Birmingham State of Office

Sunil joined Argent’s Birmingham office in May 2015 has already made a big difference, taking a slight career change from a Construction Contracts manager role to now development project director (and promoted within 12 months). His experience in construction stems across a 15 year period working his way up from being on the tools to a business unit leader, developing and running a large team and turnover of £35m, across a variety of construction sectors.

Director of Bruntwood Birmingham, Rob Valentine is at the heart of the Birmingham region, driven by his passion to make the city recognised as one of the best connected places to work and live. Working for the business for over 18 years, Rob is focused on creating the right environments for businesses to thrive, grow and succeed. Rob is passionate about developing great ideas and businesses, improving communities and creating solutions for business success.

Richard Probert is Project Director at Ballymore’s Snowhill scheme in Birmingham. Richard has over 25 years’ experience in commercial real estate including development management, funding, disposal and acquisition consultancy. He worked for 12 years for Jones Lang Wootton first in central London and moved from London to Birmingham in 1996, joining Ballymore to lead the Snowhill team in 2003. Since that time he has been responsible for the overall land assembly and development agreement; overseeing the evolving masterplan; individual building funding and disposals as well as development management and leasing of the scheme to date. Ballymore has delivered 600,000 sq ft of office space so far in Birmingham in two award-winning buildings, with occupiers including KPMG, Barclays, DWF, Gowlings, BDO, Quilters and the UK headquarters of HS2. The commercial success of One and Two Snowhill led to a partnership with M&G Real Estate, for the construction of Three Snowhill, another 420,000 sq ft office building and the final phase of the scheme. The £200 million scheme will be the largest ever speculative city centre office scheme built outside London, with construction well underway and completion due by end 2019. Ballymore has delivered 600,000 sq ft of office space so far in Birmingham in two award-winning buildings, with occupiers including KPMG, Barclays, DWF, Gowlings, BDO, Quilters and the UK headquarters of HS2. The commercial success of One and Two Snowhill led to a partnership with M&G Real Estate, for the construction of Three Snowhill, another 420,000 sq ft office building and the final phase of the scheme. The £200 million scheme will be the largest ever speculative city centre office scheme built outside London, with construction well underway and completion due by early summer 2019.

Eric Parry has developed a strong reputation for delivering beautifully crafted and high-quality contemporary buildings that respond to their context. His practice, Eric Parry Architects, is renowned for cultural projects involving sensitive historic buildings such as the restoration of the historic St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square and the highly acclaimed new extension for the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath, as well as several prestigious commercial projects in London’s City and West End including 1 Undershaft which will become the tallest building in the City of London crowning the new cluster of planned skyscrapers in the Square Mile. The practice’s work also include the Stirling Prize shortlisted schemes at 30 Finsbury Square and 5 Aldermanbury Square, One Eagle Place in Piccadilly and 8 St James’s Square – which broke UK’s rent record in 2015. International projects include the residential schemes Damai Suria in Kuala Lumpur and the Westminster Nanpeidai in Tokyo for Grosvenor. Eric’s approach is particularly sensitive to dense urban contexts, such as the City of London’s, the use of materials - including innovative uses of ceramic - as well as the integration of art within his buildings, engaging with artists from the early stages of the design process. His contribution to Academia includes fourteen years as Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Cambridge and lectureships at the Harvard University Graduate Design School and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 2006 Eric Parry was elected Royal Academician (RA), one of the highest accolades for a practicing architect or artist in the UK and also received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Bath in 2012.

David Thame started writing for Property Week (then called CSW) in 1988, and he hasn't stopped writing about property since. He's appeared regularly in titles ranging from Retail Week, Estates Gazette and Investors Chronicle to the Manchester Evening News and The Grocer. Today he writes for half a dozen titles, and is proud to include Bisnow among them. He has a PhD from the University of Manchester.

As Managing Director, Emma holds full P&L responsibility and oversees all sales and operations across the northern portfolio, encompassing locations across the North West, Yorkshire, North East and Scotland. She is passionate about people and maintaining BizSpace’s values, unique culture and quality across each and every site. Emma has over 20 years’ experience working for large multi-site organisations including Bruntwood, Dunlop Heywood and DHL. She joined BizSpace in 2003, becoming Operations Director in 2006 and Commercial Director in 2016, before taking on the role of Managing Director in 2020. She is an Aspire Foundation Mentor and Chartered Institute of Personal Development Fellow. “I love the entrepreneurial spirit of the people and the passion within the business to help small businesses grow.”

Jonathan has spent his career advising companies on how their workspace can support the achievement of their business goals. As an advocate of wokspace as a service, he has consistently challenged the market to deliver solutions focused on the consumer. In his current role with BE Offices, Jonathan is rolling out customised workspace environments, reflecting the occupiers brand, image and culture, whilst expanding BE’s portfolio.

Jamie has been an Office Agent in the Midlands since 2002 and has been with Knight Franks for the last 15 years. He now heads up Knight Franks Office Agency & Tenant Representation team in the midlands. Jamie has a strong track record of providing both landlord and corporate solutions advice.

Maria is the founding Director of Midlands Connect - one of the largest and most successful partnership programmes in the country. In her role she plays a leading role in transforming transport connectivity across the Midlands, working with business leaders and local government across the Midlands, transforming the way regions work with national agencies like Highways England, Network Rail, HS2 and the Department for Transport. Maria is an infrastructure development professional with over 18 years’ experience in the transport industry. Prior to joining Midlands Connect, Maria held senior positions in local government including the WM Combined Authority where she led the Authority’s input into the landmark HS2 Hybrid Bill and was senior advisor in master-planning activities around proposed HS2 Stations in the West Midlands. More recently Maria has led as Interim Director of the Midlands Engine, a partnership which aims to generate a step change in productivity, economic growth in the Midlands and help drive Britain’s post-Brexit growth. Maria holds a Masters in International Transport (Cardiff University Wales) and a Law Degree from the University of Valencia, Spain.