Mayor Marvin Rees

Mayor of Bristol
Bristol City Council

Marvin Rees was elected mayor in May 2016. On that day Bristol became the first major European city to have elected a mayor of black African heritage. He describes becoming mayor as another expression of a deeper commitment to building a fairer, more inclusive world. He is a Yale World Fellow and graduate of Operation Black Vote who has worked and studied in the UK and the US. He is a former BBC journalist, Public Health Worker, voluntary sector manager, co-founder of the City Leadership Programme and has developed the One City Plan for Bristol.

Melanie Ho

Brainee
Regeneration Brainery

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Neamh Stephenson

Brainee
Regeneration Brainery

Bella Godfrey

Brainee
Regeneration Brainery

Rob Perrins

Chief Executive
The Berkeley Group

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

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

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

Simon Gallagher

Director of Planning
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Simon has been Director of Planning at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government since June 2016, responsible for advising ministers on planning policy and practice.

Simon has been a civil servant since 1993 in a range of economic and financial policy roles in a number of departments, most recently as Deputy Director for Welfare Spending and Reform at HM Treasury and as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Berlin.

Cllr John Fuller OBE

Leader
South Norfolk District Council

Gemma Saffhill

Technical Director Viability
Terence O'Rourke

Gemma has worked in the economic viability and affordable housing delivery sector for over 15 years. Her clients span private and public sector organisations and projects range from small scale greenfield sites to large, multi-phased, multi-use, brownfield regeneration schemes. It is this diverse working environment, along with a term on the PA Housing (Affordable Housing Provider) Board, that give Gemma well balanced, holistic insight into providing progressive development solutions for her clients.

Olaide Oboh

Director of Partnerships
First Base

Olaide has been with First Base since 2011 and leads on establishing and nurturing relationships with public and private sector partners.

A qualified project manager, Olaide’s experience is varied ranging from managing communications at Marks and Spencer to working on large scale regeneration in Hackney and leading the external relations for East Village, the new neighourhood on the Olympic Park.

This varied background makes her role at First Base very broad. Olaide leads on communications and culture for all First Base’s projects, develops strategic relationships to help embed the company into new locations and builds crucial contacts with brands and emerging industries to play a part in developments.

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.

Pete Gladwell

Head of Public Sector Partnerships
Legal & General Investment Management

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

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

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

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

Maria Connolly

Head of Real Estate
TLT

Maria Connolly heads TLTs 200 strong national real estate Group. She also leads TLT’s energy sector and both her and the team are nationally recognised for the work done in this sector. Maria is currently advising on some of the first electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure projects to be implemented in the UK and has extensive experience in battery storage and other clean energy technologies..

Maria acts for a wide range of major corporates in relation to both strategic and business as usual real estate transaction as well as for lenders, funds and investors.

Maria is independently recognised as an expert in the field of Energy & Natural Resources: Renewables & Alternative Energy (UK-wide) and Real Estate (Bristol & Surrounds) by Chambers UK, and a leading individual in the field of Energy by Legal 500. Maria is a mentor and founding member of the Regen Entrepreneurial Women in Renewable Energy programme and is a regular speaker at industry events.

Wesley Ankrah

Founder Managing Director
SeerBridge

Wesley has 10 years’ experience in the charitable and voluntary sector. As a result he gained experience from a major national charity in community engagement and employability. This enabled Wesley to move into the property development sector. Formerly he was the Managing Director and founding partner of Essential Living Future. This was a Community Interest Company associated with developer, Essential Living. Here, Wesley drove a ‘mind-set changing’ approach which challenged traditional approaches to Community and Social Responsibility.

Thus SeerBridge was founded through this experience. Wesley brings his wealth of experience in creating and delivering community engagement with long-term results. His approach to consultation is to get under the skin of the community objectives of clients and deliver unique benefits to the communities and clients he works with.

Cllr Nesil Caliskan

Leader
London Borough of Enfield

Michael Edwards

Teaching Fellow
Bartlett School of Planning

Education: PPE (mostly economics and statistics) in Oxford 1961-4 and then Town Planning at UCL 1964-6. Employed in Nathaniel Lichfield and Associates and in that capacity worked on the Milton Keynes Master Plan, other new settlements, retail schemes and cost benefit analysis. Joined the UCL staff in 1969. The 2008 date above is misleading: a few weeks after “retirement” I was re-employed.

Faraz Baber

Director
Terence O'Rourke

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

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

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

David Lunts

Executive Director of Housing & Land
GLA

​David Lunts is Executive Director of Housing and Land at the GLA where he leads the work to establish the housing functions that devolved from the HCA and LDA to the Mayor of London in April 2012. From 2008 until May 2011 he was the Executive Director for London at the Homes and Communities Agency. He was previously Executive Director for Policy & Partnerships at the GLA, with responsibility for planning, regeneration, environmental and social policy. Before moving to the GLA in 2005, he was Director of Urban Policy at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. He began his housing and regeneration career in Manchester which included the leadership of the City Challenge renewal of Hulme in the early 1990’s. David moved to London in 1996 to run the Urban Villages Forum, a widely supported membership not-for-profit group, and became the founding chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation in 1998. He was also a member of Lord Rogers’ Urban Task Force.

Anita Laremont

Executive Director
New York City Department of City Planning

Anita Laremont currently serves as Executive Director and Chief Analytical Officer of the Department of City Planning. Before taking on this role Anita served as the General Counsel of City Planning for (4) years.

Prior to joining City Planning, she was a partner in the law firm of Harris Beach PLLC, where she had a real estate and land use law and government agency practice.

Before joining Harris Beach, Anita served for more than sixteen (16) years as General Counsel of Empire State Development Corporation, New York State’s primary economic development entity, where she was involved with numerous large-scale land-use projects, including the 42^nd Street Development Project, Queens West, Hudson River Park, Governors Island, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Atlantic Yards and Columbia Manhattanville.

She is a magna cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College, and is a graduate of the New York University School of Law, where she was a Root Tilden Scholar.

Mike Kiely

Chair
Planning Officers Society

Mike is a chartered town planner and MBA qualified manager with over 40 years’ experience in local government, most of that in London and 14 years at service head level and above. He is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, formerly president of the Planning Officers Society and now chair of its Board. Mike works closely with government and across the sector to shape planning in England. In 2015 he set up his consultancy, Mike Kiely planning + regeneration, to specialise in assisting local authorities to perform better and be more effective. His extensive experience in successfully delivering major planning and regeneration projects means he can add value over and above the chief planning officer role, constructively challenging accepted thinking and proposing innovative solutions.

Heather Cheesbrough

Director of Planning and Strategic Transport
London Borough of Croydon

Heather is a landscape architect and town planner, specialising in spatial planning, urban design, public realm, masterplanning and regeneration. She has nearly 30 years’ experience of working in the public and private sectors, consisting of five London boroughs and a district authority and the urban design consultancies Urban Initiatives and EDAW/AECOM. Her present position is at London Borough of Croydon where she is Director of Planning and Strategic Transport.

Her work focuses on collaboration and partnership of communities, developers and key stakeholders to create high quality places and buildings through exploring different viewpoints and drivers and facilitating honest conversations around the art of the possible. The use of technology and innovative engagement techniques is an area of particular interest so that young people and other hard to reach groups can take part in shaping their environment.

She has brought forward and prepared several Local Plans and Planning documents, as well as worked on the delivery of a range of recent developments to include the mixed use High Street Quarter in Hounslow, Brentford and Hounslow town centre public realm improvements, Whitgift shopping centre redevelopment, Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme, - part of the Brighton Mainline Upgrade project. She has also led the preparation of sustainable transport strategies, including Liveable Neighbourhood schemes and a tram strategy .During her time at Westminster City Council, she was responsible for public art and facilitated a project with Artangel to bring the international multimedia artist Tony Oursler to Soho Square.

Faraz Baber

Director
Terence O'Rourke

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

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

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

Edward Dixon

Head of Environmental, Social and Governance
Aviva Investors

Edward is Head of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) for Aviva Investors’ £46bn Real Assets platform, leading the firm’s ESG strategy across real estate and infrastructure investment, development and asset management. Ed has 17 years’ industry experience, and most recently held the role of Sustainability Insights Director at Landsec, where he led integration of the company’s sustainability strategy through a £3.6bn development pipeline as well as ESG strategy, research and governance functions. Ed is a recent graduate of the Sustainability Leadership course at Harvard. He holds an Executive MBA with Distinction from Cass, one of the UK’s highest-ranking business schools.

Jo Holden

Sustainability Director
Peel L&P

Jo is a chartered environmentalist and leads on all aspects of sustainability for Peel L&P which holds 20,000 acres of land and a £2.6 billion diverse property portfolio across the UK. In 2019 Jo published Peel L&P’s first Sustainability Five Year Plan, based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and recently helped the business to achieve net zero carbon status for 11 buildings.

Firmly believing in a collaborative approach to deliver sustainable outcomes, Jo works with the Doncaster Climate Change Commission and Local Nature Partnerships in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Liverpool, helping the latter to develop an ecosystem services-led natural capital baseline last year.

Before joining Peel in 2016, Jo worked for the Environment Agency and prior to that managed global sustainable procurement issues for a large DIY retailer.

Tom Royston

Associate Director
DTZ Investors UK

Tom has worked in the commercial property sector for nine years and joined DTZ Investors in 2014 undertaking a fund management role. Prior to DTZ Investors, he worked as an Investment Surveyor at SEGRO plc where he started his career in 2010.

Tom’s primary responsibilities include implementing the fund’s investment strategy and managing its trading activities through strategic portfolio asset management and the execution of real estate transaction. Tom has a range of experience including:
•Implementation of portfolio asset management strategies;
•Sourcing and analysing real estate investment opportunities;
•Processing real estate transactions including both acquisitions and disposals;
•Undertaking portfolio analysis and formalising fund performance reports.

One of Tom’s primary responsibilities includes the asset management of King Street in the heart of Manchester’s City Centre where DTZ Investors have recently implemented a placemaking strategy to regenerate one of Manchester’s primary shopping destinations.

Maria Connolly

Head of Real Estate
TLT

Maria Connolly heads TLTs 200 strong national real estate Group. She also leads TLT’s energy sector and both her and the team are nationally recognised for the work done in this sector. Maria is currently advising on some of the first electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure projects to be implemented in the UK and has extensive experience in battery storage and other clean energy technologies..

Maria acts for a wide range of major corporates in relation to both strategic and business as usual real estate transaction as well as for lenders, funds and investors.

Maria is independently recognised as an expert in the field of Energy & Natural Resources: Renewables & Alternative Energy (UK-wide) and Real Estate (Bristol & Surrounds) by Chambers UK, and a leading individual in the field of Energy by Legal 500. Maria is a mentor and founding member of the Regen Entrepreneurial Women in Renewable Energy programme and is a regular speaker at industry events.

Cllr Ian Ward

Leader
Birmingham City Council

Adam Willetts

Associate Director
Urban Splash

Adam joined Urban Splash in 2007 and is currently delivering a number of high-profile mixed-use projects including the new 43 acre urban waterside neighbourhood at Port Loop in Birmingham.

An Architect by training Adam is actively involved in all aspects of the development process from acquisition through to completion with significant experience in the sympathetic restoration of historic buildings.

Notable projects include the redevelopment of key buildings at the listed Royal William Yard, Plymouth, which has been recognized on a regional, national and international basis for the design and regeneration of heritage assets. Adam also spent a period of time at Argent as a Project Director working on the Paradise Commercial Regeneration Scheme in the Heart of Birmingham.

Ashley Kensington

Managing Director
St Joseph, Berkeley Group Plc

Ashley has 20 years’ experience within in the development sector specialising in property investment, acquisition and obtaining planning consents. For the last 15 years she has worked at the Berkeley Group with posts held in St James, Berkeley Commercial and more recently in St William where she assisted in setting up the joint venture with National Grid.

In August 2018, Ashley moved to St Joseph to assist the Berkeley Group’s expansion into the West Midlands with responsibility for land, planning and asset management.

James Blakey

Planning Director
Moda Living

James Blakey was employee number two at Moda Living in 2014 and is an exceptionally experienced Planning Director with 30+ years experience with roles at CBRE, Deloitte, United Utilities, West Property and Morgan Stanley. James has led the planning strategy for The Mercian, which is now under construction, and Great Charles Square in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter

Moda Living is the largest privately funded build-to-rent platform in the UK and has one of the most ambitious build-to-rent development pipelines in the UK. Moda already has £850m of projects under construction, with more expected to start on-site during 2020 – the first phase of its £2.5bn pipeline of over 7,500 rent-only homes.

Neal Gemassmer

Vice President for International
Yardi

Vice President of International for Yardi, and a man that wears multiple “hats”, Neal is responsible for managing operations across Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Having lived and worked in multiple international locations, he has an undying passion for innovation, technology, real estate and the human spirit.

Audrey Klein

Head of Fundraising
Kennedy Wilson Europe

Audrey Klein is the Head of Fundraising for Kennedy Wilson Europe. Prior to this she held roles at Cromwell and Corestate but is best known for starting the European business out of London for the Park Hill Real Estate Group, a Division of Blackstone, which she ran for nine years. Prior to joining Park Hill, she ran her own business for five years marketing alternative asset funds across all asset classes including private equity, real estate and hedge funds to European investors comprised of pension funds, banks, family offices and high net worth individuals.

Before founding her company Audrey worked at Babcock and Brown in Germany where she co-founded the German office and helped establish equity relationships across Europe. Prior to making the move to Europe she worked at Bank of America in San Francisco doing syndication across various sectors before co-founding a real-estate fund for her group.

Audrey is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of business where she received an MBA. She is also a graduate of Emory University where she received a degree in Economics. She is on the Corporate Board of Great Ormond Street Hospital and holds Non-Exec Advisory Roles at Stone Estate, part of the Reech Corporations Group, and Gyana, a property technology company.

Roelof Opperman

Managing Director
Fifth Wall

Roelof Opperman is a Managing Director on the Real Estate Technology Investment team at Fifth Wall, where he focuses on technology and innovations within the multifamily, office, and hospitality real estate asset classes.

Roelof has led Fifth Wall’s investments in Lyric, Eden, Appear Here, Hippo, Industrious, Loggi, Recharge, Lime, and Aurora Solar. Previously, Roelof worked at Norwest Venture Partners, Evercore Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Bridgewater Associates.

Roelof is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from Emory University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Anna Sabine

Chief Executive
MPC

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

Jo Davis

National Head of Planning Development & Regeneration
Avison Young

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

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

Stephen Lodge

Executive Director of Development and Strategic Asset Management
Radian

In July 2019, Stephen was appointed as Executive Director of Development and Strategic Asset Management for the Partnership between Yarlington Housing Group and Radian Group. Stephen is currently responsible for leading the property directorate of the business to ensure the growth of good quality new homes, spanning all tenures, across the region. He is responsible for asset management, including landlord compliance, and leads the sales and home ownership team. Stephen has worked in the housing sector for 27 years, initially as a volunteer in direct access homeless hostels before pursuing a career in housing management and more latterly, development and asset management. He has worked in local government and the housing association and voluntary sectors, both regionally and nationally.

Stephen is a Board Member of Bron Afon in South Wales. He is also a member of the CIH South West regional Board andattended the National Housing Federation Influencing Academy in 2017. Stephen first joined the CIH in 1997 and is now a Fellow. In 2018, he was the winner of the Exceptional Contribution by a CIH Member award, in the South West.

Michael Auger

Regional Director
Muse Developments

Michael re-joined Muse Developments in January 2009 as Regional Director covering the south of the UK, and was appointed to the Board of Directors in March 2019. He formerly worked for Muse’s predecessor company, Amec Developments, between 2004 and 2006. In addition to his Board-level role, Michael has specific responsibility for overall management of the company’s mixed-use development portfolio across the southern region. This portfolio comprises projects totalling in excess of £2bn GDV, including major schemes in London zones 2-4 that will deliver around 6,000 new homes. Outside of London, Michael has oversight of major residential lead mixed use projects in Bristol, Plymouth, Slough, Egham and Dartford. Michael is also on the Board of Waterside Places, Muse Developments’ joint venture with Canal and Rivers Trust.

Anna Sabine

Chief Executive
MPC

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

Mike Cook

Regional Director - UK & Ireland
Yardi

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Andrew Stanford

Head of UK Residential
LaSalle Investment Management

Andrew Stanford is Head of UK Residential at LaSalle Investment Management, primarily responsible for the asset management of LaSalle’s c£400 million UK Private Rented Sector portfolio.

Andrew has over 25 years’ UK residential investment, asset management, property management and valuation experience. Much of this was gained as head of residential consultancy at Cluttons. Before joining LaSalle in April 2015, he headed the UK Government’s Private Rented Sector taskforce.

He chairs the British Property Federation’s Build to Rent committee, is a member of the BPF’s residential committee and the UK Government’s Build to Rent joint committee.

Louisa Clarence-Smith

Property and Professional Services Correspondent
The Times

Natalie Adomait

Senior Vice President
Brookfield Asset Management

Natalie Adomait is the Head of European Portfolio Management for Brookfield’s Property Group, overseeing day-to-day operations and strategic growth of Brookfield’s European real estate investments. Natalie joined Brookfield in 2011 in Ottawa, Canada and relocated to London in 2014. Since joining Brookfield, she has been involved in several transactions for Brookfield in both the renewable energy and real estate space including the acquisitions of Bord Gais Energy, Alcoa Tapoco Hydro, White Pine Hydro, Alta Wind, various UK student housing assets, and the disposition of Gazeley. Today, Ms. Adomait sits on the board of director’s for Student Roost, Edyn, Center Parcs UK, International Campus, Grand M Group, Harwell Life Sciences Campus and Brookfield Properties London. Ms. Adomait received a Honors degree in International Business from the Sprott School of Business in Ottawa.