London State of the Market

Jules Pipe

Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills
Greater London Authority

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

Chris Grigg

CEO
British Land

Chris Grigg joined British Land, the UK’s second largest property company, as Chief Executive in January 2009. British Land has 2 major businesses: its Office and Residential portfolio is focused on London whilst its Retail & Leisure portfolio is focused on high quality retail locations around the UK. Its total portfolio is valued at about £12bn today. Chris was Chief Executive of Barclays Commercial Bank until November 2008, having joined the bank in 2005. Prior to Barclays, he was partner of Goldman Sachs where his career spanned 20 years. He is a Non-Executive Director of BAE Systems plc, a member of the Executive Board of EPRA (the European Public Real Estate Association) and Board of the BPF (British Property Federation).

James Seppala

Senior Managing Director
Blackstone

James Seppala is the Head of Real Estate Europe, based in London. Since joining Blackstone in 2011, Mr. Seppala has been involved in a number of Blackstone’s investments across Europe, including Logicor, OfficeFirst, and Mileway. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Seppala was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs & Co, where he spent 10 years focused on equity and debt investment opportunities in Europe and the United States on behalf of Goldman Sachs’s real estate private equity group. Mr. Seppala graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2001. Mr. Seppala currently serves as Chairman of BEPIF. He also serves on the Imperial College Endowment Board and chairs the European Advisory Board of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School.

Alison Nimmo

CEO
The Crown Estate

Alison spent five years with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) where, as Director of Design and Regeneration, she was responsible for delivering the overall design and early delivery of many of the venues for the London 2012 games. Her previous roles have included Chief Executive of Sheffield One and Project Director of Manchester Millennium Ltd. She was awarded a CBE in 2004.

Chris Taylor

CEO
Hermes Real Estate

Chris joined Hermes in 2010, having successfully established Australian fund manager QIC’s European office in London. Prior to that he was head of European Property at HSBC. Chris spent the majority of his career as a fund manager at Prudential, where he led the diversification of its UK real estate exposure into overseas markets in 2001. Under his leadership, Hermes Real Estate has led a number of landmark real estate transactions, including the largest regeneration project in Europe at King’s Cross, the development of the iconic Silverstone circuit, the major regeneration at Paradise Circus Birmingham and the rejuvenation of central Milton Keynes. Chris is currently the Chairman of MEPC, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a member of the Bank of England Commercial Property Committee and a Founding Board Member of INREV. As immediate past President of the British Property Federation, Chris has engaged actively with Central and Local Government to recognise the pivotal contribution that real estate and infrastructure can make as conduits for growth and regeneration. As CEO of Hermes Real Estate, managing over £6 billion of real estate, Chris is also the BTPS Director on the Argent Board and has taken a lead role in promoting responsible investment with major regeneration schemes at King’s Cross and Paradise Circus, Birmingham. Chris holds a BSc (Hons) in Land Management from Reading University.

David Partridge

Chairman
Argent Related

David joined Argent in 1990, he was appointed Joint Chief Executive in 2006 and Managing Partner of the new Argent LLP in 2012 and is Joint CEO of the new Argent Related Partnership. He has overall responsibility for all Argent business, including structuring and establishing financial and management programmes. He oversees the sourcing, master planning, building design, financing and legal aspects for all projects. David is Chairman of the Trustees of UK‐GBC and sits on the Policy Committee of the British Property Federation and on the DIT Capital Investment Advisory Board (formerly RIO). He is a Past President of the BCO and was one of the founding members and now ex‐Chairman of both the Piccadilly Partnership in Manchester and Urban Partners (the King’s Cross and St Pancras Business Partnership) and is ex‐ Chairman of CityCo in Manchester. David read architecture at Cambridge and is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and has served on a number of RIBA practice committees, and is an Honorary fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. In May 2015, David was awarded NW Insider Property Personality of the Year, and in April 2014, David jointly won the Property Week Personality of the Year Award with Roger Madelin.

Eugenie Teasley

Head of Cities, South & East of England
UBER

Eugenie's role focuses on building strong partnerships with leaders and organisations in cities across the south and east of England, finding opportunities to support projects that are fast-tracking the future of travel—making it more sustainable, affordable, reliable and accessible. Prior to joining Uber, Eugenie founded and ran a non-profit for six years, before becoming the CEO of the Goodall Foundation. She has also worked with diverse companies, charities and public sector organisations across the globe, looking at strategies for systemic change. She is a Clore Social Leadership Fellow and was named one of the UK's 35 Women Under 35. She holds degrees from Oxford and UC Berkeley and lives in Brighton with her husband, two sons and two dogs.

Collin Lau

Founder
Bei Capital

Collin Lau is the founder of BEI Capital, which is an Asian-based global real estate and alternative investment company. Collin was previously a managing director, head of global real estate and head of European private equity at China Investment Corporation. Collin had 29 years of corporate, financial and investment management experience. Before CIC, he had been a managing director at Starr International, where he was responsible for its private equity and real estate investments in Asia Pacific. Before Starr, Collin was a managing director at Baring Private Equity Asia. Prior to that, he held a number of managing positions in several leading conglomerates in Hong Kong. Collin holds a Master of Laws degree with distinction in Corporate and Financial Law from the University of Hong Kong. He was voted as the Asia Industry Figure of the Year 2010 by PERE, one of the top 50 industry figures by Estate Gazette UK in 2010 and ranked 25th of the top 100 most influential global industry figures by PERE for the last decade (2005-2015) in 2015.

Harry Badham

UK Head of Development
AXA IM, Real Assets

Harry Badham joined AXA IM – Real Assets as the Head of Development in 2011, since when he has overseen in excess of 1m sqft of central London commercial development projects from inception to completion. Currently AXA IM –Real Assets has around 2m sqft of projects under construction, including a new innovative office concept at Twentytwo in London. Principally these projects provide workspace to major businesses, and have included retail, restaurant and residential spaces. Many of the projects have been recognised as industry leaders, including the ULI global award for excellence. Prior to AXA, Harry was a board director of Allied London, which was responsible for the regeneration of the Spinningfields Estate and the Brunswick Centre among other major mixed use development projects. Harry began his career at JLL within the corporate finance department, having graduated from Bristol University in Civil Engineering.

Lilli Matson

Head of Strategy and Outcome Planning
TFL

Lorraine Baldry

Chair
London & Continental Railways

Lorraine Baldry has held many roles in her 45 years in business and government, with arguably the highest-profile being board member and chairman of planning at the Olympic Delivery Authority. Her experience spans a wide range of industries including technology, broadcasting, distribution, healthcare, utilities, real estate and financial services. She is chairman of London & Continental Railways, Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust, Inventa Partners and Hydroxyl Technologies. Baldry was chief executive of Chesterton International and prior to that held various senior positions at Prudential Corp., Morgan Stanley and Regus. She is an honorary member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a past president of the British Property Federation. Outside work, her main interests are in the arts and staying in country house hotels with her husband, Don, and their fox red Labrador, Bear.

Fiona D'Silva

Kennedy Wilson

Fiona D’Silva joined Kennedy Wilson as Managing Director in 2012. Formerly she worked with Deutsche Bank where she was responsible for the distribution of real estate debt products. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Fiona worked at Goldman Sachs from 2000 until 2011 in the Structured Finance and Real Estate Finance divisions. The range of experience involved using various structured finance principles to finance acquisitions of assets ranging from infrastructure to real estate. Her last role in the financing team involved the work-out and asset management of the real estate loan book and its subsequent sell down. She also led the structuring and marketing effort for a new trading platform set up to manage Goldman Sachs’ secured and collateralised funding programme. Fiona holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Operational Research from Strathclyde University in Glasgow and a Bachelors of Science degree in Statistics from University of Mumbai.

Toby Courtauld

CEO
GPE

Joined the Group and appointed to the Board in 2002. Formerly with MEPC from 1991 to 2002. Member of the British Property Federation Board and Policy Committee, Director of the New West End Company and Non-Executive Director of Liv-Ex Limited, Member of Imperial College London Council.

Kathryn Harrison-Thomas

Managing Director
Deutsche Bank

Kathryn Harrison is the Global Business Partner to the Investment Banking divisions within Deutsche Bank, with regional accountability across Americas, Asia Pacific and UK&I portfolios for Corporate Services. Since joining Deutsche Bank in 2005, Kathryn has held a variety of roles spanning real estate and operations management, change management and strategy across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and the Rest of Europe before relocating back to the UK. Currently responsible for driving the London, New York and Pan India Accommodation Strategies, which are challenging workplace convention and building for a rapidly changing IT landscape and workforce both in terms of gender and age diversity.   Kathryn holds a degree in Geography from Royal Holloway & Bedford New College, University of London as well as various engineering and facilities management industry qualifications. Kathryn is married with two children and is an active champion of diversity and part of the leadership committee for Crew UK.

Charlie Green

Co-CEO
The Office Group

Charlie founded The Office Group (TOG) with Olly Olsen in 2003. Previously he worked as a Chartered Surveyor and for MWB Group on development work in the serviced office sector. TOG grew from the desire to challenge the serviced office industry, to make it a transparent, flexible and brilliantly designed workspace option instead of a temporary solution. TOG’s buildings are designed in response to the ever-changing attitudes towards how we work.

Cody Bradshaw

Managing Director
Starwood Capital Group

Cody Bradshaw is a Managing Director and Head of European Hotels at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, he oversees the Firm’s hospitality acquisition and asset management activities across Europe. His portfolio responsibilities have included numerous North American and European lodging investments, including the Firm’s ownership of Louvre Hotels, the second-largest hotel chain in Europe. He has played a leading role in managing and growing The Principal Hotel Company portfolio that comprises over 40 properties and 6,500 keys across the United Kingdom—highlighted by the brand launch and opening in 2016 of The Principal Manchester, Edinburgh and York. Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2011, Mr. Bradshaw served as VP of Acquisitions at Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB). Before that, he was the first employee of the Chartres Lodging Group, where he played an integral role in growing the firm over a seven-year period. Mr. Bradshaw began his career at Hyatt Development Corp. Mr. Bradshaw received a B.S. degree from Cornell University. He co-created the Certified Hotel Asset Manager professional designation program, which launched in 2012, and is the Co-Founder and President of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association of Europe. He is also a member of the International Hotel Investment Council.

Mathieu Elshout

Senior Director Private Real Estate
PGGM

Responsible for a portfolio of European private real estate investments. Joined the PGGM Private Real Estate team in 2008. Before joining PGGM he worked in various positions at Grontmij (consulting engineers, now Sweco). Leading the efforts on sustainability within Real Estate. Investments range from open- and closed-ended funds to partnerships and joint ventures. Member of the PGGM Private Real Estate Investment Committee and serving on several Funds’ Advisory and Supervisory Boards and Investment Committees. Non-executive Director of GRESB and Chair of the INREV Sustainability Committee. Mathieu is an INSEAD certified director, earned a Master of Real Estate degree from the Amsterdam School of Real Estate (University of Amsterdam) and holds a Ba in Environmental Management (Van Hall Institute Groningen).

Patrick Weiss

Property Acquisitions Manager
Deliveroo

...coming soon

Martin King

Director of Business Development, Marketing & Comms
FirstPort

Martin King is Director of Business Development, Marketing & Communications at FirstPort, the UK’s largest residential property manager. Martin joined FirstPort in September 2016, having left CBRE Asset Services and Rating where he was Head of Business Development. With over 15 years at board level, Martin brings a wealth of experience in delivering sustained company growth and increased sales. Martin has a lead role in FirstPort’s Build to Rent business and is working closely with investors and developers on a number of schemes across the country.

Duncan Swinhoe

Managing Principal
​Gensler

Duncan is the Regional Managing Principal of Gensler’s European region. An architect with some 15 years experience, Duncan’s career has seen him concentrate on large-scale developments in the UK, Europe and the Gulf region. With a particular focus and specialism in commercial office building design, Duncan is responsible for establishing the conceptual direction of projects and leading the multidisciplinary team through delivery. Duncan is an active member of the BCO and the ULI, speaks regularly on issues relating to office design.

Richard Yorke

Director
CoStar Group

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

Andrew O’Donnell

EMEIA Real Estate Leader
EY

Andrew leads the Real Estate function for EY in EMEIA (Mature Markets) focused on the acquisition and fit out of its offices for over 90,000 people across the geography. Andrew also leads EY’s Real Estate Agility strategy globally focused on the use of flex and coworking space across the portfolio to enhance client connections and increase business agility. EY is a global professional services firm employing over 260,000 people.

Faisal Durrani

Head of Research
Cluttons

Faisal’s expertise lies in researching and analysing real estate markets, with a focus on the UK and the Middle East. His work focuses on all sectors, examining broader economic drivers that underpin global real estate activity. He oversees Cluttons’ global research programme and works closely with teams across Cluttons’ network to deliver thought leadership research, most recently focussing on cross border capital flows, migration trends and affordability challenges.

Nicky Wightman

Director, Global Occupier Trends
Savills

Nicky is Director of Global Occupier Trends at Savills where she delivers vital cross border connection for both the business and clients, focusing on the influence of new technology and innovations in the home and workplace as the lines between the two become increasingly blurred. Nicky also focuses on global trends that are disrupting and enhancing the entire real estate sector and impacting the occupant experience. Previously to this role, Nicky was a Director in the Worldwide Occupier Services team and before Savills, her professional background was at the Bar where she practiced law, followed by work at the BBC as a radio producer and presenter.

Brendan Geraghty

CEO
UKAA

Architect, design and development strategist Brendan Geraghty is a recognised Build to Rent (BTR) thought leader who has been active in the sector since 2011. Brendan is known for actively championing the integration of consumer culture in BTR with a ‘brand before building’ approach. Brendan combines deep generalist and broad specialist knowledge, creating structured development and consumer centric BTR strategies, integrating consumer culture principles with investment requirements. He has spent 16 years in senior roles, including with Centred Architecture, Optim and Geraghty Taylor Architects, before becoming CEO of UKAA (the UK Apartment Association) in 2022. Spearheading the UKAA’s leadership through high quality knowledge and research, Brendan will be supporting the organisation to serve as the voice of the Build to Rent sector in the UK. He will also explore new relationships with others in the residential sector with an interest in Build to Rent including housing associations, co-living investors and operators, contractors and house builders as well as pressing ESG issues such as Net Zero Carbon.