Gwyn Richards

Planning and Development Director
City of London Corporation

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

Dee Corsi

Chief Executive Officer
New West End Company

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

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

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

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

Stella Abani MBE

Director of Economy & Skills
Westminster Council

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

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

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

Michelle McGrath

Executive Director
Shaftesbury Capital plc

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

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

Kristy Lansdown

Head of Development
The Crown Estate (WPA Board Member)

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

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

David Lockyer

Head of Development
British Land

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

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

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

Denz Ibrahim

Head of Retail & Futuring
LGIM Real Estate

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

Mike Keaveney

Director of Land and Development
Grainger plc

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

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

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

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

Susan Freeman

Partner
Mishcon de Reya

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

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

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

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

David Ainsworth

Executive Chairman
CO-RE

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

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

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

David Lunts

Chief Executive Officer
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation

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

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

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

Alexander Jan

Non-Executive Chair
Central District Alliance

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

Angela Brennan

Project Lead, Elephant Park
Lendlease

Angela is Project Lead for Elephant Park, Lendlease’s £2.5 billion regeneration project it is delivering in partnership with Southwark Council. Elephant Park is one of the most significant urban regeneration projects in Europe and, once complete, it will include over 3,000 homes, 50 new retail and leisure units and 50,000 square feet of workspaces, all centred around a new two-acre park.

Angela has been part of the Elephant Park project for four years, previously holding the roles of development director and senior development manager. During her 22 years at Lendlease, she has worked across Australia and the UK on range of projects including IQL Stratford, Overgate Shopping Centre in Dundee and Bluewater, and corporate roles within HR, marketing, and operations.

Paul King

Managing Director Sustainability and Social Impact
Lendlease

Paul joined Lendlease in February 2015, bringing more than a decade worth of experience of sustainability in the built environment. Paul is responsible shaping the European sustainability strategy and its implementation.

Previously he held the prominent role of CEO at the UK Green Building Council. Paul has also enjoyed senior positions at WWF-UK and was a co-founder of One Planet Living. Paul is Chairman of the Zero Carbon Hub and is a member of the Zero Carbon Homes 2016 Task Force. He is a member of the Green Construction Board and Chair of its Buildings Working Group.

Lucille Watkins-Brazier

Head of Social Impact
Lendlease Europe

Lucille joined Lendlease in 2019 and brings a wealth of expertise to the role having previously worked in operational & strategic positions within both the Construction and Development areas of the business.

Lucille’s focus now is on leading the delivery of Lendlease’s Social Impact programme in Europe and supporting the delivery of Lendlease’s commitment to the creation of $250m AUD of Social value by 2025.

Lucille’s career has spanned the public, private and third sectors, having held a range of roles including in Social and Economic Development, Responsible Business, Human Resources, Mediation and Youth Engagement Services.

Laura Jockers

Head of ESG
M&G Real Estate

M&G has recently appointed Laura Jockers as its new Global Head of ESG for Real Estate . Laura will take responsibility for overseeing and delivering sustainability strategies across the firm’s global Real Estate funds. Working collaboratively across teams and regions, she will ensure the funds respond to our investors’ growing ESG requirements and that M&G continues to be at the forefront of sustainability innovation and thinking on a range of topics, including net zero carbon and social impact.

Laura joins from The Howard de Walden Estate which encompasses 92 acres of London’s West End and includes Marylebone High Street – one of London’s prime shopping and leisure locations – and also the world-famous Harley Street Medical Area. As Head of Sustainability, she was responsible for developing the business’s sustainability strategy across its business operations and £4.6bn property assets in London’s Marylebone.

Prior to that, Laura worked as an Associate Director in JLL’s Upstream Sustainability Services Team and as a Global Sustainability and Research Consultant for various departments across JLL’s global business. She has over 15 years’ experience in sustainable real estate and has advised many companies on their sustainable Real Estate strategies including Lendlease, Sonae Sierra, Barclays Bank and AstaZeneca.

Thomas Bryans

Director & Co-Founder
IF_DO

Thomas is a big-picture thinker and masterplanner by nature. He has a wide-angle view on every element of our work and sees connections that might not be immediately obvious. He’s also a great communicator – both in person and on the page – and his TEDx Talk on ‘Architecture’s Ripple Effect’ is the perfect introduction to how we think and work.

This interest in the wider repercussions of architecture goes hand in hand with an interest in sustainability and creating healthy environments. He’s drawn to working on projects where IF_DO can make a positive and far-reaching impact. He was the driving force in making our work at St Teresa’s School so rewarding, both for us and for the school, by involving the students in reshaping their school for the better, and inspiring them with what architecture can do.

Nicola Mathers

Chief Executive Officer
Future of London

Nicola is CEO of Future of London, an independent network supporting housing, planning and regeneration professionals through leadership, research and networks. She leads on strategy, business development and partnerships.

Nicola is passionate about the role of the built environment to improve lives and address inequality. At Design Council and CABE she led national programmes to support the public and private sectors to plan and deliver well designed buildings and spaces.

Nicola is a member of the Mayor’s London Green Spaces Commission and the TCPA Inclusive Planning Sounding Board.

Colin Wilson

Head of Regeneration Old Kent Road
London Borough of Southwark

Colin is a planner and urban designer with 33 years experience of working in London. Since 2017 he has been the Head of Strategic Development and Old Kent Road Regeneration for the London Borough of Southwark. He is responsible for both the major developments within the borough, including at Canada Water and Elephant and Castle as well as leading on the Old Kent Road regeneration plan. The latter is targeted to deliver 20,000 new homes, 10,000 new jobs and an extension of the London Underground Bakerloo Line, with planning permission granted for 9,500 homes, 1,800 homes currently under construction and 700 completed of which 50% are affordable.

Colin was initially seconded to LB Southwark from the GLA where he was responsible for the Mayors Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks, including those for Vauxhall Nine Elms, White City, Croydon, and the Royal Docks and for strategic planning applications.

John Lewis

Executive Director
Peabody

John is leading one of London’s largest regeneration programmes in Thamesmead creating 20,000 new homes and is Group Lead for Placemaking. Before joining Peabody in 2016 John held CEO positions at Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and Milton Keynes Partnership. John is a Chartered Surveyor and has a Master of Arts in Urban Regeneration. He is the Chair of Greatwell Housing Association and a Director of the Creative Land Trust, a charity established to secure affordable workspace for creatives in London.

Bill Hughes

Head of Real Assets
Legal & General Investment Management

Bill joined Legal & General 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 £27.2bn AUM across commercial property, private residential, infrastructure, property lending and corporate credit as at 31 December 2017. 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 July 2014 to July 2015, Bill was President of 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.

Vivienne King

Head of Real Estate Social Impact
The Good Economy

Vivienne King is the Head of Real Estate at The Good Economy. She has over 30 years’ leadership experience in the real estate industry. The former CEO of Revo, the membership organisation for the retail property market during the tumultuous markets of 2020 and CEO of Soho Housing Association, a boutique housing provider in London’s West End, and commercial property investor Soho Ltd. Vivienne was over 20 years in senior management at the Crown Estate with a wide range of transactional, strategy and operating leadership responsibilities including ESG, positioning the Crown in the vanguard of the evolution of ESG in the built environment.Vivienne also co-founded Real Estate Balance, the leading DEI membership organization in real estate.

Tom Goodall

Managing Director
Related Argent

Tom joined Argent in 2012, becoming Partner and the Head of Residential for Related Argent in 2020, over-seeing a pipeline of over 8,000 new homes across London. Tom is also CEO of the Related Argent Tottenham Hale development, leading the team which will deliver over 1.2m sq. ft of development including over 1,030 new homes. Prior to this, Tom was responsible for the residential product at the King’s Cross development including the delivery of the Gasholders apartments.

Before joining Argent, Tom worked in project management consultancy and as a practicing Architect on numerous large-scale mixed-use schemes including the Shard and the London 2012 Athlete’s Village. Tom is a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and sits on their Housing Group.

Cath Shaw

Deputy Chief Executive
Barnet Council

As Deputy Chief Executive of Barnet Council, Cath is responsible for the Council’s extensive housing and growth programme, environmental services, and major commercial relationships. She is a Director of the Council’s joint venture company with Related Argent to deliver Brent Cross Town – a park town for future London including 6,700 new homes, 50 acres of green space, workspace for 25,000 people, three schools, a new station and other amenities and infrastructure. Cath sits on London Councils Economy Board and the New London Architecture Sounding Board, and Chairs the West London Economy and Skills Directors Group. She joined Barnet in 2013 from Harlow Council where she was Assistant Chief Executive responsible for Growth and Regeneration. Prior to that she was a senior civil servant, undertaking a variety of roles including as Deputy Director of the Social Exclusion Unit responsible for children and young people’s issues. She stepped down as a Board Member of the Peabody Trust in 2019 on completion of her maximum term of appointment, remaining on the Development and Thamesmead Committees until March 2022.

Jules Pipe CBE

Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills
Greater London Authority

Jules Pipe is working on key priorities for the Mayor, including: implementation of the London Plan, major and community-led regeneration projects across the capital, building a skills system that properly addresses the needs of Londoners and the economy, and ensuring London’s infrastructure supports good growth, meets the needs of London’s communities and makes London a cleaner, greener and smarter City. 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 2010 until he joined the Mayor’s team in 2016.

Rob Heasman

Chief Executive Officer
Earls Court Development Company

Rob Heasman was appointed as CEO of The Earls Court Development Company in November 2020. Prior to this, Heasman spent a decade at Lendlease including two years as Managing Director of Euston Over Station Development, as development partner for the Department for Transport and Network Rail, bringing forward plans for the UK’s most ambitious station destination right in the centre of the capital. Prior to that, for nearly eight years he served as Project Director for the flagship Elephant Park development in Elephant & Castle, where through a strong focus on collaboration with key stakeholders and the local community, he delivered on the early vision to create a place full of life.

The Earls Court Development Company is an Earl’s Court based business, responsible for driving the regeneration of the, circa 40 acres, former Earls Court Exhibition Centre site. ECDC has a vision ‘to bring the wonder back to Earls Court’ with a masterplan which opens up the site to the local community, celebrates the legacy of world-class ingenuity, creates a better piece of city, and addresses the climate emergency with an ambition to go beyond net zero. ECDC are committed to delivering innovative buildings and spaces that are well connected, whilst enhancing the environment, generating job opportunities and other benefits for the local area, as well as creating social and economic value.

Rebecca Worthington

Chief Financial Officer
Canary Wharf Group plc

Board Member at Alstria Office Reit AG.

Previous roles include Chief Financial Officer of iQ Student Accommodation, Non-Executive Director at British Land plc, Chief Operating Officer at Countryside Properties. Founder and Chief Executive of Lodestone Capital Partners.

Emily Newton

Associate Director
Assael Architecture

Emily is an experienced architect with a passion for creating thoughtful and contextual schemes that are ‘of their place’. Her expertise lies in the renewal of difficult and constrained sites, often involving heritage buildings, and in ensuring placemaking is embedded in all urban design and masterplanning projects. Emily has been pivotal in many of Assael’s large, residentially-led developments over the years, including the award-winning design for the renewal of the Grade II listed Ham Mill in Stroud; the 500-home Leaside Lock in Bromley-by-Bow; and over 2,000 homes at Margarine Works in Ealing.

Emily is a keen artist and illustrator and loves incorporating hand drawings into her architectural work.

Sandra Jones

Managing Director
Dataloft

Sandra is Managing Director of Dataloft, a data-driven housing market economics business, using data analytics and geo-spatial techniques to visualise and report on UK housing market trends. She recently led the business through its acquisition by PriceHubble, an international proptech company supplying residential data analytics across 10 countries and will lead the combined UK business.

Dataloft holds a unique dataset of achieved rents and renter demographics which they use to produce evidence to underwrite rents and rental demand. Dataloft works with clients from across the build to rent sector as well as housebuilders, advisors and policymakers. Dataloft collaborates with BPF, BusinessLDN and UKAA to produce the Who Lives in Build to Rent series of reports.

Sandra qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and prior to Dataloft, she worked with property economics consultancy Ramidus and was a founder partner at City investment agency BH2. She has also been an associate at think tanks, Centre for London and Future of London. She currently sits on the UKAA research and policy committee.

Ian Fletcher

Director of Policy
British Property Federation

Ian is Director of Policy at the BPF, and focuses on the Federation’s development and housing work. He was a member of the Government’s Montague Review and is a long-term champion of the Build-to-Rent sector. He helped Government review the case for protecting client money, and has been involved in the Unipol/ANUK codes, which regulate student accommodation standards, since their inception, including stints chairing the Audit Panel and Committee of Management. He was a member of the Smith Institute’s Affordable Housing Commission. Ian is an Honorary Fellow of the IRPM and Fellow of the RSA.

Ian was formerly Head of Policy and Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce. He has also worked in banking and teaching, and holds professional qualifications in finance and market research. He is a married and has one eighteen-year-old son.

Rhona Brown

Head of Private Sector Housing and Home improvement
London Borough of Lewisham

I joined Lewisham Council as Head of Private Sector Housing and Home Improvement in March 2022. Prior to that I led the Greater London Authority’s work on the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in the Housing and Land directorate for nine years, where I delivered initiatives such as the Mayor’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker and the Mayor’s London Borough PRS Partnership, as well as leading on Build to Rent policy from the housing perspective. I have worked in housing policy in a variety of roles since 2011, including two years as a policy officer at the National Housing Federation. Before specialising in housing policy, I was a research assistant in the House of Commons for four years, covering a range of issues including local government finance, article 4 directions, energy efficiency, renewable power generation and retrofit.

Lesley Roberts

Director of BTR Operations
Godwin Developments

Lesley plays a pivotal role in developing and delivering Godwin’s plans to build a £1 billion national BTR portfolio. Her main remit is the creation of the BTR operational strategy across both the single and multifamily developments for the business. Working in close collaboration with internal teams and external providers, she is responsible for the operational performance and profitability of our single and multifamily assets while also delivering a leading customer experience across the entire proposition.

With a career spanning over 20 years, Lesley has extensive high-level experience with both the BTR and PRS sectors, and has for some time been at the heart of shaping the UK’s Build to Rent offer as President of The UK Apartment Association (UKAA). Prior to joining Godwin, she served as a Partner at Allsop LLP and CEO of Allsop Letting and Management, where she advised developers and institutional investors on the acquisition, design, build and operation of large-scale BTR portfolios. A member of the British Property Federation’s (BPF) residential board, Lesley also toured the US studying the multifamily model there and was instrumental in the concept and development of the UKAA’s BTR Best Practice Guide launched in 2022. She was previously Chair of Soho Housing Association and held roles at Pinnacle Places, Young Group, and City Living London.

Alastair Mullens

Managing Director - Vertus
Canary Wharf Group

Alastair joined Canary Wharf Group in 2018, to establish the Canary Wharf Group’s (CWG) Build-to-Rent platform, Vertus. He is currently overseeing the delivery of three seed assets totalling 1,137 units, all based on the Canary Wharf Estate. The first new residential tenants moved in in February 2020. He is now working closely with CWG’s development team to design and envision the future phases of private rental product for the Estate.

Over the last twelve years Alastair has gained a broad experience of the UK residential property market; initially in Residential Management before moving into Residential Development and then centring on the emerging Build-to-Rent market. He spent 9 years with Hamptons International & Countrywide Group based in London and Hong Kong. In 2015 he returned from Asia to focus on Build-to-Rent lease-up delivery for various clients across London. His final role at Countrywide was as National Director of Corporate PRS & Build to Rent, during this time he oversaw the delivery of the group’s operational management platform. This included the delivery of two Build-to-Rent assets in the north-west totalling 488 units for the Vista fund, The Cargo Building in Liverpool and Pomona Wharf in Manchester.

Bella Peacock

Senior Managing Director, Investment Management and Operations
Greystar

Bella Peacock is Senior Managing Director and member of the European Leadership team. She is responsible for asset execution across student and multifamily leading the company’s Asset Management and Operations teams across Europe. Bella works with her teams in France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and UK to ensure the effective implementation of the Greystar global operating model, applying it to the local context of each market to drive asset performance across all stages of the investment lifecycle.

Bella joined Greystar in 2014 as one of the first members of the new European business where she was engaged with the growth of the platform across the region. Prior to Greystar, she worked in the residential real estate sector covering serviced apartments, PRS and BTR at Native where she was responsible for portfolio growth, investor relations and asset management. Bella started her career at The UNITE Group.

Bella is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, Real Estate Balance and The Class Foundation. She earned her Master of Arts in Geography from the University of Oxford before completing her Master of Science in Real Estate Investment and Finance from Henley Business School at the University of Reading.

James Pargeter

Senior Advisor
GAA

James has 25 years of experience within the residential sector, with a focus on purpose-designed Build to Rent (BTR) since 2012. He is a recognised advocate for the sector and was included in EG’s ‘BTR’s 50 Most Influential’ list for 2022. James’s extensive delivery experience across the tenure spectrum brings understanding of the varied priorities for investors, owners, residents, local communities and policymakers in delivering successful long-term rental led developments.

Before joining GAA as a consultant Senior Advisor, James was a Senior Director at Greystar, where he led engagement with UK national and local government and helped to shape emerging BTR policies, as well as liaison with key stakeholders on each development. Before that, he was a Partner at Deloitte Real Estate leading their Residential Projects team.

James sits on the BPF’s BTR Committee and also co-chairs their London Engagement Group, as well as the UKAA’s Policy Committee and the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) Manufacture & Performance working group. He is also a recent member of the Government’s BTR Joint Committee (DLUHC), New London Architecture’s (NLA) Expert Housing Panel and the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) UK Residential Council. He is a regular speaker and commentator on BTR, wider housing issues and modular construction, and contributed to the ULI’s ‘Build to Rent: Best Practice Guide’

Rick de Blaby

CEO
Get Living

Rick is CEO of Get Living PLC, the UK’s leading investor, developer and operating platform of Built to Rent residential homes with 4,000 in operation and a further 6,000 in pipeline. He has been with Get Living for 5 years, whose flagship assets neighbourhoods include East Village at the Olympic Park, Elephant and Castle Town Centre, MIddlewood Locks in Salford and Lewisham Gateway plus others in Leeds, Glasgow and Maidenhead. Rick has 40 years of real estate experience, with a particular passion for big scale urban regeneration and neighbourhood creation. Rick is also a Non-Executive Board Member of Curo Housing Association. Past roles have included CEO of MEPC and United House and Non-Exec Chairman of Miller Developments.

Simon Scott

Lead Director - Living Capital Markets
JLL

Simon has over 20 years’ experience in the field of residential investment and development, and was actively involved in the development of the student investment market in an advisory capacity, and led in a number of innovative funding structures working with both Housing Associations and Universities in making institutionally acceptable investment assets in the residential sector. Simon is now overseeing the residential investment team and will be focused on matching investor appetite for residential investment, whether off plan bespoke developments or existing portfolios of income producing or reversionary assets.

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.

James Saunders

Chief Executive Officer
Quintain

James Saunders was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Quintain in October 2019.

James was previously Chief Operating Officer of Quintain and has been a main board director since 2017. As Chief Operating Officer, James led the place-making and estate management at Wembley Park, commercial partnerships, group marketing, IT and health and safety.

During his time at Quintain, James has led the repositioning of Wembley Park from an event destination to an exciting new neighbourhood for London. He has created the strategic direction for marketing, communications and place making that has led to dramatic reconsideration of the area, increase in footfall, improvements in press coverage and word-of -mouth, plus new partnerships including with Boxpark, Troubadour Theatres and Second Floor Studios.

As Chief Operating Officer, James also oversaw the Wembley Park estate operations team with responsibility for management of The SSE Arena, Wembley, London Designer Outlet, car parking, health and safety, service charge and retail development.

He has managed key stakeholder and commercial partner relationships with GLA, London Borough of Brent, Wembley Stadium, the FA, AEG and Realm, plus other local stakeholders. He was responsible for the renegotiation of agreements with adjacent landowners that unlocked the Wembley Park site from a development and operational perspective.

Prior to joining Quintain, James was the Chief Marketing Officer at The Cloud Networks, a consultant to Vodafone Europe and Brand Director at Coca-Cola Great Britain. He holds a Sloan Masters from London Business School, a Law Degree from Cambridge University and is a barrister-at-law.

David Jennings

Chairman
Movers & Shakers

David started his career in Construction and Property. In 1990 he jointly founded and was a Joint Managing Director of the Salisbury Consulting Group; he sold his interest in 1995. In 1996 he formed Business Vantage, a business and research consultancy which specialises in property and construction and advises major UK plc’s.
David is the Founder Director and Chairman of Movers & Shakers formed in 1996 the UK’s most successful and popular networking forum.
He is also a Founder Director and shareholder of Stonemartin plc, an AIM listed serviced office business; founded in 1999.

Leigh Natasha Salter

Managing Director
Movers & Shakers

Leigh Natasha Salter is Managing Director of Movers & Shakers, having formerly been the Business and Events Director. Leigh has been responsible for developing the brand over the last 14 years and was responsible for the launch of the Movers & Shakers UK Regional events programme. Previously she worked in marketing, communications and research, and also ran the Windsor & Maidenhead Borough’s Business to Community Partnership, facilitating CSR for businesses. She qualified at Oxford University with a BA Honours in Human Sciences, and a scholarship, and is also a member of the BPF, WPA and UK-GBC.

Tracey Hartley

Chief Operating Officer, Europe
Cortland

Tracey brings a wealth of experience in the residential sector having held senior positions at JLL, The Howard De Walden Estate and Grainger plc. Tracey is a Chartered Surveyor, residential property expert, and fund manager who has excellent entrepreneurial, strategic and tactical skills honed across both the private and public sectors. She is Chief Operating Officer at Cortland Europe where Tracey is responsible for ensuring a strong operating platform across Cortland’s UK portfolio.

Tracey holds an MBA, MRICS and FIRPM.

Alex Notay

Placemaking and Investment Director
PfP Capital

Alexandra Notay is Placemaking and Investment Director at PfP Capital, the fund and asset management arm of Places for People Group, overseeing a UK-wide residential strategy. She is an internationally recognised expert on build to rent, placemaking and sustainable urban development, with 16 years’ strategic advisory experience to private sector, government and third sector organisations across four continents. In January 2019 Alex was selected as one of the 48 women shaping the future of UK real estate at the prestigious BISNOW Women Leaders event.

Alex is a published author and editor of over 30 books and reports on real estate including the renowned ULI UK Best Practice Guide on Build to Rent (2014, 2016). Alex is a vice-chair of the ULI UK Residential Council, chair of the BPF sub-committee on residential ESG, serves on the BPF Build to Rent Committee and is an Associate Member of CREFC Europe. She is also a non-executive director of Essensys plc, Sound Diplomacy, SouthWest Board Member for LandAid and trustee of the SunScreenIT Foundation.

With a reputation for being ‘abnormally energetic’, Alex is passionate about enabling tangible social impact through innovation and collaboration as well as mentoring the next generation of diverse talent.

Sowgol Zarinchang

Managing Director
Way of Life

Sowgol joined Long Harbour January 2018 as the Managing Director of Way of Life. She leads the WoL management platform and ensures the company provides efficient building management and professional customer services through multi-skilled team of people.

Prior to joining Way of Life, Sowgol has 20 years of experience in real estate and has been responsible for implementing management strategies in line with the asset, agreeing marketing and PR activities and implementing digital platforms for companies such as JLL (Director of Serviced Apartments), Folio London (Director of Private Rent) and Notting Hill Housing Trust (Director of Student Lets).

Sowgol is a member of multiple UK Apartment Association (UKAA) committees and Chair of the UKAA Portal Committee, as well as ‘Women in Property’, ‘Ladies in Real Estate’ and a member of IRPM. In 2019, Sowgol was selected as one of the ‘49 women who will shape the future of Real Estate in the UK by Bisnow, as well as in November 2021, Sowgol was announced as one of the 50 Property Management 2021 winners in the Build to Rent category.

Sowgol is passionate about the industry and believes on excellent customer service.

Jennifer Murray

Senior Manager - Product Development
Homes England

Jennifer began her career in property investment management at Schroders where she was fund manager for directly invested funds and multi manager portfolios on behalf of pension fund and charity clients for over 15 years. Prior to joining Homes England, where she has responsibility for Institutional Investment, Jennifer was a fund manager for Tesco Pension Investment. Here she developed a professional interest in residential as an institutional investment class having managed overseas investment strategies. Jennifer is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Investment Property Forum.

Harry Downes

Managing Director – UK Multifamily Investment
Greystar

After 6 years in the Army, Harry started his property career in the commercial sector in Canada. On returning to the UK he switched to residential with Savills, before spending 13 years as Sales and Marketing Director with Manhattan Loft Corporation. High points were the development and delivery of iconic schemes such as St Pancras Chambers, Bankside Lofts and West India Quay.

In 2010 the banking crisis was causing turmoil in the residential sector so Harry set about finding a housing solution for young professionals. The result was an idea that became Fizzy Living, one of the earliest entrants into the BTR market.

Fizzy grew to 1,000 units with financial backing from ADIA, and in 2021 the operating business was bought by Greystar. Harry is now MD Investments in its UK multi family business.

Dr Elizabeth Rapoport

Assistant Director - Strategy
Homes England

Elizabeth is an urban planner, researcher and strategist with 20 years of experience working on issues related to the built environment. As Assistant Director of Strategy at Homes England, Elizabeth works at the interface between policy and delivery, translating Government housing and regeneration priorities into delivery strategies and the Agency’s operations. Elizabeth has led numerous international research projects on urban and regional planning, governance, sustainability and climate change and is the author of a number of publications on these topics. She holds a Masters in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from LSE and a Doctorate in Urban Sustainability and Resilience from UCL.

Jennet Siebrits

Head of UK Research
CBRE

Jennet is an Executive Director at CBRE. She is an economist with over twenty years experience. Jen joined CBRE 18 years ago to set up the residential research
team. She is currently head of UK research, with a focus is on the big issues in the real estate world; identifying trends, analysing the market, and providing clients
with unrivalled insight and ideas. Jen regularly produces bespoke reports for clients that help inform their strategic decision making process.

In addition, she produces a wide ranging programme of thought leadership looking at issues such as placemaking, premium pricing and the impact of regeneration. Jen spends a significant amount of time presenting to client (developer and buyers) to keep them up to date with market developments.

Fiona Fletcher-Smith

Chief Executive
L&Q

Fiona was appointed as L&Q’s Chief Executive in September 2020. A chartered surveyor, with almost 30 years of experience in the housing sector, Fiona has worked in a variety of voluntary and public sector roles including advising homeless people in Dublin, housing management, development and regeneration, strategy and policy development.

Fiona was previously L&Q’s Director of Development and Sales, spearheading a £5.1 billion development programme. Whilst in this role, Fiona led our development and strategic land programmes, including landmark projects such as the 10,800-home Barking Riverside development. She also oversaw the group’s expansion beyond the South East and delivered change programmes to improve both the efficiency and diversity of our Development and Sales function.

Prior to joining L&Q, Fiona was Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment at the Greater London Authority (GLA). As part of their senior management team, Fiona was responsible for overseeing the delivery and implementation of key strategies such as the London Plan and overseeing the operation of the Mayor’s powers in relation to significant planning applications in the capital.

Fiona is the current chair of trustees at the Centre for London, helping the capital’s think tank to meet their charitable objectives.

Ben Denton

Managing Director
L&G Affordable Homes

Ben Denton is Managing Director of L&G Affordable Homes. L&G Affordable Homes’ set up in 2018 with an ambitious business plan to develop 3,000 affordable homes pa by 2022 alongside building a best in class customer services experience. L&G are investing patient, long-term capital in order to grow the capacity of the affordable housing sector and in so doing, deliver societally important outcomes. L&G Affordable Homes sits alongside L&G’s other housing businesses including BTR, Modular, Cala and Inspired Villages Group. Prior to L&G, Ben held a number of positions in the public and private sectors, delivering residential led development and regeneration.

Clare Miller

Group Chief Executive
Clarion Housing

Clare has been our Group Chief Executive since 2018. She is a chartered accountant with almost 30 years’ experience in the housing sector. Clare joined the Housing Corporation in 1992 as a financial regulator. Over the next 18 years progressed to become its Director of Regulation.

She then became an Executive Director at the Tenant Services Authority, with responsibility for housing association regulation. In 2010 Clare joined Affinity Sutton as Group Director of Governance and Compliance. She took up the same role at Clarion in 2016, before taking on her current role two years later.

Ric Blakeway

Housing Ombudsman

Richard was appointed as Housing Ombudsman from 1 September 2019. He has extensive experience in the housing sector, with previous roles including Deputy Mayor of London for Housing, chair of the Homes for London board and a non-executive director of Homes England.

During his eight years at the Greater London Authority, Richard was responsible for housing investment and land generation programmes. He also led the creation of the first team at City Hall to address rough sleeping, commissioning around £10 million of services each year, as well as the first Social Impact Bond on homelessness.

Richard is a former board member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has been an election observer in Somaliland and Ukraine. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and sits on the Administrative Justice Council.

Richard also chairs the Ombudsman Association and is a board member of the British Library.

Cllr Promise Knight

Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters Security
Brent Council

Cllr Promise Knight is Cabinet Lead Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters’ Security at Brent Council where she has strategic oversight over a range of housing services, including Brent’s private housing strategy and renters’ support. Promise has worked for a number of Parliamentarians in both Houses of Parliament, and at Citizens UK as a Community Organiser responsible for civic engagement.

David Lunts

Chief Executive Officer
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation

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

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

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

Ailish Christian-West

Chief Operating Officer
Get Living

Ailish is responsible for managing Get Living’s existing £2 billion build-to-rent neighbourhood portfolio and current development pipeline of circa 6,000 homes development, working with investors and development partners to drive investment performance and grow the Get Living UK portfolio to our target of 15,000 homes. She also leads Get Livings ESG agenda and supports industry collaboration on a broad range of issues, advocating for a sustainable real estate sector.

Ailish has more than 20 years’ experience in UK real estate. Prior to Get Living, Ailish enjoyed 12 years at Landsec, laterally as an executive committee member responsible for portfolio management and portfolio operations. At Landsec she led key strategic initiatives including pivoting London suburban retail assets to mixed use, selling out of secondary shopping centres and creating significant value through building a retail outlet portfolio. She also spent 10 years in fund management, running core plus and opportunistic funds including at La Salle Investment Management.

Tom Copley

Deputy Mayor for Housing
GLA

Tom has been on the London Assembly as a London-wide List member since May 2012, and was re-elected in 2016. He served as Chair of the Assembly’s housing committee and as Labour Group housing spokesperson up until 2020.

In February 2020 it was announced that Sadiq Khan would appoint Tom as Deputy Mayor for Housing.

On the Assembly he has raised concerns about the lack of housing supply across all tenures, rents and conditions in the private rented sector and the increase in rough sleeping. As someone with a long-standing love for the arts, Tom has also been an advocate for London’s small theatres. His Centre Stage report led to the launch of the London Theatres Small Grants Scheme in August 2015.

Prior to his election to the Assembly, Tom worked for Hope not hate - an anti-fascist, anti-racist charity that works with communities to fight racism and hatred.

Kate Ives

Strategic Growth Director
Countryside Partnerships

Kate is a geographer, town planner, housing practitioner, and social impact champion. Her work centres around housing delivery but a significant part of that is wider regeneration on major city projects such as Beam Park in Barking and Clapham Park in Lambeth. Kate’s centre of gravity is always directed towards supporting and helping others at a community level, and she does that through active management of the social value impact teams that she runs. Her role sees her working with the public sector to deliver long term regeneration on public land, working in partnership with local Councils, housing associations and local community groups. She also represents Countryside on JV project boards and supports good governance practice.

Claire Dutch

Practice Group Head, UK, Real Estate
Ashurst

Claire has been described in the legal directories as a “leader in the field of planning”. She specialises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious planning law. She helps clients on strategy and policy at the inception of a development scheme, planning applications, environmental impact assessment, planning agreements, the community infrastructure levy and appeals and judicial review.

Claire has advised the public and private sector on some of the country’s most notable and iconic development and infrastructure projects. She has featured in The Lawyer’s “Hot 100” and numerous polls of influential people in the planning industry. She is the Vice Chair of the British Property Federation’s planning committee and a member of the Oxford Joint Planning Law Conference Committee.

Jonathan Seal

Chief Executive Officer
Regal London

Jonathan Seal started his career as a trainee solicitor with Lovell White Durrant in 1997, qualifiying into the corporate finance department specialising in M&A and private equity. He subsequently moved away from the law into investment banking and then went on to spend 20+ years in private equity, latterly as a partner at Nova Capital, managing their European secondary business.

Jonathan joined Regal London in 2016 as a Non-Executive Director to spearhead its strategic growth plans and subsequently moved into a full time role, now as Chief Executive Officer. Jonathan is also a Non Executive Director of Modulous, an early stage proptech company.

Sophie Goddard

Director of Sustainability
Canary Wharf Group plc

Sophie Goddard is Director of Sustainability for Canary Wharf Group; the developer, contractor, and property manager who transform urban spaces into extraordinary environments. Sophie has previously led sustainability across the UK for the regional and specialist businesses within Balfour Beatty, the UK’s largest contractor.

Sophie has also spent time in the retail industry where she led programmes to deliver sustainable outcomes in the Far East.

With over 10 years of experience in a variety of roles and sectors, Sophie firmly believes that the private sector has a key role to play in responding to the climate crisis in a way which creates healthy and prosperous places to live and work.

Dan James

Development Director
Eden Project

Dan leads the early stages of project development and implementation including relationship building and project design. He is responsible for the delivery of a number of projects including the National Wildflower Centre, Eden’s social prescribing programme - Nature’s Way and Deep Roots New Shoots - a nature-based project for under 5’s and their families. Having joined Eden in 2002, Dan has supported Eden’s funding activity across a number of sectors including Public funds, Trusts and Foundations raising significant funds to pay for capital improvements on site and revenue funds for programmes and projects.

In his early role with Eden, Dan was instrumental in securing and manging funds awarded by the Government, Europe and the Lottery. He played a leading role in the establishment and maintenance of key regional and national stakeholder relationships, helping to bring some important Eden initiatives to reality, including The Core building, The Big Lunch programme and Eden Geothermal.

Juliette Morgan

ESG Consultancy Director
Gensler

Juliette is a real estate industry leader with 20 years’ experience working internationally. She has managed portfolios of millions of sq ft in development and asset management and latterly focussed her career on ESG strategies in the built environment. She led pathways to net zero and offset for a UK based REIT, British Land and is now a leader in Gensler’s Global Climate action and Sustainability Practice Area working with clients all over the globe to reduce their carbon impact, and increase their human and biodiversity outcomes.

Dan Jones

Director of Public Realm
London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Dan is an Environment Director with over 24 years of local government experience and knowledge. He is currently Director Public Realm at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, responsible for the delivery of key front line services such as waste management, highways, parking and environmental health. He is also the lead for the council’s response to the Climate Emergency and has, in partnership with colleagues and local stakeholders delivered an ambitious Net Zero Carbon Action Plan for the Council and for the Tower Hamlets Partnership.

Dan has also been instrumental ,in his role as Chair of the London Environmental Directors’ Network (LEDNet), in raising the profile of the Climate Emergency amongst London Borough’s elected members and Chief Executives, which has resulted in the production of a blueprint for accelerating climate action by a coalition of LEDNet, ADEPT, Ashden and other local government, environmental and research organisations - Climate Coalition Asks: a blueprint for accelerating climate action.

Shobi Khan

Chief Executive Officer
Canary Wharf Group plc

Shobi Khan brings more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. Mr. Khan currently serves as Chief Executive Officer for Canary Wharf Group (CWG). Previously, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of GGP Inc. (a S&P 500 REIT). Prior to GGP, he served as the U.S. chief investment officer at Bentall Kennedy. Mr. Khan spent 11 years at Equity Office Properties Trust (a S&P 500 REIT), where he was the Senior Vice President of Investments. Mr. Khan holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Tom Venner

Managing Director - Development
Canary Wharf Group plc

Tom is Managing Director - Development for Canary Wharf Group, responsible for delivery of the 7m sf development pipeline. The pipeline includes Canary Wharf’s North Quay and Wood Wharf Developments, delivering over 3,000 homes, hotels, retail and commercial space, together with an life-sciences campus for London. In addition, the team leads the delivery of the final phase of the redevelopment of the Shell Centre with our partners Qatari Diar.

Prior to joining Canary Wharf Group, Tom was the first Managing Director of the Euston Partnership, the Government’s largest real estate delivery partnership and established the Property Business of High Speed 2, created to realise social, economic and financial value from real estate development. Before HS2, Tom spent 10 years at LandSec.

Cath Webster

Chief Executive Officer
PfP Capital

Catherine started at PfP Capital in January 2023 to focus on increasing funds under management alongside the delivery of social value,augmenting the existing fund management platform across high-quality affordable housing, private-rented residential and urban regeneration strategies. She joined from Quintain where she was Executive Director for Strategy and Investment and chair of the Sustainability Steering Group.

Cath has 30 years of real estate experience and has held several leadership roles as an investor or a lender in a wide array of companies including private equity, fund management and investment banking at Hudson Advisors (Lone Star Funds), TIAA & Lehman Brothers Global Real Estate. She holds a Bsc in Land Management from Reading University, an MBA from INSEAD and is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Co-Chair for the Creative Land Trust.

Morgan Taylor

Head of Ecology
Greengage

Morgan leads our ecology team, providing ecological and green infrastructure design input into projects enabling biodiversity net gains, complementing wider climate change adaptation measures. He provides clear and concise advice on how to manage ecology throughout planning and development.

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.

Kelly Beaver MBE

Chief Executive, UK and Ireland
Ipsos UK

Kelly Beaver MBE is Chief Executive of Ipsos in the UK and Ireland. She has been with Ipsos for over a decade and was previously Managing Director of Ipsos’s UK Public Affairs division which supports government clients to monitor and understand public opinion, behaviours and societal trends, design public services and policies, and to determine what works in achieving social and economic policy objectives.

Kelly has led a wide range of notable research programmes including the REACT study tracking COVID-19 prevalence across England, public attitudes work ranging from the use of evidence, Brexit and vaccines, through to a key piece of work with the Royal Foundation on the importance of the Early Years. Prior to joining Ipsos, Kelly held roles across various consultancies including PwC and KPMG and specialised in public policy evaluation.

Kelly holds several honorary positions external to Ipsos in academia and charities. She is passionate about the use of evidence in decision-making and her roles outside of Ipsos enable her to make a wider contribution to the social sciences discipline in promoting its use. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy for Social Sciences, a Board member for the Campaign for Social Science, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London and a Trustee for the Government What Works Centre for Early Intervention. She currently sits on the Advisory Panel for the Resolution Foundation’s ‘Economy 2030 Inquiry’.

Kelly is a regular commentator in the national press and broadcast media. She is experienced at presenting to senior audiences on public and business leader opinion and societal and consumer trends across a range of topics including trust, gender equality, employee engagement, leadership, and many others.

Kelly was awarded an MBE in June 2022 as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to academia, research and the COVID-19 response.

Catherine Raynsford

Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management
Hyde Group

Catherine Raynsford is Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management.

Catherine has worked in real estate for over 15 years specialising in public private partnerships, working with public sector landowners to bring forward major developments and regeneration projects.

Catherine works closely with our public sector partners and grow our initiatives with local government, this is a new role for Hyde and will focus on our strategy to engage with private capital.

Catherine leads a team to identify, develop and enhance long-term partnerships with a broad mix of private sector partners including housebuilders, developers, and institutional investors.

Ben Denton

Managing Director
L&G Affordable Homes

Ben Denton is Managing Director of L&G Affordable Homes. L&G Affordable Homes’ set up in 2018 with an ambitious business plan to develop 3,000 affordable homes pa by 2022 alongside building a best in class customer services experience. L&G are investing patient, long-term capital in order to grow the capacity of the affordable housing sector and in so doing, deliver societally important outcomes. L&G Affordable Homes sits alongside L&G’s other housing businesses including BTR, Modular, Cala and Inspired Villages Group. Prior to L&G, Ben held a number of positions in the public and private sectors, delivering residential led development and regeneration.

Jules Pipe CBE

Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills
Greater London Authority

Jules Pipe is working on key priorities for the Mayor, including: implementation of the London Plan, major and community-led regeneration projects across the capital, building a skills system that properly addresses the needs of Londoners and the economy, and ensuring London’s infrastructure supports good growth, meets the needs of London’s communities and makes London a cleaner, greener and smarter City. 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 2010 until he joined the Mayor’s team in 2016.

Steve Hatton

Planning & Design Director
Weston Homes plc

Steve Hatton is the Planning & Design Director at Weston Homes and has worked in the property development industry for 20 years.

Steve specialises in residential led brownfield mixed-use regeneration schemes across the southeast of England. These projects range in scale from 50 to over 1,000 homes and include other uses such as schools, retail and community facilities.

Steve leads the planning and engagement process from inception to start on site, working collaboratively with landowners, the public sector and local communities to create places with a shared vision.

Nicholle Kingsley

Head of London Planning Team
Pinsent Masons LLP

Nicholle is head of the London planning team at Pinsent Masons. Nicholle has extensive experience advising on all aspects of planning and environmental legal issues on a wide range of UK and international development and regeneration projects.

Jamie Lockerbie

Partner
Pinsent Masons LLP

Jamie is a partner in the London planning team at Pinsent Masons. Jamie is a planning law specialist and advises clients in both the public and private sectors on the full remit of planning and highways matters.

David Jennings

Chairman
Movers & Shakers

David started his career in Construction and Property. In 1990 he jointly founded and was a Joint Managing Director of the Salisbury Consulting Group; he sold his interest in 1995. In 1996 he formed Business Vantage, a business and research consultancy which specialises in property and construction and advises major UK plc’s.
David is the Founder Director and Chairman of Movers & Shakers formed in 1996 the UK’s most successful and popular networking forum.
He is also a Founder Director and shareholder of Stonemartin plc, an AIM listed serviced office business; founded in 1999.

Leigh Natasha Salter

Managing Director
Movers & Shakers

Leigh Natasha Salter is Managing Director of Movers & Shakers, having formerly been the Business and Events Director. Leigh has been responsible for developing the brand over the last 14 years and was responsible for the launch of the Movers & Shakers UK Regional events programme. Previously she worked in marketing, communications and research, and also ran the Windsor & Maidenhead Borough’s Business to Community Partnership, facilitating CSR for businesses. She qualified at Oxford University with a BA Honours in Human Sciences, and a scholarship, and is also a member of the BPF, WPA and UK-GBC.

James Pargeter

Senior Advisor
GAA

James has 25 years of experience within the residential sector, with a focus on purpose-designed Build to Rent (BTR) since 2012. He is a recognised advocate for the sector and was included in EG’s ‘BTR’s 50 Most Influential’ list for 2022. James’s extensive delivery experience across the tenure spectrum brings understanding of the varied priorities for investors, owners, residents, local communities and policymakers in delivering successful long-term rental led developments.

Before joining GAA as a consultant Senior Advisor, James was a Senior Director at Greystar, where he led engagement with UK national and local government and helped to shape emerging BTR policies, as well as liaison with key stakeholders on each development. Before that, he was a Partner at Deloitte Real Estate leading their Residential Projects team.

James sits on the BPF’s BTR Committee and also co-chairs their London Engagement Group, as well as the UKAA’s Policy Committee and the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) Manufacture & Performance working group. He is also a recent member of the Government’s BTR Joint Committee (DLUHC), New London Architecture’s (NLA) Expert Housing Panel and the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) UK Residential Council. He is a regular speaker and commentator on BTR, wider housing issues and modular construction, and contributed to the ULI’s ‘Build to Rent: Best Practice Guide’

Simon Scott

Lead Director - Living Capital Markets
JLL

Simon has over 20 years’ experience in the field of residential investment and development, and was actively involved in the development of the student investment market in an advisory capacity, and led in a number of innovative funding structures working with both Housing Associations and Universities in making institutionally acceptable investment assets in the residential sector. Simon is now overseeing the residential investment team and will be focused on matching investor appetite for residential investment, whether off plan bespoke developments or existing portfolios of income producing or reversionary assets.

Rebecca Taylor

Managing Director of BTR Multi-Family
Long Harbour

Rebecca is the Managing Director of Long Harbour’s BtR / Multifamily business. Since joining Long Harbour in 2015, Rebecca has deployed over £750mn of equity and leads on the LHMF JV which is a £1.5bn partnership with PSP and Cadillac Fairview.

Rebecca has over 15 years’ experience in development and investment having worked in projects in Australia, UK, Ireland and UAE. Prior to joining Long Harbour, Rebecca spent eight years at Laing O’Rourke working in their property and investment team. Here she worked on their offsite housing solution and a number of PFI/PPP deals.

She is the Vice-Chair of the BPF BTR Committee, is on the steering group for the UKAA Best Practice Guide and a member of the ULI UK Residential Council.

Richard Jackson MRICS

Managing Director & Co-Founder, Apache Capital
Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, Present Made

Richard Jackson is a founding partner and Managing Director of Apache Capital Partners. He is one of the senior leadership team and has over 20 years’ experience in property and development funding.

Prior to launching Apache Capital Partners in 2008, Richard worked with John Dunkerley primarily on two funds in the UK and Europe, the latter of which Richard focused on growing the portfolio by acquiring assets throughout mainland Europe.

Together with John, Richard launched Apache Capital Partners with a strategy of investing in chronically undersupplied but structurally supported residential sectors.
Richard’s day to day role focuses on investment and business development and he is also responsible for the company vision and strategy. He has worked closely with Joint Venture Partners Moda Living on the company’s prime BTR investments to create exceptional places to call home. Richard is a member of the IPF Residential Special Interest Group (SIG) Committee, PREA and INREV.

Catherine Raynsford

Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management
Hyde Group

Catherine Raynsford is Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management.

Catherine has worked in real estate for over 15 years specialising in public private partnerships, working with public sector landowners to bring forward major developments and regeneration projects.

Catherine works closely with our public sector partners and grow our initiatives with local government, this is a new role for Hyde and will focus on our strategy to engage with private capital.

Catherine leads a team to identify, develop and enhance long-term partnerships with a broad mix of private sector partners including housebuilders, developers, and institutional investors.

Iain Murray

Senior Director - BTR Consultancy (Europe)
Cortland Consult

Iain has been in the heart of the Build To Rent sector for almost a decade now and probably attracts the ‘veteran’ tag these days. He leads a dynamic team of BTR consultants based in London, Leeds and Dublin delivering advice across Europe. Cortland Consult is a sophisticated data driven business who have helped our clients develop, fund and operate over 50,000+ Multifamily Assets.

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.

Helen Gordon

Chief Executive Officer
Grainger plc

Helen was appointed Chief Executive of Grainger in January 2016.

Helen has spent over 40 years in Real Estate and joined Grainger from RBS where she spent five years as Global Head of Real Estate Asset Management. Prior to that, Helen held the role of Director of Legal and General Property. Other previous roles include Group Property Director of Railtrack and Managing Director of John Laing Developments.

Helen sits on the Board of Derwent London as Senior Independent Director, is currently Deputy Chairman of the European Public Real Estate Association and is Past President of the BPF.

Helen is a chartered surveyor and an Honorary Fellow of University College of Estate Management.

James Saunders

Chief Executive Officer
Quintain

James Saunders was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Quintain in October 2019.

James was previously Chief Operating Officer of Quintain and has been a main board director since 2017. As Chief Operating Officer, James led the place-making and estate management at Wembley Park, commercial partnerships, group marketing, IT and health and safety.

During his time at Quintain, James has led the repositioning of Wembley Park from an event destination to an exciting new neighbourhood for London. He has created the strategic direction for marketing, communications and place making that has led to dramatic reconsideration of the area, increase in footfall, improvements in press coverage and word-of -mouth, plus new partnerships including with Boxpark, Troubadour Theatres and Second Floor Studios.

As Chief Operating Officer, James also oversaw the Wembley Park estate operations team with responsibility for management of The SSE Arena, Wembley, London Designer Outlet, car parking, health and safety, service charge and retail development.

He has managed key stakeholder and commercial partner relationships with GLA, London Borough of Brent, Wembley Stadium, the FA, AEG and Realm, plus other local stakeholders. He was responsible for the renegotiation of agreements with adjacent landowners that unlocked the Wembley Park site from a development and operational perspective.

Prior to joining Quintain, James was the Chief Marketing Officer at The Cloud Networks, a consultant to Vodafone Europe and Brand Director at Coca-Cola Great Britain. He holds a Sloan Masters from London Business School, a Law Degree from Cambridge University and is a barrister-at-law.

Hannah Marsh

Co-Founder and Chief Partnership Officer
HomeViews

Hannah moved into the property industry four years ago when she co-founded the property rating service HomeViews. She started her career at GSK, spending seven years at the pharma giant before joining a luxury skincare startup. As Marketing Director Hannah helped take it from a table-top business to a brand featuring in stores such as Selfridges and Barney’s New York.

In property, she has quickly become an authority on the Build to Rent and PRS sectors.

Alastair Mullens

Managing Director - Vertus
Canary Wharf Group

Alastair joined Canary Wharf Group in 2018, to establish the Canary Wharf Group’s (CWG) Build-to-Rent platform, Vertus. He is currently overseeing the delivery of three seed assets totalling 1,137 units, all based on the Canary Wharf Estate. The first new residential tenants moved in in February 2020. He is now working closely with CWG’s development team to design and envision the future phases of private rental product for the Estate.

Over the last twelve years Alastair has gained a broad experience of the UK residential property market; initially in Residential Management before moving into Residential Development and then centring on the emerging Build-to-Rent market. He spent 9 years with Hamptons International & Countrywide Group based in London and Hong Kong. In 2015 he returned from Asia to focus on Build-to-Rent lease-up delivery for various clients across London. His final role at Countrywide was as National Director of Corporate PRS & Build to Rent, during this time he oversaw the delivery of the group’s operational management platform. This included the delivery of two Build-to-Rent assets in the north-west totalling 488 units for the Vista fund, The Cargo Building in Liverpool and Pomona Wharf in Manchester.

Michela Hancock

Managing Director Europe
Greystar

Michela Hancock is a Managing Director and is responsible for the expansion of the company’s third-party management platform and strategic partnerships for wider development and investment deals across Europe. Previously, Michela was Managing Director of Development and Construction for the UK, where she oversaw all project financing, amenity, unit planning, design, planning, construction, and lease-up efforts on high-density Build to Rent and student developments.

She has a MSc in Real Estate Development from Johns Hopkins University and worked in development for Bozzuto Development Company and Grainger PLC. Michela is a founding board member of the UK Apartment Association, an advisory board member of Commercial Real Estate Finance Council and a member of the British Property Federation Build to Rent Committee. She is a member of the ULI European Residential Council, serves on the Real Estate Balance Policy and Campaigns Committee and is an active member of Commercial Real Estate Women’s mentorship programme.

Russell Pedley

Director & Co-Founder
Assael Architecture

Russell is Director and Co-Founder of Assael Architecture. With over 30 years as an architect and 15 years in urban design, he has a strong passion for creating a sense of place with historical and cultural connections in all of his work.

Russell spent many years spearheading Assael’s skills in the design of professionally-managed Build to Rent communities in the private rented sector. Following years of research, including many study trips to the US, and producing design guides for the UK, Assael is now one of the leading architects in the sector, paving the way with key projects such as Union Wharf in Greenwich for Essential Living, Blackhorse Mills in Walthamstow for Legal & General, and Pontoon Dock in Newham for Linkcity. Russell also co-authored both editions of the Urban Land Institute’s Build to Rent: A Best Practice Guide, which was sponsored by the British Government, and he is now Chair of the ULI’s UK Residential Council and advises on MHCLG’s Build to Rent Joint Committee.

Nick Whitten

Head of UK Residential and Living Research, EMEA
JLL

Nick spent 13 years working as a journalist, seven of which were in the property industry. He joined JLL in August 2014 from property journal Estates Gazette where he developed a well-known industry profile as News Editor.

Nick is part of the five-strong residential research team at JLL in which his focus is on building its growing consultancy practice and public profile.

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, creating economic and social value for local communities.

Melanie is a Fellow of the RSA and an external member of the Council of the University of Essex. In 2015 she was awarded a CBE for services to the food and drink industry.

Eleanor McMillan

Investment Director
Savills IM

Eleanor is an investment director at Savills Investment Management, concentrating on growing their assets under management in the European Living sectors. Eleanor has recently focused on developing the UK platform through the purchase of BtR and development specialist Pitmore and the Affordable housing platform Simply Affordable Homes. On the back of these acquisitions, Savills IM have launched a UK value add residential fund and are in the process of launching a UK Affordable housing fund.

Prior to joining Savills IM, Eleanor was a senior director in the Operational Capital Markets division at Savills UK specialising in residential investment and development funding. Eleanor was involved in the first UK BtR institutional forward funding deal in 2013 and subsequently worked with the majority of the investors and developers in the sector as it evolved. In addition, Eleanor assisted in the production of the RICS guidance note: Valuing residential property purpose built for renting in 2018. Eleanor graduated with a masters degree in Land Economy from Cambridge University and spent almost a decade working in the commercial property sector before joining Savills.

Rick de Blaby

CEO
Get Living

Rick is CEO of Get Living PLC, the UK’s leading investor, developer and operating platform of Built to Rent residential homes with 4,000 in operation and a further 6,000 in pipeline. He has been with Get Living for 5 years, whose flagship assets neighbourhoods include East Village at the Olympic Park, Elephant and Castle Town Centre, MIddlewood Locks in Salford and Lewisham Gateway plus others in Leeds, Glasgow and Maidenhead. Rick has 40 years of real estate experience, with a particular passion for big scale urban regeneration and neighbourhood creation. Rick is also a Non-Executive Board Member of Curo Housing Association. Past roles have included CEO of MEPC and United House and Non-Exec Chairman of Miller Developments.

Ryan Prince

Vice Chairman, Realstar Group
Founder & CEO, UNCLE

Ryan Prince grew up in Toronto, Canada before moving to the UK in 1998 to pursue a post graduate degree at the London School of Economics. At 21, Ryan co-founded iGabriel, an early stage technology venture capital firm with investors including Lord Myners, Peter Gabriel and Brent Hoberman.

Ryan entered the property sector by establishing the international arm of the Realstar Group of companies in 2002. Realstar is a fully integrated real estate investor and manager with $9B of AUM. Since that time, Ryan has led the firm’s overseas efforts in the healthcare, hospitality, student housing and professional living sectors. The firm has gone on to acquire or develop in excess of £3B assets including the UK’s largest hotel real estate transaction, a £1B portfolio of Holiday Inn hotels comprising over 13,000 rooms in a joint venture with GIC Real Estate and Lehman Brothers, which it successfully sold in 2015.

Frustrated by the lack of decent living accommodation in the UK, Ryan established the UNCLE brand in 2017. UNCLE aims to take the ‘lord’ attitude out of being a landlord by offering design-savvy apartments combined with a straight-talking, no-nonsense approach for renters who are tired being treated like second-class citizens in their own homes. Since its launch, UNCLE has opened 7 locations with 4 more on the way, totaling nearly 4,000 apartments, primarily in London and one in Manchester and Leeds. Most recently, Realstar formed a joint venture with QuadReal, the property arm of the province of British Columbia’s pension funds in order to continue to grow the UNCLE portfolio.

Ryan is also on the Leadership Council and Advisory Board of Facing History & Ourselves (www.facinghistory.org), a not‐for‐profit organisation that works with students to take an active role in society in fighting racism and intolerance. He is married with three children.

University of Western Ontario, London School of Economics

Ailish Christian-West

Chief Operating Officer
Get Living

Ailish is responsible for managing Get Living’s existing £2 billion build-to-rent neighbourhood portfolio and current development pipeline of circa 6,000 homes development, working with investors and development partners to drive investment performance and grow the Get Living UK portfolio to our target of 15,000 homes. She also leads Get Livings ESG agenda and supports industry collaboration on a broad range of issues, advocating for a sustainable real estate sector.

Ailish has more than 20 years’ experience in UK real estate. Prior to Get Living, Ailish enjoyed 12 years at Landsec, laterally as an executive committee member responsible for portfolio management and portfolio operations. At Landsec she led key strategic initiatives including pivoting London suburban retail assets to mixed use, selling out of secondary shopping centres and creating significant value through building a retail outlet portfolio. She also spent 10 years in fund management, running core plus and opportunistic funds including at La Salle Investment Management.

Nick Hunter

Associate Director
Cast

Nick is an Associate Director in the Project Management team. He leads delivery across a portfolio of Build to Rent projects. Nick is a qualified architect with extensive experience working across a range of residential and mixed-use regeneration projects across London, including build-to-rent, affordable housing and later living schemes. Nick’s passion is to respond to the challenges of our time to create enduring new pieces of the city: he brings a focus on design, placemaking and resident experience to his projects to create brilliant places and to create value for his clients. Nick was the lead author on Cast’s report for the NHBC on the adoption of MMC by a variety of home builders to respond to the challenges of modernisation. Nick is also a Non-Executive Director and Trustee of the Yard Theatre, advising on the development of a new theatre in Hackney.

Lesley Roberts

Director of BTR Operations
Godwin Developments

Lesley plays a pivotal role in developing and delivering Godwin’s plans to build a £1 billion national BTR portfolio. Her main remit is the creation of the BTR operational strategy across both the single and multifamily developments for the business. Working in close collaboration with internal teams and external providers, she is responsible for the operational performance and profitability of our single and multifamily assets while also delivering a leading customer experience across the entire proposition.

With a career spanning over 20 years, Lesley has extensive high-level experience with both the BTR and PRS sectors, and has for some time been at the heart of shaping the UK’s Build to Rent offer as President of The UK Apartment Association (UKAA). Prior to joining Godwin, she served as a Partner at Allsop LLP and CEO of Allsop Letting and Management, where she advised developers and institutional investors on the acquisition, design, build and operation of large-scale BTR portfolios. A member of the British Property Federation’s (BPF) residential board, Lesley also toured the US studying the multifamily model there and was instrumental in the concept and development of the UKAA’s BTR Best Practice Guide launched in 2022. She was previously Chair of Soho Housing Association and held roles at Pinnacle Places, Young Group, and City Living London.

Marcus Foley

Co-Founder
Tommy

Marcus is Co-Founder of Tommy; a creative agency that works with the world’s leading sport, entertainment and consumer brands. Clients include Netflix, TikTok, Twitch, HBO+, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, Google, Burberry, Bentley, Tottenham Hotspur, Nike and Amazon Music. Having had a ringside seat to Hollywood’s ever-changing marketing challenges for 10 years, he has become an expert in how marketers can reach Gen Z and Millennial audiences and strategies to meet their new needs through social media, physical & virtual space, purpose, innovation, augmentation, metaverse and gaming.

Michael Judd

Associate
Hawkins\Brown

Michael is an architect and associate at Hawkins\Brown. a progressive, award-winning studio, and one of the leading design-based architectural practices in the UK. Michael works primarily in the residential sector where he has led a number of large-scale projects across London including build to rent, market sale, co-living and student residential. He also draws on extensive cross sector experience in both the commercial and higher education sectors. Michael is passionate about the integration of new technology in architecture, and he has led our research and development around Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). A firm believer that modern methods of construction are no barrier to great architecture, Michael has worked on a number of innovative DfMA focused projects including the recently to complete Student Centre for the University of Central Lancashire. Michael has led the Hawkins\Brown team working with L&Q on their DfMA roadmap and the Colab consortium in the creation of the DfMA toolkit. He has also utilised his DfMA experience working with Hawkins\Brown’s Los Angeles office in their role as DfMA consultant on a 1500 bed student residential scheme for UCSD in San Diego.

Emma Rosser

Director, Living Research & Strategy, EMEA
JLL

Emma leads JLL’s research in EMEA living capital markets, providing insights and reports on build-to-rent, student accommodation, co-living and later living. She supports JLL’s living capital markets team and the research consultancy.

She is a former business analyst and journalist. She was residential editor at Estates Gazette, where she reported on residential investment and development, and established BTR data through EG Radius, alongside a series of print supplements exploring the growth of the sector.

Cllr Promise Knight

Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters Security
Brent Council

Cllr Promise Knight is Cabinet Lead Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters’ Security at Brent Council where she has strategic oversight over a range of housing services, including Brent’s private housing strategy and renters’ support. Promise has worked for a number of Parliamentarians in both Houses of Parliament, and at Citizens UK as a Community Organiser responsible for civic engagement.

Colette McCormack

Partner
Winckworth Sherwood

Colette leads the national Winckworth Sherwood legal Planning team and has over 25 years’ experience specialising in residential led mixed use development. She provides strategic planning advice and is known for her ability to lead on and deliver complex projects. Colette advises on some of the largest developments across the Country including the iconic Battersea Power Station for Wandsworth Council, Liverpool Waters for Peel and Barking Riverside for the joint venture company between the Mayor of London and L & Q. She is known for being solutions driven and having a collaborative approach to unlocking development.

“Colette McCormack has been an invaluable member of our project team. She has consistently provided commercially focused advice in an efficient and effective manner, with full awareness of our business requirements.” – Legal 500 2022

The Winckworth Sherwood Planning Team was awarded Planning Law Firm of the year in 2020 and is ranked in the top 10 firms nationally by planning Resources. Colette is ranked in the industry directives in the top tier planning lawyers and is also ranked in the top 5 planning lawyers nationally by the industry in the Planning Resources Survey in 2021.

“The Winckworth Sherwood planning team led by partner Colette McCormack are clear leaders in the field of planning law. As planning law/policy becomes ever more complex, they are always ahead of the curve in terms of new law/policy and how it affects local planning authorities and the development industry.’ - Legal 500 2022”

Sowgol Zarinchang

Managing Director
Way of Life

Sowgol joined Long Harbour January 2018 as the Managing Director of Way of Life. She leads the WoL management platform and ensures the company provides efficient building management and professional customer services through multi-skilled team of people.

Prior to joining Way of Life, Sowgol has 20 years of experience in real estate and has been responsible for implementing management strategies in line with the asset, agreeing marketing and PR activities and implementing digital platforms for companies such as JLL (Director of Serviced Apartments), Folio London (Director of Private Rent) and Notting Hill Housing Trust (Director of Student Lets).

Sowgol is a member of multiple UK Apartment Association (UKAA) committees and Chair of the UKAA Portal Committee, as well as ‘Women in Property’, ‘Ladies in Real Estate’ and a member of IRPM. In 2019, Sowgol was selected as one of the ‘49 women who will shape the future of Real Estate in the UK by Bisnow, as well as in November 2021, Sowgol was announced as one of the 50 Property Management 2021 winners in the Build to Rent category.

Sowgol is passionate about the industry and believes on excellent customer service.

Mark Davy

Founder & CEO
Futurecity

Mark Davy set up Futurecity in 2007 to reflect the growing interest in placemaking and regeneration. He has worked closely with leading developers, architects, and property professionals the world over, and used Futurecity as a platform to use culture, community, and wellbeing as the guiding narrative for the development and regeneration of our towns, cities, and urban centres. His work has led to substantial new funding for the arts in the UK and abroad, from sponsorship, commissioning, bursaries, residencies, new cultural facilities and access by artists, creatives, and cultural organisations to well-funded projects.

Under his leadership the Futurecity team has played a leading role in many large-scale regeneration and development projects, including placemaking strategies for four Build to Rent developments in London, East Village in Stratford (Get Living), Wembley Park (Quintain Living) and 2 London sites for Telford Homes. Recent work on Business Investment Districts includes an ambitious placemaking strategy for the 600 business members of the ‘Heart of London Business Investment District’ in the West End. The strategy led to the ‘Art of London’ brand and a new Arts Quarter in the West End.

New innovations include ‘seeding labs’ in new real estate developments designed to nurture new ideas, help grow creative practices and creative businesses, including Lab E20 at East Village with a focus on positive fashion and sustainable living, and the London Studios affordable workspace at Upper Ground, Southbank (Mitsubishi Estates). Futurecity has brokered innovative partnerships between cultural institutions and the real estate sector, including new facilities for the Centre Pompidou for Malaysian developer Beulah at their Southbank precinct site in Melbourne, new headquarters for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Wembley Park (Quintain Living) and a new building for the English National Ballet at City Island (Ballymore).

Davy has worked closely with house builders and developers of residential developments across the UK including over 15 London developments for the Berkeley Group, a vision strategy for Ebbsfleet Garden City, multiple projects located in Nine Elms on the Southbank (inc. Riverlight, Keybridge House, One Nine Elms, Albert Embankment, Battersea Power Station, New Covent Garden, Royal College of Art Battersea Campus). Futurecity have worked on 20 development projects along the Thames from Battersea Power Station and Grosvenor Waterside to the Shell Centre, Shard Quarter and Barking Riverside.

Charlotte Constance

Founder & Managing Director
Conductor

Charlotte Constance is the Founder and Managing Director of Conductor which brings ‘science and soul’ to spaces and places. She founded Conductor eight years ago with the desire to deliver evidence-based marketing for spaces and places. Since then the business has flourished and includes three pillars; Explore: customer research and insights, Generate: marketing, leasing and placemaking strategy and implementation and Experience: customer experience strategy and delivery.

She is passionate about the effect that people’s living conditions have on their well-being, state of mind and ability to move forward in life. She aims to make a difference in the way people live; focusing on their homes and living environment, so that individuals feel happy, supported and secure and in turn, can look after themselves and their loved ones and positively contribute to their community. Conductor is bringing this to life through their Thrive initiatives which delve deeply into how participants can thrive in the context of their spaces and places.

Peter Goring

Technical Director
Mace

Peter has over 35 years’ experience in civil and structural engineering contracting and is technical director for the Mace Tech construction business unit. Mace Tech is introducing integrated offsite pre-assembly solutions at scale across a variety of building types and is at the forefront of the Mace Construction to Production agenda.

Peter leads the technical team that works to optimise delivery without changing the design intent, which makes C2P a universal solution to delivering across all Mace projects. This combines an offsite pre-assembly solution with digitalisation of the whole process; this allows tracking from production to delivery.

Prior to joining Mace, Peter spent 15 years as technical director at one of the largest specialist concrete trade contractors, with responsibility for technical, quality, research and development.

Victoria Quinlan

President - Europe
Cortland

Victoria leads the European business for Cortland where she is responsible for our strategic vision and growth as well as ensuring the we deliver for our residents and associates. She brings a wealth of experience in the real estate and construction sectors, having held positions spanning investment, development, business operations, finance and capital markets transactions.

Mark Allnutt

Senior Managing Director
Greystar

Mark Allnutt is a Senior Managing Director and a member of the Greystar Executive Committee, where he leads Greystar’s vertically integrated platform in Europe. He is responsible for overseeing investment, development, and operations in seven markets – Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, The Netherlands, and The United Kingdom – working with the country leaders to grow Greystar’s presence across the region in both multifamily and student housing.

Mark has a wealth of experience in the management of multidisciplinary teams to deliver successful residential ventures. Prior to joining Greystar in 2014, Mark was Group Executive Commercial Director of Thames Valley Housing (TVH) where he was responsible for originating and managing the company’s joint venture vehicles. He was also a founding Director of Fizzy Living, the sovereign wealth fund-backed multifamily subsidiary of TVH.

Michelle Hannah

Director
Cast

Michelle is a Director specialising in project management and strategic consultancy. Michelle has worked with a diverse range of clients including Housing Associations, Local Authorities and Private Developers, owning delivery responsibility of commissions through all stages of the development process including initial project brief setting, site acquisition, master planning, planning viability and the raising of equity & debt financing. Michelle has a keen interest in reinventing procurement processes to better suit project needs moving away from a standard ‘one size fits all’ approach. Michelle often speaks at external events covering subjects including MMC, innovative procurement and viability. Michelle has developed a deep specialism within the Build to Rent sector and is the author of Cast’s report, ‘The Rental Space Race’. Michelle also initiated Cast’s strategic research function, supporting Mark Farmer in the preparation of the 2016 independent review of the UK’s construction labour market, commissioned by the UK Government, entitled ‘Modernise or Die’ and a published research paper for NHBC on Modern Methods of Construction. Michelle is a qualified accountant.

Chris Hall

Innovation Services Manager
NHBC

Chris is the Innovation Services Manager at NHBC, the UK’s leading independent provider of warranty and insurance for new homes. He joined NHBC in 2015 and runs NHBC Accepts – a comprehensive review service for innovative construction products and systems. He is responsible for the maintenance of NHBC’s policy and procedures to address Modern Methods of Construction, and to identify trends to inform risk management in non-conventional construction. He is a chartered member of the RICS and lives in Berkshire.

Camilla Cole

Founder & Managing Director
Hypha Studios

Camilla is an experienced contemporary art curator dedicated to championing leading emerging artistic talent in the UK and internationally.

Hypha Studios was born when Camilla wanted to curate exhibitions in non-gallery contexts, aware of how many interesting spaces were available but empty. As a sole practitioner, she found it hard to engage landlords, but by setting up a charity that offers “quality control” of both the art and use of the space, she was able to bring together emerging artists, councils, property owners and cultural institutions in mutually beneficial collaborations.

Huw Davies

Deputy Managing Director
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Huw is Deputy Managing Director and Business Development Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO). Formerly a professional ’cellist, Huw studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and began his playing career as a freelancer, performing with many of the UK’s leading orchestras and ensembles, before joining the BBC Concert Orchestra.

After 8 years with the BBC, Huw’s interest in the business side of the music industry led to a change of direction when he decided to pursue a career in arts management. This led to the establishment of his own music promotion and consultancy business prior to becoming Managing Director of the London Chamber Orchestra (LCO), to which he attracted major sponsors and benefactors, resurrecting the profile and popularity of the UK’s longest- established chamber orchestra. He secured the Patronage of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and established a prestigious residency for the Orchestra in Hong Kong, amongst other successes.

To develop his knowledge of and contact with the corporate sector, Huw left the music profession in 2007 to become Development Director with the Institute for Family Business (IFB), the UK’s leading membership association for medium and large-sized, family-owned companies. During his time at the IFB, Huw grew the membership to an aggregate turnover in excess of £51bn, and secured many of the UK’s largest and most profitable privately-owned companies as clients. He also sat on the Executive Committee of the global organisation, Family Business Network International (FBN-I), for which he travelled extensively.

He was approached by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and invited to become its Development Director, with responsibility for diversifying the RPO’s income, securing sponsors and benefactors and implementing fundraising initiatives to underpin the Orchestra’s artistic and outreach objectives. Huw’s role within the RPO was enhanced in April 2015, when he was appointed Deputy Managing Director and he is now involved in all aspect of running the Orchestra.

Tom Henry

Investment Director
Legal & General Suburban Build to Rent

Tom joined Legal & General Suburban Build to Rent as Investment Director in April 2021. L&G has a portfolio of over 5,000 BTR homes and 7,000 Affordable homes with ambitious plans to deliver 1,200+ Single Family Homes per annum from 2024.

Prior to joining L&G, Tom held the posts of National Acquisitions Director at Grainger plc and Fund Manager at LaSalle IM and has led the investment activity in respect of £1bn+ of Build To Rent transactions.

He has 20 years’ experience in the residential market and has specialised in BTR since 2012, investing in multiple geographies across the UK.

Rick de Blaby

CEO
Get Living

Rick is CEO of Get Living PLC, the UK’s leading investor, developer and operating platform of Built to Rent residential homes with 4,000 in operation and a further 6,000 in pipeline. He has been with Get Living for 5 years, whose flagship assets neighbourhoods include East Village at the Olympic Park, Elephant and Castle Town Centre, MIddlewood Locks in Salford and Lewisham Gateway plus others in Leeds, Glasgow and Maidenhead. Rick has 40 years of real estate experience, with a particular passion for big scale urban regeneration and neighbourhood creation. Rick is also a Non-Executive Board Member of Curo Housing Association. Past roles have included CEO of MEPC and United House and Non-Exec Chairman of Miller Developments.

Rick de Blaby

CEO
Get Living

Rick is CEO of Get Living PLC, the UK’s leading investor, developer and operating platform of Built to Rent residential homes with 4,000 in operation and a further 6,000 in pipeline. He has been with Get Living for 5 years, whose flagship assets neighbourhoods include East Village at the Olympic Park, Elephant and Castle Town Centre, MIddlewood Locks in Salford and Lewisham Gateway plus others in Leeds, Glasgow and Maidenhead. Rick has 40 years of real estate experience, with a particular passion for big scale urban regeneration and neighbourhood creation. Rick is also a Non-Executive Board Member of Curo Housing Association. Past roles have included CEO of MEPC and United House and Non-Exec Chairman of Miller Developments.

Ailish Christian-West

Chief Operating Officer
Get Living

Ailish is responsible for managing Get Living’s existing £2 billion build-to-rent neighbourhood portfolio and current development pipeline of circa 6,000 homes development, working with investors and development partners to drive investment performance and grow the Get Living UK portfolio to our target of 15,000 homes. She also leads Get Livings ESG agenda and supports industry collaboration on a broad range of issues, advocating for a sustainable real estate sector.

Ailish has more than 20 years’ experience in UK real estate. Prior to Get Living, Ailish enjoyed 12 years at Landsec, laterally as an executive committee member responsible for portfolio management and portfolio operations. At Landsec she led key strategic initiatives including pivoting London suburban retail assets to mixed use, selling out of secondary shopping centres and creating significant value through building a retail outlet portfolio. She also spent 10 years in fund management, running core plus and opportunistic funds including at La Salle Investment Management.

Gavin Poole

CEO
Here East

Gavin is CEO of Here East – the 1.2 million sq ft technology and Innovation campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, and one of the fastest growing business clusters in the UK. Recently, Gavin has been at the forefront of developing the concept of creating London’s first digital games and esports cluster. Prior, Gavin served as an engineering officer in the UK Royal Air Force for over 20 years before leaving following tours as a Wing Commander. Upon leaving military service, he ran the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and helped form major policy initiatives including the introduction of the Modern-Day Slavery Act within the UK. Gavin is a board member of Plexal, sits on the Advisory Board of Global Tech Advocates and is a London Technology Ambassador for London & Partners. In addition, he sits on the Advisory Board for London Tech Week.

Rosanna Lawes

Executive Director of Development
London Legacy Development Corporation

Rosanna Lawes is responsible for the delivery of development programmes on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, one of the larges and highest profile urban regeneration projects in the UK and Europe. The focus is to deliver new neighbourhoods where people choose to live and work, providing a mix of residential, commercial and social infrastructure equating to a gross development value of £3.3bn.

She is also the SRO for East Bank, the new creative and education hub with Sadler’s Wells, UAL’s London College of Fashion, University College London, BBC and the Victoria and Albert Museum. This £1.1bn project will deliver 2,500 jobs, attract 1.5m additional visitors and generate £1.2bn of economic benefit to London and the UK. Rosanna has responsibility for the design, development, commercial negotiations and agreements with the market to deliver this programme.

Jonathan Silman

Founder
Community Sport Academies

Having moved to East Village in December 2013 we set up our Football projects in the Olympic park to continue the Olympic legacy for London’s brand new neighbourhood E20. 9 years later and with over 4500 members we have been able to create a Football Club (Football Unites FC) as a stepping stone to our community football projects. Our ‘free to participate’ sessions have expanded from E20 Football Foundation to now running free community sport programmes across London.

Bek Seeley

Managing Director for Development
Lendlease

Bek Seeley is the European Managing Director for Development at Lendlease.

Bek is responsible for leading the Development Business to successfully delivering Lendlease’s c.£24bn European pipeline including major projects in London,
Manchester and Birmingham. This pipeline will deliver in excess of 25,000 homes.

Previously, she held the position of Chief Operating Officer for Development and was instrumental in winning a number of major projects for Lendlease, as well as
overseeing operations and driving overall growth of the business.

Before joining Lendlease in 2015 Bek’s career spanned the public and private sectors, having held a range of operational and commercial roles in economic
development, infrastructure, built environment and public services.

Harry Knibb

Development Director
Oxford Properties Group

Harry is a development director at Oxford Properties - the real estate arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans. Located in London Harry works on large complex projects, predominantly in the residential and mixed-use space. An advocate of sustainable, healthy and productive places, Harry is a chartered town planner and academician for the Academy of Urbanism.

Professor Sadie Morgan OBE

Founding Director,
dRMM

Sadie Morgan is a founding director of Stirling Prize winning architecture practice dRMM. She lectures internationally on the work of dRMM and the importance of infrastructure which connects back to people and place. She became the youngest president of the Architectural Association in 2013, and in 2016, was appointed Professor at the University of Westminster and awarded an honorary doctorate from London South Bank University.

Sadie was named New Londoner of the Year at the New London Awards 2017 for her work championing the importance of design at the highest political level.