UK Office Series: The Renaissance

Miles is Head of Investment Management for the UK and Ireland at Union Investment, with a focus on the office and residential sectors, a role he has held since the opening of Union Investment’s London office in April 2022. Key components of his role include the origination, analysis, underwriting and execution of property transactions to match fund investment criteria. Miles facilitates the implementation of investment strategies for Union Investment’s various funds through his in-depth knowledge of the UK and Ireland markets and financial analysis skills. Prior to joining Union Investment, Miles was a Director in the European Transactions team at Invesco Real Estate, concentrating on the same geographies however with a broader sector focus which included offices, logistics, retail, life sciences and residential. Miles started his career at CBRE, with roles in its City of London Office Agency, Frankfurt Office Agency and Central London Investment Agency teams, working on off-and-on market transactions for pan-European and international clients. Miles was also the Chairman of the CBRE UK Junior Board and Board Member of the CBRE UK Charitable Trust in the earlier stages of his career. Miles completed an undergraduate degree in French and German at Bristol University before gaining an MSc in Real Estate from Kingston University. Miles is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Financial Analyst Society UK, having earned the Investment Management Certificate (IMC).

Jessica is an Investment Director, based in London, responsible for supporting the UK real estate business and its growth. She joined Schroders in 2012 and was formerly the Fund Manager of the Schroder UK Real Estate Fund until September 2023, prior to that she was Head of UK Retail at Schroders from 2014 to 2017, and was an Investment Manager between 2012 to 2014. She has over 18 years of real estate experience.

Finn heads the investment function at Native Land which he joined in 2018. He is responsible for sourcing and managing equity and debt partnerships across Native Land’s mixed-use development portfolio as well as identifying new land acquisitions in London. Prior to Native Land, Finn spent eight years with the Jardine Matheson Group in Asia where he was the country head of Hongkong Land in the Philippines and oversaw developments in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Finn graduated from Oxford in 2006 and qualified as a management accountant in 2011.

Stephanie is the Portfolio Fund Manager for the Royal London Property Fund (RLPF) and Royal London Real Estate Fund (RLUKREF), totalling approximately £3.5bn in UK real estate. She is responsible for setting the fund strategy and overseeing all fund activity including regulatory reporting, investor relations, marketing and portfolio level asset management, development and property management activities. Her previous role at Royal London Asset Management was as Portfolio Fund Manager for the Royal London Pension Property Fund, a £7bn UK balanced property fund. She has over 20 years’ experience in the Real Estate industry, joining Royal London Asset Management in 2006 as an Asset Manager focussing on the Office Sector, gaining significant office sector expertise where she undertook asset management, development and investment transactions across all property funds. Stephanie’s Portfolio Fund Manager career started in 2011, when she was promoted to Deputy Fund Manager for Royal Liver Life Fund. Since then she has held roles as Portfolio Fund Manager for Royal Liver Life Fund, Deputy Portfolio Fund Manager for RLUKREF and Portfolio Fund Manager for Royal London Property Pension Fund.

John joined CWG in August 2023 as Chief Investment Officer having previously served at CBRE as Head of Offices EMEA and as Head of Transactions before that. Prior to CBRE, John spent ten years at Hammerson plc. as Group Director leading the team responsible for the London office development and asset management business. John earned a B.Sc. in Estate Management from the University of East London and holds a post graduate diploma in property investment from the Investment Property Forum (IPF). He was elected a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) in 1994 and was made a Fellow (FRICS) in 2012.

John is a partner in the real estate group at Slaughter and May. He has considerable experience in a wide range of real estate work. He has acted extensively on acquisitions and disposals of all types of property interests, on significant development projects and on major lettings. His clients include investors, occupiers, developers, livery companies, hotel owners, housebuilders and banks. He is listed as a leading individual in the real estate section of Chambers UK 2019, as a notable practitioner in IFLR1000 2019 and is also listed in Who’s Who Legal: Real Estate 2019.

Isabel joined Shaftesbury in April 2021 to establish and implement the strategic direction of the company’s 400,000 sq ft of office space across the West End. As Head of Offices, Isabel continually develops Shaftesbury’s workplace proposition and pursues innovative ways to support Shaftesbury’s occupiers - whether they are a fast-growing start-up or an established global brand. In 2021, Shaftesbury launched a new fitted workspace concept, Assemble, and became a pioneer as the first commercial Landlord to offer a digital leasing experience across the portfolio. Isabel oversees several ongoing office refurbishment and development schemes to repurpose buildings within the portfolio to meet the strong demand for high quality, office accommodation within the West End. Within her role, Isabel is focused on strengthening the innovative network of like-minded businesses and enhancing occupier experience by investing in new amenities within Shaftesbury’s villages, for example, the Carnaby Office Cycle Hub.

Fergus leads the asset, development and property management activities of Grosvenor’s UK regional office portfolio. He is responsible for managing the assets day to day with support from the wider team as well as driving financial, environmental and social performance at a portfolio level. Fergus has been with the business since 2010 with significant experience in the London development market most recently leading a number of residential and mixed- use development projects in Victoria including the 520,000 sq ft Cundy Street Quarter scheme. Prior to that he led the Bermondsey Project masterplan design to transform a 12-acre site into a 1,550 home scheme. Fergus has sat on the NLA’s Expert Housing Panel and co-chaired the ULI Development Forum.

Robin Pritchett is Head of Building Performance in the UK for Cundall, where he leads a team of specialists developing and implementing decarbonisation plans for existing buildings across the UK. He also works alongside his counterparts leading Building Performance in Cundall’s APAC and MENA businesses to knowledge share and build Cundall’s reputation as a leader in sustainable design. Robin is a building services engineer with more than 15 years’ experience in the industry. He joined Cundall over a decade ago and specialises in delivering passive building design, natural ventilation and renewable energy assessments. His key projects include the Palm House at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Peninsula London and the Chinese Embassy.

Richard’s experience is entrenched in the refurbishment, conversion and alteration of existing built assets. An expert in managing complex repurposing projects, Richard is adept at blending feasibility with designs that meet market requirements and programmes of procurement that fulfil clients’ business plans whilst respecting their appetite for risk. Richard oversees a department of over 100 staff nationwide, delivering the full range of building consultancy services, including; project management, development monitoring, technical due diligence, fire safety, dilapidations and other professional building surveying services.

Adam is a Legal Director within the Property Group at Pinsent Masons, specialising in high value and complex development and investment transactions, particularly within the leisure and business space sectors, where Adam’s key clients include institutional investors, operators, developers and landed estates. Adam heads the Repurposing and Retrofitting Team, a cross-practice group of lawyers advising on projects involving the reimagining of existing building stock as an alternative to comprehensive redevelopment. Recent projects that Adam has been involved in include the repurposing of the former Debenhams store at Liverpool One to a mixed-use leisure destination and the new Moco Museum at Marble Arch.

Toby Pentecost is Senior Vice President and co-head of Trammell Crow Company’s (TCC) U.K. Office Development team. In this role, Toby has direct oversight of the firm’s U.K. office development and investment activities and is responsible for identifying new opportunities to expand TCC’s development business within the London and U.K. markets. Toby is based in London. Prior to joining TCC, Toby was the co-founder of Candour, a privately owned operating partner and development manager specializing in development and asset management of highly complex commercial projects in London and across the U.K. As co-founder and shareholder in Candour, he was responsible for the sourcing, structuring, and management of new developments and acquisitions through all phases of the development process including feasibility, concept planning, entitlement, design, financing, construction, leasing, and monetization. At the point at which TCC acquired Candour in October 2023, it had a combined 850,000 square feet of commercial development and asset management assets either ongoing or in pipeline. In the five years since co-creating Candour, Toby developed strategies for and/or delivered real estate activities with a cumulative GDV of over £0.5bn. He has over 18 years of business experience with a focus on offices sector and strengths in deep understanding of occupier trends and markets. During his time at Candour, Toby was instrumental in the delivery of several key deals in London and U.K. markets, including the Welcome Building (215,000-square-foot speculative office development in Bristol with Tristan Capital Partners and Apollo Global) GDV £150m; 39 Deansgate (150,000-square-footoffice development in Manchester) GDV £100m; 20 Gresham Street (250,000-square-footCity of London office repositioning) GDV £300m; 25-28 Old Burlington Street (60,0000square-foot London Mayfair office and gallery redevelopment with The Pollen Estate) GDV £200m; and Heathrow Airport Logistics development (250,000-square-foot strategic land development with Hines) GDV £110m. Prior to co-founding Candour, Toby held roles at Colliers International, Montagu Evans and Quadrant Estates, all in London.

Adam has over 25 years of property experience both as consultant and principle. He is currently Co-Head of EMEA Real Estate Services at Morgan Stanley, where he is responsible for Real Estate Strategy, Estate and Transaction Management. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Adam was Head of International Real Estate at NBCUniversal.

Dan Westley is Leasing Director at Battersea Power Station Development Company, and is responsible for the delivery and leasing of all office space across the new 42-acre riverside neighbourhood. Joining the project seven years ago, Dan has played a key role in the development’s transformation from a former industrial site to a thriving mixed-use neighbourhood centred around the Grade II* Power Station, which is now home to over 6,500 workers, 2,500 residents, and hundreds of thousands of visitors every week. Dan has played an integral role in landmark deals including the leasing of Apple’s new 500,000 sq ft UK headquarters inside the Power Station, and most recently the launch of 50 Electric Boulevard, a new state-of-the-art sustainable office building, offering 200,000 sq ft of commercial space designed by Foster + Partners.

Kuldeep is Head of UK Research at VTS. She is working to expand the VTS offer to deliver unique, independent and real time data insights to help support the leasing and investment strategies of VTS clients. Kuldeep has worked within commercial real estate research for the last 15 years, most recently joining from BNP Paribas Real Estate and previously at Savills.

Callum advises on a broad range of commercial real estate transactions involving a variety of property types including retirement living and care homes, student accommodation, industrial estates and warehouses, hotels, office premises and logistics. He advises on single asset and portfolio acquisitions and disposals, property financings, developments, landlord and tenant work as well as assisting clients with general matters of property law. He also has extensive experience in the real estate aspects of corporate investments and banking transactions. Callum has significant recent experience advising leading developers and providers of senior care/retirement living and student accommodation. This has involved dealing with complex joint venture arrangements and cross-border property investment structures. He also offers clients additional support and property law advice in connection with a variety of commercial matters including assistance with heads of terms, title indemnity insurance policies, rights of light releases, dilapidation settlements and most recently, property enquiries in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. He has advised a variety of clients including real estate investment trusts, domestic and overseas investors, landlords, tenants and developers. Callum is co-chair of McGuireWoods London’s pro bono programme. A full professional profile can be found here.