London State of the Market

Sir George Iacobescu, CBE has been the Chief Executive Officer of Canary Wharf Group PLC since August 25, 2011 and has been its Chairman since June 22, 2011. Mr. Iacobescu is an engineer by training and is closely involved in the construction operations of the group. His previous roles include Vice President development and construction at the World Financial Center in New York, and the Olympia Center and the Neiman Marcus Buildings in Chicago. He serves as a Director of Canary Wharf Finance II Plc. He serves as an Executive Director of Canary Wharf Group plc. He serves as a Member of Advisory Board for International at Hypothekenbank Frankfurt Aktiengesellschaft.

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).

Tony Gibbon is a founding partner of the real estate advisory practice GM Real Estate, formally known as BH2, the firm generally regarded to be the leading niche operator in the Central London market. His career started in 1981 at Prudential and he co-founded BH2 more than twenty years ago. He is a Trustee of Chickenshed Theatre Trust, the Old Vic Theatre and the Bruno Tampo Foundation. He is Chairman of the Development Board of The Willow Foundation, a member of the Development Board at the Royal Albert Hall and Fund Manager of the Real Estate Fund of Trust for London (formally known as City Parochial Foundation).

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.

With 35 years leading Derwent as co-founder and CEO, John was one of the longest-serving and most successful bosses of a listed company in the UK. He stepped down as Derwent London CEO in May 2019 and was appointed Non-executive Chairman until May 2021. As an entrepreneur and founding CEO in the 1980s he established Derwent Valley Holdings with Simon Silver and from a start-up with a portfolio value of £1.4m its value now stands at £5.5bn. In the early days John, Simon and their team focused on buying and making use of empty, light industrial buildings in undeveloped areas of London and turning these into high quality and design-led office buildings more suitable to the service-based economy. Flagship buildings include Tea Building (Shoreditch), the RIBA Stirling Prize shortlisted Angel Building (Islington), White Collar Factory (Old Street), Brunel Building (Paddington) and the recently completed 80 Charlotte Street (Fitzrovia). A recipient of many awards, Derwent has regularly won the Most Admired Company Award from Management Today in its sector, testament to John’s leadership and standards. The company has also been ranked in the top ten most admired companies overall in the UK. Derwent has become one of the most respected and innovative property companies in the country. It has pushed the boundaries of design and construction to build high tech, efficient and environmentally advanced developments which have attracted many firms to the UK and London.

Patrick currently heads WeWork’s European real estate expansion. He holds a MBA from Columbia University and is originally from London. WeWork is now the fastest growing tenant in the world. WeWork provides entrepreneurs and small-medium businesses with beautiful, amenities-filled, amazingly designed workspace, as well as personalized support, business services, benefits, infrastructure, and the flexibility they need to succeed.

Martin is the Head of Leasing for Brookfield Properties in the UK, where he leads a team that has secured many notable pre-letting transactions. Martin has over 34 years’ experience with both Landlords and occupiers in the London market having previously held positions at Montagu Evans, JLL, Colliers and St Quintin. Martin is a Freeman of the City of London.

Charlie Wade is the EMEA Managing Director for VTS, the modern platform for commercial real estate. The fastest growing technology company in commercial real estate history, it has over 12 billion sq ft of office, retail and industrial assets combined managed on its platform globally. Prior to VTS, Charlie spent 10 years at JLL, working in London, New York and Silicon Valley, leading business development for the West Coast hub of JLL’s International Desk.

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.

Lorna is Head of Real Estate Debt at LGIM Real Assets with specific responsibility for the team originating, analysing and managing real estate debt investments on behalf of internal and external clients. Lorna is also involved in the provision and development of client solutions, debt products and funds and is a member of the property and private credit investment committees. Lorna joined the business in 2018 from Blackstone Real Estate where she held the role of Managing Director focussed on UK debt and equity investments. Prior to Blackstone, Lorna held various senior roles at RBS, including Managing Director in Real Estate Finance and Head of UK Real Estate Restructuring from 2008 to 2011. Lorna holds an honours degree in Urban Planning from Strathclyde University and a masters degree in Land Economy from Aberdeen University and is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Lorna is also a member of the Board of CREFC (Europe).

Mr. Penaud joined Tishman Speyer in 2006 and is currently charged with jointly overseeing the firm’s business in Europe, in conjunction with Michael Spies. Previously, he has held positions both as the chief operating officer for Europe and the regional director for France. Mr. Penaud joined Tishman Speyer from JPMorgan, where he was co-head of European acquisitions in London, supervising activities for the JPMorgan European Property Fund in western continental Europe. Prior to this, he was in charge of real estate acquisitions in France for the Peabody Funds, co-managed by JPMorgan and the O’Connor Group. Previously, he worked for Arthur Andersen, Unibail and Deutsche Bank. Mr. Penaud graduated from ENS Arts & Métiers, France, with an engineering degree, and received a master’s degree in business from ESCP.

Eric Pang is one of the most experienced real estate investment professionals originally from JLL China with over 18 years of extensive experience across China markets, during which he has established and maintained close relationships with major Chinese institutions, investors, occupiers and developers. Eric is an ambitious team player with previous international experience living and working in Australia and Singapore, and now in the UK since January 2015.

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.

John Mulryan is the Group Managing Director of The Ballymore Group. Based in London, John has overseen Ballymore becoming one of the biggest providers of residential accommodation in the city. These include landmark schemes including London City Island, Embassy Gardens, and Goodluck Hope. John also worked alongside the US government to move their embassy from Grosvenor Square to Embassy Gardens at Nine Elms, establishing a new riverside cultural district for the city and signalling a major shift in London’s diplomatic centre of gravity. In Ireland, John is overseeing the completion of the group’s regeneration project on North Wall Quay, Dublin Landings. John is also responsible for ensuring planning permission is submitted for Ballymore’s large mixed-use scheme on 2.8 hectares at CIE Connolly Station in Dublin’s IFSC. Prior to being appointed Group Managing Director in January 2018, John was Managing Director of Ballymore UK from July 2010. Prior to that, he was General Manager of Operations from July 2008 to July 2010. He graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Civil Engineering in 2004.

Julie became CEO of UK-GBC in April 2015 with ultimate responsibility for organisational strategy and execution. She is accountable to the Chairman and Board of Trustees for UK-GBC’s impact and performance and leads the team on a day to day basis. Julie is focused on delivering lasting change within the industry by engaging with UK-GBC members, regulators, and wider stakeholders in an effective and collaborative way. Julie was previously UK Head of Sustainability and an International Director at JLL, having come into JLL as a result of an acquisition. JLL acquired Upstream, a leading sustainability consultancy which Julie was co-founder and Joint MD of, in 2007. Having led the Upstream team through the integration into JLL, Julie oversaw further development of cutting-edge sustainability services to property investors and occupiers across the UK and EMEA. Julie sits on the Green Construction Board, the Igloo Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee, the ULI UK Sustainability Council Steering Committee, the Carbon Trust Advisory Panel, the Carillion Sustainability Committee and the Balfour Beatty Blueprint Advisory Panel. She also chaired the British Property Federation’s Sustainability Committee for two years.

David Orr is the chief executive of the National Housing Federation . He began working as a deputy warden at a homeless centre in Glasgow before becoming a co-ordinator at Centrepoint in London. He joined Newlon Housing Trust as Chief Executive and four years later became chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. In July 2005, David was appointed chief executive of the National Housing Federation.

Lee Polisano is the President and one of the five founding partners of PLP Architecture. Lee co-founded the KPF London office in 1989. He also served as the global president of KPF until 2008 and led the London practice until September 2009. Lee has worked internationally on projects in the UK, mainland Europe, the US, and the Middle East. He has led many award-winning projects for public and private clients and across a range of sectors including retail, residential, office/headquarters, hospitality, transportation, and mixed-use. Lee was partner-in-charge of a number of notable projects while at KPF. In Europe, these included the Heron Tower – London’s first build-to-suit multi-tenant office building and The Pinnacle, the tallest building in London’s central business district. In the Middle East, these included the $6.8 billion expansion of the Abu Dhabi International Airport in its Midfield Terminal Complex development which is now in construction. In Qatar, he is involved with the design of the Aerospace City Masterplan, an extraordinary city outside Doha based on aviation and education that will be home to 70,000 people. Lee’s pursuit of excellence through sustainable, environmentally responsible design and a civilised and enjoyable public domain are seen as fundamental to the long-term success of his architecture. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from LaSalle College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a Master of Architecture degree from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Claudette is a former Executive Director of the London Development Agency (LDA) and has 25 years experience of developing and implementing large scale regeneration programmes within local and regional government. At the LDA she spearheaded the Agency's £125 million a year London-wide regeneration programme. More recently, as a Director at CAF Consulting Ltd, she has developed an impressive body of work as a consultant assisting organisations such as, Kent County Council, South East England Development Agency, TfL, LB Lambeth, LB Havering, LB Kingston Upon Thames, LBBromley, Westminster City Council and the City of Salvador in Brazil, advising on and leading their regeneration efforts. She has also advised a number of Registered Providers in London.