Britain & Ireland. Prior to joining Grosvenor he was a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group.

Craig is an Honorary Fellow of the RICS, a Trustee of LandAid and a Director of London First. He also sits on BPF's Policy Committee and is Vice-Chairman of the Westminster Property Association.

Eiichiro Onozawa

Managing Director

Mitsui Fudosan UK

Eiichiro Onozawa joined Mitsui Fudosan UK in April 2014 as Deputy Managing Director and was promoted to the role of Managing Director in April 2016. His global real estate career spans more than 26 years with the Mitsui Fudosan Group and he is highly experienced in development, marketing, leasing, and asset management.

Before transferring to London, he spent four years as Senior Vice President of Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc., where he was responsible for strategising growth plans and assessing acquisition and disposal transactions within the company’s investment committee.

Eiichiro graduated with a Bachelor of Law from Keio University in Tokyo and earned an MBA from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

He serves as a Non-Executive Director of Stanhope plc and is a member of CLEAB, the Cambridge Land Economy Advisory Board (University of Cambridge).

Chris Taylor

Chief Executive Officer & Head of Private Markets

Hermes Real Estate

Chris joined Hermes Real Estate Investment Management Ltd (HREIM) in 2010 as CEO having successfully established the Australian Fund Manager QIC’s European office based in London. Prior to that Chris was head of European Property at HSBC.

The majority of his working career has previously been as Fund Manager at Prudential where he took a lead role in both the establishment and successful implementation of the diversification strategy of its UK real estate exposure into overseas markets. From this, Chris has an extensive knowledge of both the UK and European property markets and in particular the retail sector.

Chris is Chairman of MEPC, a non-executive director of New River Retail (UK) Ltd, a member of the Bank of England Property Committee, Vice President of the British Property Federation and a Chair of its Policy Committee, a member of BCSC and a Founder Board Member of INREV.

As CEO of Hermes Real Estate, managing over £6 billion of real estate, Chris is also the BTPS Director on the Argent Board and has been an active participant in Argent King’s Cross and King’s Cross Central for the past 3 years. Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and holds a BSc (Hons) in Land Management from Reading University.

Robert Noel

Group Chief Executive

Land Securities Group plc

Robert Noel (53) is the Chief Executive of Land Securities Group PLC. Landsec is the UK’s largest listed property company and is a constituent of the FTSE100. It owns over 23 million square feet of commercial floor space and has approximately 1,000,000 visitors to its buildings every day. From 1992 to 2002, he was a Director of Nelson Bakewell Ltd, the property services group. From June 2002 until October 2009, he was Property Director of Great Portland Estates plc. He joined Landsec in January 2010 as Managing Director of its London business and was subsequently appointed Chief Executive from 1 April 2012. Robert is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum and is a member of the Boards of both the British Property Federation (BPF) and the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA).

Fiona Fletcher-Smith

Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment

Greater London Authority

Fiona is responsible for overseeing the delivery and implementation of key strategies in areas such as the London Plan, the Economic Development Strategy, the London Enterprise Panel, transport, environment and climate change and in overseeing the operation of the Mayor's powers in relation to significant planning applications in the capital.

Olivia Harris

Chief Executive

Dolphin Living

Olivia Harris was appointed as Chief Executive of Dolphin Living in April 2017. Previously, Olivia was Finance Director at Dolphin, providing financial and commercial oversight on a wide range of property and related projects, including debt and fund raising. Olivia is a Chartered Accountant and has worked for more than 15 years in the property industry.

Jennie Daly

UK Land & Planning Director

Taylor Wimpey

As UK Land and Planning Director, Jennie’s role has a direct focus on Taylor Wimpey’s land and planning strategy, with responsibilities for, and oversight of, land acquisition and complex planning matters. Jennie leads Taylor Wimpey’s response to the evolving UK planning system and political engagement across the planning policy arena.

In addition, Jennie has UK Board responsibilities for Taylor Wimpey’s Technical, Design, Production and Procurement disciplines.

In April 2015, Jennie became a non-executive director of Peabody Trust a leading affordable housing provider in Greater London.

Karen Cooksley

Partner

Winckworth Sherwood

Karen is a leading member of Winckworth Sherwood’s multi-disciplinary Private Rented Sector group. She heads the Firm’s highly regarded specialist planning team, advising clients on the full spectrum of planning and environmental issues they face, including devising strategies for obtaining planning permissions and other consents, viability, environmental impact assessment, s106 agreements and CIL, compulsory purchase and highways matters. She has particular expertise in relation to mixed use developments, tall buildings, urban extensions, waterside schemes and the optimisation of consents to increase financial value for clients. She works for leading developers, private rented sector operator and management companies, national housebuilders, registered providers, local authorities and funders. The majority of her projects are in London – she is currently working on several tall building projects, advising on the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station and other major schemes in the Vauxhall opportunity area and securing office to residential conversions under permitted development rights. She and her team also work across the country – they have recently obtained permission for the £5.5 billion Liverpool Waters scheme and are advising on new settlements in Cambridgeshire, Devon and Kent.

Cath Shaw

Deputy CE, London Borough of Barnet

Board Member Peabody

As Deputy Chief Executive of Barnet Council, Cath is responsible for the Council’s growth programme, finances and major commercial relationships. She oversees the largest housing delivery programme in Outer London, with 27,000 new homes to be delivered by the middle of the next decade. She sits on the board of the Council’s joint venture with Argent Related to deliver a new town centre at Brent Cross, including 7,000 new homes and a substantial new office quarter. Prior to joining Barnet, Cath was Assistant Chief Executive of Harlow Council and a Senior Civil Servant in DCLG. In 2010 Cath joined the board of Family Mosaic Housing Group, and following the recent merger with Peabody now sits on the Board of the Peabody Group.

Robert Evans

Partner

Argent (Property Development) Services LLP

Robert joined Argent Group PLC in 2001 and became an Executive Director in 2004. In 2012 he became a founding Partner of Argent (Property Development) Services LLP. Robert has overall responsibility for Argent’s residential projects and also oversees communications and public affairs.  He is also one of the Partners charged with seeking out and securing new development opportunities. 

Robert has led the planning work at King’s Cross since 2001 and sits on the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership Board. Robert has also been involved in Argent projects in Manchester and the Thames Valley. 

Robert is a Member of the King’s Cross Academy Trust that sponsors the new King's Cross Academy school, which opens its doors in September 2015. He is also Chair of Governors.  Robert is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the committee for the Joint Planning Law Conference, held each year in Oxford. He formerly chaired the British Property Federation’s Development Committee and the Tottenham Landowners’ and Major Businesses Group. 

Before joining Argent, Robert worked in planning and environmental consultancy and gained experience in a wide range of public and private sector development and infrastructure projects in the UK, Canada and Norway. 

Gavin Taylor

Regional General Manager

Far East Consortium International Limited

Gavin Taylor is a Mancunian with over 15 years’ experience in development, construction and portfolio management. 

He joined the Far East Consortium International Limited as Regional General Manager in 2016.  Gavin’s role sees him overseeing the expansion of the organisation in the north of the UK. He is also responsible for the Angel Meadow and Northern Gateway projects which will bring over 10,000 homes to Manchester.

Previously, as Operations Director for Beijing Construction, Gavin was instrumental in the introduction and establishment of the international conglomerate in the UK. He was also the first non-Chinese citizen to become a director of a Chinese State-Owned Entity.

Lynda Shillaw

Divisional Chief Executive for Property

Manchester Airports Group

Lynda Shillaw joined Manchester Airports Group (MAG) as Divisional Chief Executive Officer for Property in June 2014.

Lynda joined from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership where she held the role of Director of Real Estate. The role at MAG reports to Group CEO Charlie Cornish, and oversees the group’s £571m property division across its four airports. The existing portfolio also includes the £800m Airport City development at Manchester Airport.

Graduating in 1986 with a degree in Accountancy and Finance, Lynda has had a strong 20+ year career in the property industry, where she has headed Co-operative Estates plus roles at Lloyds Banking Group and BT where she worked for 18 years.

She has also held executive positions as a pension fund Trustee, an Environment Commissioner, a member of AGMA’s Business Leadership Council and a BT Regional Director. She is a Chartered Management Accountant with a degree in Accounting and Finance. 

Bill Hughes

Head of Real Assets

Legal & General Investment Management

Bill joined L&G in 2007 and is responsible for transforming its UK property fund management business into a global-reaching real assets platform. Operating in both the direct investment and lending markets, today it actively invests and manages over £23.2bn AUM across commercial property, private residential, infrastructure, property lending and corporate credit. 

Since the beginning of 2015, L&G has worked closely with Government’s Regeneration Organisation to identify and invest in critical regeneration projects that support UK growth.

Bill previously held positions at RREEF, the Real Estate Fund Management business of Deutsche Bank, and Schroder Property Investment Management. From 2012 to 2015, Bill was part of the Presidential team at the British Property Federation. 

He is currently Chair of the Property Industry Alliance (PIA), bringing together the UK’s leading property bodies to give them a stronger collective voice on issues such as policy, research and best practice.  He also continues to play a role in Sir Michael Lyons’ Housing Review.

James Sidlow

Project Director

Allied London

James Sidlow is the Residential Director at Allied London leading on the residential assets at St John’s, Trinity Islands and London Road Fire Station. James’ role includes acquisition, funding, concept and design. Prior to practical completion he provides strategic advice in relation to the sales, lettings and management strategy. He is responsible for a portfolio of over 2,500 units; a mixture of residential for sale, long term and short term build to rent, co-living and serviced apartments.

Prior to joining Allied London, James was an Assistant Director at Deloitte LLP where he provided investment and development advice to a range of clients including developers, private equity houses, international funds, high street banks and central government. He has experience in advising on a range of property types, including development sites, airports, city centre offices and residential premises.

His experience stretches cross border, having worked across Europe, the Far East and the Middle East.  James is a Chartered Surveyor and Registered Valuer.

Jessica Bowles

Director of Strategy

Bruntwood

Jessica joined the business in April 2016, a new role to support the company’s ambitions for long term growth.  Previously Jessica worked at Manchester City Council as head of City Policy.  Most recently she developed the 10 year Manchester Strategy ‘Our Manchester’ with partners across the city, lead work on the Northern Powerhouse with Richard Leese and other city leaders across the North and took a central role in the devolution agenda.  Before coming to Manchester Jessica spent 15 years in Whitehall in a diverse range of roles related to transport and local government.

Pete Gladwell

Head of Public Sector Partnerships

LGIM Real Assets

Pete Gladwell joined Legal & General in August 2007, with responsibility for the design and development of new funds and overseeing relationships with pension funds, investment consultants, and insurance clients. He led on the creation of a new generation of property funds particularly focussed on liability matching and Defined Contributions pension funds and L&G’s joint ventures with Dutch pension funds, which now total over £5 billion. In 2013, Pete was appointed Head of Public Sector Partnerships, to lead L&G's direct investments across property and infrastructure into partnerships with Local and Combined Authorities, Registered Providers, Universities, the NHS, and central government, including One Public Estate and the “RIO Regeneration Investment Collective” with the Department of International Trade. These investments total over £4.35bn.

Pete was formally a Senior Analyst in DTZ Research and enjoyed an erstwhile life as a youth worker for seven years in the Oxfordshire area.

Pete is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Member of Brasenose College, Oxford University; holding a post-graduate MA, as well as an initial degree in Computation. He also holds the Investment Management Certificate.

Pete is also a Trustee for the Young Foundation, which works to create a more equal and just society through social innovation, and heavily involved in local community initiatives in Harlesden, London.

Rob Perrins

Chief Executive

The Berkeley Group

Rob is Chief Executive of the Berkeley Group, one of Britain’s most successful, sustainable developers. He joined the company in 1994 having qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young. He was appointed to the Main Board in 2001 and became Chief Executive in 2009. 

In 2010, Rob launched a ten year plan for the Berkeley Group called Our Vision. This set out to make the company a modern world class business, blending homes, parks and community facilities to create fantastic places where people love to live. By 2016, under Rob's management, Berkeley was supporting 30,000 jobs across Britain and contributing £2.6 billion to the UK's Gross Domestic Product - £32 for every person in the UK.  

Rob regularly contributes to public debates about the direction of housing policy and the property market and is a member of the Bank of England’s Residential Property Forum, as well as a council member of Aston University and a Governor of Wellington College. 

Cllr Claire Kober OBE

Leader

London Borough of Haringey

Claire Kober was elected as a Haringey Councillor in May 2006 and became Leader of the Council in December 2008. She first became involved in politics as a student, believing it was the means to achieve change for a better, fairer and more just society. Her professional career has been rooted in the voluntary sector, working in policy roles for a number of national charities.

In her time as Leader, Claire has prioritised improving education outcomes for all children in the borough, wide-scale regeneration and delivering better housing. Claire’s focus will continue to be on securing £1 billion of extra investment in Haringey, building new homes, securing new jobs and providing residents and businesses with new opportunities to succeed.

Claire is the Chair of London Councils – the regional body that brings together the capital’s 32 boroughs to lobby for fairer funding and a better quality of life for Londoners. Claire also represents the region on the London Enterprise Panel and plays a senior role at a national level as Chair of the Resources Board and portfolio holder at the Local Government Association.

Cllr Darren Rodwell

Leader

London Borough of Barking & Dagenham

Darren is a passionate community champion. Prior to becoming a councillor, he led a tenant & resident’s association and was at the forefront of the Labour Party campaign which led to the defeat of the British National Party in Barking in 2010. He has also worked in welfare rights and has set up a food bank as well as serving as a non-executive director in the NHS and a school governor. Darren was first elected to Barking & Dagenham Council in 2010 and became Leader in 2014. Since then he has set the vision and direction of the Council which includes Barking & Dagenham being London’s growth opportunity. He was also responsible for a series of successful festivals which marked the borough’s 50th anniversary in 2015 which included a visit by Her Majesty the Queen. Since 2014 he has led Barking & Dagenham Council through a transformation programme to secure £63m of savings over the next four years at the same time as delivering real time improvements in services.

Lord Bob Kerslake

Chair, Peabody

and President of the Local Government Association

Lord Kerslake is Chair of Peabody, London’s King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London Collective Investment Vehicle (London CIV), and the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS). In addition to this, he is and is president of the Local Government Association, became Chair of Sheffield Theatres in late 2015 and was appointed as chair of the Board of Governors for Sheffield Hallam University in October 2016. He was recently appointed as Chair of Be First, a regeneration company established by Barking and Dagenham Council.

A former Head of the Civil Service, Lord Kerslake led the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) from November 2010, stepping down in February 2015. Prior to this, he was the first Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency.

Before joining the Civil Service Lord Kerslake received a knighthood for his services to local government, spending eight years serving the London Borough of Hounslow and then a further 11 years leading Sheffield Council. In early 2015, he was made a life peer, taking the title Baron Kerslake, of Endcliffe in the City of Sheffield.

Jason Schofield

Chief Executive

Sutton Harbour Holdings plc

Jason was appointed to Executive Director in December 2007 and Chief Executive in January 2012. He has been with Sutton Harbour Holdings Plc since June 2007. He is a chartered surveyor and previously held senior positions at Hammerson Plc and Crest Nicholson Plc.

Harry Badham

UK Head of Development

AXA Real Estate

Harry is the UK Head of Development at AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets. Over the last 5 years, AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets have overseen over 1m sqft of mixed use commercial development in the UK, winning several industry awards including the ULI global award for excellence. AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets has a current UK development pipeline in excess of 2m sqft focused on workplace and mixed use environments. 

Nicolas Guérin

Managing Director

Linkcity

Nicolas has almost 20 years’ experience in Property Development and was appointed Managing Director of Bouygues Development (now called Linkcity) in 2012.  Prior to that he was head of Bouygues Development’s London Region for 4 years and also worked with Sodearif, the property arm of the Bouygues Group in France.  He leads a team of 45 professionals developing mixed-use schemes such as Canning Town, one of the biggest urban regeneration schemes in the UK as well as residential and commercial projects.  Linkcity is generating c. £200m sales per year.

Nicolas is also the Chairman of Uliving, one of the UK’s leading investors and providers of student accommodation on University campuses with a large portfolio of 6,000 units including 3,000 units for Hertfordshire University and 1,500 for Essex University.

Nicolas’s experience ranges from high rise office buildings in Paris’s La Défense district to mixed-used projects including the development of numerous residential units, retail space and student housing units in France and in the UK.

Ron Persaud

Co-Founder

Change Real Estate

Ron Persaud is director of Bristol based developer Change Real Estate, which he founded with business partner Jonathan Bloomer. Ron has been in the real estate business for 30 years, where he has specialised in acquiring land and buildings, usually off market to create mixed use schemes throughout the UK. Change Real Estate is active in its home city, with the £180million regeneration scheme at Redcliff Quarter currently being built out. The development will include a 22 storey residential tower – the tallest in the city. Other developments in Bristol include the Old Brewery site in Southville where a planning application for a mixed-use development is due for submission before the end of the year. Close to completion is the renovation back to their original residential use of an iconic row of Georgian townhouses at Redcliffe Parade.  

Prior to forming Change Real Estate, Ron was CEO of the Cuckfield Group. Here he obtained planning consent for over 4,000,000 sq ft with a gross development value in excess of £400m, and had joint ventures with Morgan Grenfell, Deutsche Bank, Tritax, Raven Group, Persimmon Group, JJ Gallagher, Anglo Irish and RBS.  

Jo Davis

National Head of Planning Development & Regeneration

GVA

Jo Davis is National Head of Planning Development & Regeneration in the Bristol office of property adviser, GVA. Heading up the Planning, Development and Regeneration team across the South West and Wales, her twenty years’ experience in the industry has seen her involved in the planning of many of the region’s most prominent regeneration projects, residential housing developments, and complex brownfield site developments, working alongside companies and organisations such as HCA, St Modwen, Change Real Estate, Skanska, Goodmans, Royal London, Linden Homes, and Barratt Homes.

Jo is a firm believer in taking the holistic view to achieving commercially deliverable and sustainable development. Aware of both the opportunities and obstacles to effective delivery, she has an extensive understanding of what is achievable in this emerging market.  

Richard Cook

Head of Residential

Lendlease

Richard is Head of Residential at Lendlease, where he oversees a portfolio of projects in the North of England, centred in Manchester and York, as well as across an number of major projects in  London. Under Richard’s leadership the business has secured a forward pipeline of over 5000 apartments with annual completions on average  over 750 apartments.

One of Richard’s prized project, Potato Wharf in Manchester, forms a key part of the portfolio. The final phase of this  residential development of 191 homes is at the heart of Castlefield, in central Manchester, and has responded to market demand by offering a rare open market sale opportunity amid a competitive build to rent environment.

Joining Lendlease in 2010 his experience  includes serving as Delivery Director of the design and build contracts at the London Olympics Athletes’ Village where his team were responsible for the delivery of circa £400 million of residential, education and health care sector projects across the London 2012 programme. Richard has previously been Project Director for MACE International in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. During this time Richard was responsible for a number of major signature projects in the residential and retail sectors, notably the 96 storey Burj Al Fattan project in Dubai and Port Baku Residences in Azerbaijan.

Prior to his time with MACE, Richard worked for a number of Taylor Wimpey Plc businesses, for over 10 years, where he was responsible for delivery of the mixed-use business before being appointed Managing Director and establishing a new business sector for first-time buyers. He is a member of the NHBC Foundations Expert Panel.

Matt Crompton

Joint Managing Director

Muse Developments

Matt is Joint Managing Director of Muse Developments the national regeneration and development specialist. With circa 35 projects across the country (from Scotland to the South West) Muse’s development pipeline extends beyond 15 years with an end value over £2 billion. The Company’s 20m sq. ft portfolio is evenly spread across residential, office, retail/leisure and industrial sectors. 

In addition to his Board role, through a highly focused and driven team of individuals at offices in Manchester and Leeds - is also responsible for the company’s development activities throughout the north of England. Matt has considerable experience of commercial and mixed-use development and has played a principal role on many of the company’s major mixed-use projects throughout the north of England. 

He is also on the Board of English Cities Fund (ECf), a £100 million mixed-use regeneration vehicle owned by Muse, Legal & General and the Homes & Communities Agency. 

Jennie Daly

UK Land & Planning Director

Taylor Wimpey

As UK Land and Planning Director, Jennie’s role has a direct focus on Taylor Wimpey’s land and planning strategy, with responsibilities for, and oversight of, land acquisition and complex planning matters. Jennie leads Taylor Wimpey’s response to the evolving UK planning system and political engagement across the planning policy arena.

In addition, Jennie has UK Board responsibilities for Taylor Wimpey’s Technical, Design, Production and Procurement disciplines.

In April 2015, Jennie became a non-executive director of Peabody Trust a leading affordable housing provider in Greater London.

James Heather

Development Director

U+I

James joined U+I in March 2017. Building on over 17 years’ development experience gained at Argent (Property Development) Services LLP, James will oversee the development of the Mayfield Project.

James played a prominent role in the management and development of the award-winning Brindley place, Birmingham, and was involved in the development and construction of over half the buildings and squares on the estate. This included the management of the design and construction of Eleven Brindley place, voted in 2010 as the UK’s best commercial workplace by the British Council for Offices.

James was responsible for the delivery of One St Peter's Square, Manchester. The building was awarded the British Council for Offices National Winner of the Commercial Workspace category in 2015.

Having been responsible for the delivery of the 13-floor (280,000 sq. ft.) office development in central Manchester, with an investment value of in excess of £180m. 

John Hughes

Managing Director

ASK Real Estate

John has almost 20 years’ development experience, the majority of which has been gained during his time at Ask, delivering highly complex, city centre office, leisure and retail projects.

John joined the Board and became a shareholder in 2008 and works closely with some of Ask’s key strategic partners including Manchester City Council, Salford City Council and Network Rail.  He leads on the company’s flagship schemes in Manchester, including Greengate Embankment, Manchester Central and First Street.

John took Ask into joint venture with Carillion and Tristan Capital Partners alongside Network Rail and Salford City Council to deliver the 600,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme at Embankment in the City Centre, the first office phase of 165,000 sq ft which was completed in December 2016 and is fully let to Swinton Insurance.  He is a regular contributor to property-related seminars, events and round table discussions including North West Business Insider, Estates Gazette and Place Northwest.

Paul Curran

Managing Director

Quartermile

Paul is the Managing Director of Quartermile Developments the developer behind Quartermile, the award winning redevelopment of the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary site.

He is a Chartered Surveyor with over 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sector and has been involved in a number of high profile developments throughout the UK.

In 2013, Paul led the corporate acquisition of Quartermile with the backing of the London based private equity fund Moorfield.

In 2014, he was responsible for the £82m funding deal with M+G Real Estate for the speculative development of Quartermile 3 and 4 office buildings. This represents one of the largest forward funding deals achieved in Scotland.

Paul secured Edinburgh’s two largest consecutive commercial pre-lets for ten years with back-to-back deals within the £50m Quartermile 4 building.

In addition, Paul led a deal which saw the University of Edinburgh acquire the Category A-listed Surgical Hospital building in December 2015. The building will provide a home for its new interdisciplinary hub that will unite business and public policy to address societal and environmental challenges.

Paul is Chairman of the Scottish Property Federation.

John Hamilton

CEO

Winchburgh Developments Ltd

John is a Chartered QS and Development Manager specialising in large scale housing/mixed use development. In his early career he practiced as a surveyor on Glasgow's urban renewal programme and in the initial phases of the SECC. He also gained extensive experience on the delivery of estates property for the Ministry of Defence and the oil industry.

He later worked for a period of ten years with project management specialists MPM Adams on major mixed use residential, healthcare and retail developments throughout the UK. He subsequently worked for Miller Homes Scotland as Technical Director, initially in Edinburgh and latterly in the Glasgow Region. He is now Winchburgh Developments Ltd’s CEO and is responsible for implementing the project masterplan for the delivery of high volume housing, retail, commercial and associated transportation uses in partnership with national UK house builders and commercial developers.

Martin Perry

Director of Development

TH Real Estate

Martin is Director of Development, specialising in large-scale, retail-led, mixed-use development, and is responsible for management of developments in the UK and across mainland Europe. In particular, Martin is responsible for the Edinburgh St James regeneration project.

Martin joined the company in 2006 as a Development Manager, following a career in architecture, master-planning and development after studying and tutoring in Oxford.

Over his career he has been responsible for taking over 15m sq ft of retail-led floorspace through the planning system, as well as working on the delivery of three shopping malls and numerous individual buildings both in the UK and internationally.

Martin has worked on the master-planning and development management of two new town centres, numerous city extensions and regeneration projects as well as a number of retail refurbishment projects in the UK. He has specialised throughout his career on retail-led mixed-use with a particular focus on financially and socially sustainable environments. Martin is also a member of the British Council of Shopping Centres and a qualified Architect and Urban Designer. He won the Individual Contribution Award at the 2017 Scottish Property Awards for his role in the development of Edinburgh St James.  

Marion Francis

Regional Manager Scotland | Regeneration & Infrastructure

Department for International Trade

Marion Francis is Regional Manager, Scotland in the Regeneration & Infrastructure Team in Capital Investment, Department for International Trade. Marion is based in Scotland and is responsible for bringing forward a Scottish investment portfolio of projects of scale to promote to the international investment market. 

Prior to joining Department for International Trade, Marion worked for Irvine Bay Regeneration Company delivering regeneration and physical projects in Ayrshire. Marion also runs her own project management business, mack Collaboration.

Marion has previously worked as Head of Regeneration in Scottish Enterprise and with Highlands and Islands Enterprise in Competitive Place and Strategy. 

Richard Cowell

Assistant Director Development

Birmingham City Council

Richard joined Birmingham City Council’s Planning and Development Department in 2008 and has since played a central role in the delivery of the city’s ambitions growth agenda.

In his current role he leads a portfolio of specialist functions; coordinating, developing and implementing a range of complex development projects and policy initiatives focused on accelerating development and investment activity across the City.

One of his first projects with the City was the production of the strategic city centre masterplan, the Big City Plan, launched in September 2010. Subsequently he led the work to secure the City Centre Enterprise Zone and the publication of the first Enterprise Zone Investment Plan in 2012.

Richard remains focused on the implementation of the strategic vision of the Big City Plan, delivering a range of key initiatives including the Enterprise Zone and Curzon HS2 Growth Strategy with the combined £1bn Infrastructure Investment Plans; the 17ha Birmingham Smithfield redevelopment scheme; and the publication of key policy initiatives such as the Birmingham Design Guide.

As a chartered member of the RTPI Richard has over 14 years of experience in the field of planning and development. He is also a member of the Urban Land Institute and sits on the Midlands ULI Committee.

Ruth Cooke

Chief Executive

Midland Heart

Ruth has been CEO of Midland Heart since 2012 and was previously Finance Director. Ruth is passionate about Midland Heart’s work to deliver a range of homes and services across the Midlands that enable people to live independently. Midland Heart owns and manages 33,000 homes and is dedicated to providing quality, affordable homes combined with excellent services to over 70,000 customers including support services for homeless people and older people, anchored within our accommodation. Midland Heart works in some of the most challenging areas of the Midlands and, as a founder member of the West Midland Housing Association Partnership, is committed to working with the West Midlands Combined Authority to drive the housing, support and public services agendas for our region. A qualified accountant and corporate treasurer, Ruth is also Chair of Connexus Housing and is the Vice Chair of the Social Housing Pension Scheme Committee.

Angus Michie

Chairman

Berkeley St Joseph

Angus was educated at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Amersham and Reading University where he gained a Masters Degree in Land Management and Development. Angus is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Angus joined the Berkeley Group in 1994 upon graduation from Reading University. Angus has been involved in many of the Group’s major central London developments and has worked upon a number of Group’s major mixed use regeneration schemes including Gunwharf Quays and Royal Arsenal Woolwich. Angus helped establish the Group’s joint venture with Prudential, St Edward which has a number of exciting developments in Westminster, Kensington, Reading and Harrow and is a board member.  

Berkeley Group were previously involved in the West Midlands property market with Crosby Homes who developed amongst others Symphony Court at Brindley Place. Berkeley sold Crosby to Lend Lease in 2005 and Angus is Chairing the Group’s re-entry to the West Midlands with a new company St Joseph.

Victoria Turnbull

Joint Managing Director

Opus Land

Victoria Turnbull is the Joint Managing Director of Opus Land, a leading Property Development and Investment company with offices in the West Midlands and London.  Founded in 1999 and part owned and funded by Palmer Capital, the company has an established track record in delivering added-value solutions for real estate. The company has extensive experience of working in partnership with landowners, investors and occupiers with assets under management approaching 3 million sq ft.

Previously Victoria was based  in London where she worked as an Associate Director for Palmer Capital, a Real Estate Fund Manager and Venture Capital backer of companies with a focus on opportunistic real estate investment. Before that, she was a Senior Surveyor at King Sturge (now Jones Lang La Salle) in London where she specialised in commercial investment and business recovery.

Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate Management from The University of Reading and is a chartered member of RICS and CFA. She has a breadth of experience with nearly 15 years in the property industry dealing with direct and indirect property investment, development and asset management. She has an appreciation of the challenges and opportunities facing the Midlands and is uniquely placed to view these alongside her experience in the London market.

Dr Louise Brooke-Smith

Partner

Arcadis LLP

Louise is a Chartered Surveyor and Chartered Town Planner.  She is an Equity Partner and UK Head of Development and Strategic Planning and Head of Social Value at Arcadis LLP.  Prior to this, she was the CEO of Brooke Smith Planning, a UK based Planning & Development Consultancy, established in 1994, serving a wide range of international clients. Louise was the first female Global President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (2014-15). Inter alia, she championed diversity & inclusivity and led a series of ground breaking initiatives including the RICS Inclusive Employers Quality Mark and the Property Strategy for Sub Saharan Africa. Her various accolades include; Outstanding Woman in Construction (2015), National Achiever in Construction (2015) and was shortlisted for the First Woman Awards in 2014 and 2015. She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Wolverhampton, Sheffield Hallam and Birmingham City. Louise is retained as a UKGov adviser.

David Silverman

Director

Derwent London plc

David joined Derwent Valley in 2002 and following its merger with LMS in 2007 was appointed to the Main Board of Derwent London plc in January 2008. Derwent is the largest central London focussed Real Estate Investment Trust, well known for its design lead philosophy. David’s responsibilities include overseeing the Group’s investment acquisitions and disposals. These have included a number of Derwent’s landmark buildings including 1-2 Stephen Street, Burberry’s Head Quarters at Horseferry House and Page Street and the recent purchases of Angel Square, 20 Farringdon Road and The White Chapel Building. David is chairman of the Chickenshed Property Company and a former chair of the Westminster Property Association.

Anna Bond

Director of Development - Estate Development Programme

Grosvenor

Anna is a qualified member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and is Director of Development for Grosvenor’s Estate Development Programme with 15 years relevant project experience. The programme encompasses all development on the London Estate under £250m construction cost, most of which are retrofit projects across sectors including office, retail, hotel, residential and public realm works. The programme is circa 100 projects with a GDV of £1.2b. Prior to this she was at DTZ in various development roles advising clients on maximising the value of their assets and undertaking acquisitions and disposals on their behalf.

Alex Williams

Director of City Planning

Transport for London

Alex is the Director of City Planning at Transport for London.

His responsibilities are:

• Working with the Mayor to develop/deliver his Transport Strategy for London

• Develop and gain powers for major infrastructure projects such as tube extensions/new river crossings

• Provide transport advice on Land Use Planning applications referable to the Mayor; Manage relationship with London Boroughs

• Ensure our work is underpinned by a robust evidence base through modelling and analysis

Alex was formally appointed to the post in April 2017 having held it on an interim basis since April 2016. Before that he was Director of Borough Planning (from 2007). Prior to TfL he worked in LB Camden an LB Ealing.

Paul Lorraine

UK General Manager

Longchamp

Paul started his career in the ready-to wear industry, where he occupied various sales and management positions. In 2005, he joined Wolford as an area manager. A year later, he was promoted to Key Account Manager and became Managing Director of Wolford UK in 2007. In 2010, the Benelux was added to his scope of responsibilities. Paul joined Basler in 2011 as managing director of their UK affiliate. In 2013, he was appointed UK General Manager at Longchamp, and became president of the RSA two years later.

Debbie Jackson

Assistant Director of Regeneration

Greater London Authority

Debbie Jackson is the Assistant Director of Regeneration at the Greater London Authority.  She has responsibility for delivering high quality and targeted regeneration programmes with a range of partners to maximise cultural, economic, social and environmental benefits, leverage and impact.  The Regeneration Team develops an integrated perspective on the problems and potential of a given place, theme or issue; leading to innovative proposals for social and physical infrastructure, London’s skill base and London’s civic economy.  These in turn act as catalysts for London’s continued growth and as exemplars for regeneration practice across the capital.

Across Debbie's programmes she is responsible for a budget of over £300m delivering cross cutting outcomes relating to high streets, infrastructure, places of work, cultural, education and regeneration projects. 

Debbie has worked in London's public sector for 20 years and in Regeneration for 15 years.  In Debbie's early career at the City of Westminster she was involved in service delivery in street environment, letting London's largest waste and highways contracts.  At Westminster and also in her subsequent role as Head of Physical Regeneration at Lambeth Council, Debbie was also responsible for innovative projects that leveraged value from public sector assets to realise regeneration outcomes. 

Sir Edward Lister

Chairman

Homes & Communities Agency

Sir Edward Lister joined the Homes and Communities Agency as Chairman in June 2016. Sir Edward has considerable experience of the housebuilding industry, in particular infrastructure investment and large-scale developments. From 2011-16, he was London’s Deputy Mayor of Policy and Planning and Chief of Staff at the Greater London Authority, which included serving as Deputy Chairman of the Old Oak & Park Royal Mayoral Development Corporation. He was previously Conservative Leader of Wandsworth Borough Council from 1992-2011. As the longest-serving council leader in the country, Sir Edward made Wandsworth the most successful value-for-money local authority in the country with the lowest council tax charge and top satisfaction ratings from its residents.

In 2016, Sir Edward was appointed as Senior Advisor to the Regeneration and Investment Organisation within UKTI. He is also a consultant for CBRE’s One London team and a Non-Executive Director of Stanhope Ltd. 

Simon Gilbert

Development Director

Barratt Homes Bristol

Simon joined Barratt Group in 2007 and brings over 15 years’ experience in the South West Land Market. Involved with all major land acquisitions within the Division, he is also experienced in housing, negotiating S106 and windfall sites with Local Authorities and RSL’s.  Simon also sits on numerous Developer and Local Authority forums.

Dan Batterton

Fund Manager - Build to Rent

Legal & General Investment Management Real Estate

Dan Batterton is Fund Manager for the Build to Rent Fund at LGIM Real Assets and is responsible for the design and execution of fund strategy.

Dan has 19 years’ experience in the property sector and his exceptional understanding of portfolio strategy have been utilised to design L&G’s long-term acquisition and operational strategy for the sector. He leads the 5 strong BTR team at L&G that currently has 900+ homes in construction or planning and is aiming to deliver 1,000 new BTR homes per year from 2019.

Joining Legal & General in February 2007 he was recently Head of Product Development. Previously Dan was an Associate Director at IPD Ltd where he was responsible for the UK portfolio analysis service to a collection of major institutions. He spent 9 years at IPD analysing drivers of historic fund performance and discussing strategies that will influence future returns.

Cllr Paul Smith

Cabinet Member for Homes and Communities

Bristol City Council

Paul Smith is the Cabinet member for Homes and Communities for Bristol City Council. Paul was re-elected to the council in May 2016 following a 17 year break. Paul has worked in the housing association sector for almost 30 years and has also been the Chief Executive of two national charities. Paul's housing experience has included working at director level within a midlands based housing association, more recently as Head of Intelligence and Insight for Aster Group which manages 28,000 homes across the south of England and two spells with the National Housing Federation.

Paul is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce and the Institute of Consulting and runs his own market intelligence and governance company.

Anna Sabine-Newlyn

Chief Executive

Meeting Place Communications

Anna is the Chief Executive of Meeting Place Communications, which helps developers secure planning consents through work with politicians, communities and the media.  She has been at MPC for 10 years, running major pre- app consultation programmes for housebuilders, universities and financial investors.  Before this she worked as a Campaign Manager for the Lib Dems and in the voluntary sector; she has a PPE degree from Oxford University.  Anna is passionate about involving more women in the planning and development sector, and about growing the use of social media in the industry.

Tim Heatley

CEO

Capital & Centric

Tim is co-founder of Capital&Centric. In just five years since it started they’ve completed over 750,000 sq ft of development, they spend £1m a week on regeneration activity and have won 15 awards for design and regeneration. 

Some of their projects in Manchester include the £30m conversion of Crusader Mills in Piccadilly and the £200m Kampus Project and the recently completed Foundry a 50,000 sq ft creative workspace in Salford.

Having completed 5 developments last year alone the pipeline of projects Manchester stands at £330m. Projects in Liverpool include Littlewoods Film Studios, and the recently completed Bunker, Tempest and Hangar projects. The total development pipeline is in excess of £500m.

Sir Edward Lister

Chairman

Homes & Communities Agency

Sir Edward Lister joined the Homes and Communities Agency as Chairman in June 2016. Sir Edward has considerable experience of the housebuilding industry, in particular infrastructure investment and large-scale developments. From 2011-16, he was London’s Deputy Mayor of Policy and Planning and Chief of Staff at the Greater London Authority, which included serving as Deputy Chairman of the Old Oak & Park Royal Mayoral Development Corporation. He was previously Conservative Leader of Wandsworth Borough Council from 1992-2011. As the longest-serving council leader in the country, Sir Edward made Wandsworth the most successful value-for-money local authority in the country with the lowest council tax charge and top satisfaction ratings from its residents.

In 2016, Sir Edward was appointed as Senior Advisor to the Regeneration and Investment Organisation within UKTI. He is also a consultant for CBRE’s One London team and a Non-Executive Director of Stanhope Ltd. 

Eamonn Boylan

Chief Executive

Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Eamonn Boylan was appointed Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in January 2017. He played a key role in the development of the Housing Market Renewal Programme, the Northern Way Growth Strategy and, through his work with the Core Cities Group and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, in the emerging policy framework for city regions. Eamonn takes the lead role on Investment and on Planning and Housing for the AGMA Wider Leadership Team.

Claire Nangle

Land & Partnerships Director

Keepmoat Homes

Claire is the Land & Partnerships Director for Keepmoat Homes North West.  Keepmoat Homes specialise in working in partnership with local authorities to bring forward residential sites, often in challenging regeneration areas.  The company sells homes predominantly to first time buyers and has sites in Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire.  Keepmoat have increased the size of sites under development and currently have sites of over 400 new homes as well as redeveloping smaller sites often in former HMR areas.

Prior to joining Keepmoat, Claire was the Head of Strategic Regeneration & Development at Oldham Council and was involved with the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework work and the drive to increase the number of homes built across Greater Manchester.

Andy Burnham

Mayor

Greater Manchester

Andy Burnham was elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester in May 2017. Prior to this Andy was MP for Leigh from 2001. In government, Andy has held Ministerial positions at the Home Office, Department of Health and the Treasury. In 2008 he became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, before returning to Health as Secretary of State in 2009. In opposition, Andy has served as Shadow Education Secretary, Shadow Health Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary. Andy lives in Leigh, Greater Manchester, with his wife and three children. He is a keen supporter of Everton FC.

Gary Yardley

Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer

CapCo

Gary Yardley has been a senior deal maker in the UK and European real estate market for over 25 years. Gary leads Capco's real estate investment and development activities. Leading Capco’s team on the redevelopment of Earls Court, Gary has been responsible for securing Planning Consent for 11m sq ft at this strategic opportunity area providing over 7,500 new homes for London. With the demolition of the Earls Court Exhibition Halls now under way in partnership with TfL, the creation of a new district for London has now become a reality.

He is a Chartered Surveyor with over 30 years' experience in UK real estate. He is a former CIO of Liberty International and former partner of King Sturge.

Tony Pidgley CBE

Chairman

The Berkeley Group

He left school at 15 to form his own company in haulage and plant hire. At 19, he sold his business to Crest Homes and became a Building Director, before leaving to form Berkeley Homes in 1975. The company enjoyed rapid growth, floated on the Unlisted Securities Market in 1984, and then gained a full listing in 1985 as the Berkeley Group plc.

Tony has gained a national reputation for his pioneering approach to building homes and creating successful places. His judgement of the markets, willingness to put his personal capital at risk, and his drive and commercial flair have made Berkeley one of Britain's best residential developers. In 2011, Berkeley was ranked Britain's Most Admired Company across all sectors and is the only housebuilder to win the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development twice.

Tony is now part of Lord Heseltine's Thames Estuary Growth Commission. His expertise has been used to advise the recent Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, the Mayor on the Outer London Commission and the Government on the disposal of public sector land. He is also a trustee of Open City London, a charity that champions architecture education, and President of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2016, he was nominated New Londoner of the Year in recognition of his contribution to housebuilding across the capital.

Simon Murphy

Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer

Battersea Power Station Development Company

Simon joined the Project in 2011. Prior to commencing corporate side work he spent a large part of his career as an investment banker principally with HSBC where he was a Managing Director. He was responsible for strategic advisory, mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt capital markets for corporate clients including those within the property sector. He remains a non-executive director of a number of public and private companies. Simon is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a BSc in Economics.

Liz Peace CBE

Chairman

Old Oak Common

Liz is a well-known figure in the property industry, having served as Chief Executive of the British Property Federation for thirteen years until her retirement at the end of 2014. During that time, she managed to change the Government’s perception of the commercial property industry, to establish it as a key voice in policy debate, to dissuade the Government from legislating on commercial leases, to win innumerable changes to planning and tax legislation and, working as part of a pan-industry alliance, to persuade the Government to introduce real estate investment trusts (REITs). 

Previously, she was a civil servant in the MOD, eventually becoming a key player in the team that created QinetiQ plc. Liz is now embarking on a portfolio career with a range of non-executive, advisory and charity roles, including at Morgan Sindall plc, Redrow plc, Howard de Walden Estates, Holtby Turner,  Arcadis, Peabody and the Churches Conservation Trust, and the Architectural Heritage Fund. She is the chairman of LandAid, the property industry’s principal charity. She is also chairing the shadow board for the Curzon Urban Regeneration Company in Birmingham and has recently been appointed to chair the embryonic organisation that is being set up under the Government’s New Property Model initiative to asset-manage departmental property portfolios.

Roger Madelin CBE

Head of Canada Water Development

British Land

Roger joined Argent in 1987. He became a Director in 1989 and, for the ten years that followed, was responsible for delivering all of Argent’s developments, including Green Park and Thames Valley Park in Reading, Brindleyplace in Birmingham, and Piccadilly in Manchester and office buildings in the City of London. He became CEO in 1997 after an innovative acquisition by British Telecom Pension Scheme and, due to the dramatic expansion of Argent’s business, his long-term colleague David Partridge joined him as Joint CEO in 2006. At the end of 2012 Argent restructured as a Limited Liability Partnership and Roger stepped back from new Argent business and concentrated on specific delivery aspects of King’s Cross including the design and delivery of 3 major buildings for the Aga Khan Development Network. In January 2016, after 29 years, Roger formally left Argent and joined British Land as Head of Canada Water, a 46 acre development opportunity in Central London. He will maintain a consultancy role at King’s Cross with Argent in connection with the Aga Khan buildings. Roger is an Honorary Fellow of RIBA, an Honorary Fellow of the College of Estate Management and was awarded a CBE for ‘services to sustainable development’ in the 2007 Honours List.

Stephen Stone

Chief Executive

Crest Nicholson plc

As a chartered architect Stephen Stone started his career working at a number of London based architectural practices before joining Countryside Properties in 1983. In 1995 he joined Crest Nicholson and since this time his experience, knowledge and breadth of understanding of the sector, combined with his visionary design aspirations, has seen him rapidly climb the career ladder. He was appointed to the Board of Crest Nicholson in 1999, subsequently becoming Chief Executive in 2005.

In 2011 he was also appointed to the House Builders Federation (HBF) Board. Throughout this period he has continued to champion Crest Nicholson’s reputation as a driving force in the sector, questioning conventional thinking and positioning the Group decisively to lead in the complex and challenging process of delivering environmentally sensitive, high quality, sustainable communities. He led the relisting of the Group on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year. 

Marc Vlessing

Co-founder & CEO

Pocket

Marc is Co-founder and CEO of Pocket, London’s first private developer that focuses exclusively on delivering intermediate housing for the starter market. Pocket’s award winning housing requires no grant, is secured as affordable in perpetuity and sold outright to people on low to moderate incomes.

Sir Edward Lister

Chairman

Homes & Communities Agency

Sir Edward Lister joined the Homes and Communities Agency as Chairman in June 2016. Sir Edward has considerable experience of the housebuilding industry, in particular infrastructure investment and large-scale developments. From 2011-16, he was London’s Deputy Mayor of Policy and Planning and Chief of Staff at the Greater London Authority, which included serving as Deputy Chairman of the Old Oak & Park Royal Mayoral Development Corporation. He was previously Conservative Leader of Wandsworth Borough Council from 1992-2011. As the longest-serving council leader in the country, Sir Edward made Wandsworth the most successful value-for-money local authority in the country with the lowest council tax charge and top satisfaction ratings from its residents.

In 2016, Sir Edward was appointed as Senior Advisor to the Regeneration and Investment Organisation within UKTI. He is also a consultant for CBRE’s One London team and a Non-Executive Director of Stanhope Ltd. 

Mary Parsons

Executive Director and Main Board Member

Places for People

Mary is an Executive Director and main Group Board member of Places for People. She is responsible for placemaking and the planning, design and delivery of many major and complex development and regeneration programmes. Her present projects include the promotion of 10,000 homes in Hertfordshire, the regeneration of a former dockyard in North Tyneside, 1500 new homes on the Olympic Park and major regeneration programmes in Sheffield, Birmingham and Bristol. She is also responsible for the Group's joint jv entire activities and is a Trustee and Chair of the Town & Country Planning Association.

Reza Merchant

CEO

The Collective

Reza's journey started while studying at the London School of Economics. Frustrated by the lack of high-quality yet affordable accommodation for young people in London, he decided to tackle this problem by creating his own lettings agency called Share in the City. Over time, this has evolved into The Collective, one of the most innovative and fastest-growing property companies in London. Following a number of smaller scale schemes around London, The Collective launched the world's largest co-living building, The Collective Old Oak, in May 2016, offering 550 rooms. It was fully let by the end of the year. The company currently has a total 2,000 beds in its portfolio and development pipeline, with two new co-living towers currently under development in Canary Wharf and Stratford. Additionally, The Collective is redesigning places of work, creating flexible working spaces that help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. In January 2017, a new co-working space opened as an extension of its Old Oak site. Furthermore, an app is currently in development to connect and enhance the co-living and co-working experience. Reza places great value on entrepreneurship, demonstrated through The Collective Growth Fund, and The Collective Foundation, designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs, artists and outstanding students. Reza is focused on reshaping the places where communities come together ; The Collective Growth fund were the main backers behind the successful POP Brixton and through Makeshift (a social enterprise that the Collective co-founded and funded) are already onsite with Peckham Levels, a 90,000sqft car park which is being transformed into a mix of artist studios, makers space, shared workspace and events/cultural space. He strongly believes that life begins at the end of your comfort zone, and achieving your full potential requires you to constantly challenge yourself on a number of different levels. Keeping this at the front of his mind has been instrumental to The Collective's success. Reza was recently listed as one of the Evening Standard's most influential people in London and as one of Property Week's Top Forty under 40. The Collective Old Oak won the Creative Spaces Award in 2016 from Estates Gazette and British GQ listed it as the second best thing in the world in 2016, just behind Drake.