Manchester Office Mania!

Ciara joined Bruntwood in 2005 commencing her career as an Asset Manager. Ciara provided strategic services while adding value to Bruntwoods Manchester City Centre portfolio. She worked on rent reviews, lease renewals and surrenders while also helping with the company’s 5 year business plan including any acquisitions. In 2007 Ciara became a chartered surveyor and started a new team for Bruntwood where she became Head of Customer Retention across all the regional cities. In 2013 Ciara became Head of Asset Management for Manchester leading on a portfolio with a value of £450m which involved Acquisition and Disposal work including the prestigious sale of City Tower for £132m and acquisition of a number of key city centre assets including Bruntwood’s new HQ Union. Most recently Ciara was appointed as the Director of Asset Management looking across the Bruntwood Group. She is working on upskilling the asset management team and supporting them in their development while also driving value across the portfolio and overseeing strategic plans.

John has over 16 years’ development experience, the majority of which has been gained during his time at Ask, delivering highly complex, city centre office, leisure and retail projects. John joined the Board and became a shareholder in 2008 and has worked closely with some of Ask’s key strategic partners including Manchester City Council, Salford City Council and Network Rail.

Sam Lawson Johnston is co-founder of LJ Real Estate, a commercial real estate investor passionate about restoring iconic, historic buildings and creating inspiring workspaces where entrepreneurs and businesses can thrive in a community. Sam has been working in the investment market since 2005, holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Durham and a Postgraduate degree from the University of Reading. Sam is a non-executive director of luxury accessories brand Finlay & Co. Sam is an active anti-slavery supporter and is a trustee on the boards of Charity:Water and St John at Hackney church.

Howard lord is the Managing Director of Manchester based international investment and development company CERT property. With a passion and extensive experience in property, Howard is the first person to find out about the latest property trends. Having mastered the art of building solid business relationships around the world, Howard is the first to know about some of the biggest deals in the industry. CERT property own office and residential spaces across the North and Midlands and is continuing to expand its portfolio across the region with recent acquisitions of Northern Quarter's Hamilton House, Liverpool office building Centric House and new residential developments like Old Trafford sites Kinetic and Insignia opposite the new university Academy '92 but to name a few.

Michael O’Shea is a partner and Head of the Gowling WLG's contentious construction team. He is recognised by clients and his peers as a leader in his field and is one of the few lawyers to have taken a construction case to the House of Lords (now the Supreme Court). Michael is a CEDR Accredited Mediator, member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Past Chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors North West Dispute Faculty, a member of TeCSA, a Regional Coordinator of the Society of Construction Law and has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Manchester. He is also qualified as a solicitor in Ireland. He is known for his role as trusted advisor to a number of significant UK contractors and is a specialist in complex legal, factual and technical disputes.

Toby is Head of Retail, Amenity & Community at Bruntwood. He leads on retail strategy for the business including independent retailer havens Afflecks and Hatch. Placemaking is a key part of Bruntwood’s business model with the company placing emphasis on creating vibrant neighbourhoods and buildings that bring together people and places. His focus includes the strategy for fostering customer communities and amenity across the Bruntwood portfolio, as part of an integrated approach to enhancing customer experience. Toby has worked for Bruntwood for 22 years and established the retail function within the business. He has previously led the development, letting and asset management of the retail portfolio which now stands at 375,000 sq ft and 200 units and is helping shape developments including Alderley Park and Circle Square a 2.4 million sq ft neighbourhood.

The co-founder of the Sheila Bird Group epitomizes his motto, ‘love what you do’ and breathes life and love into every one of his projects. Known for his magnetic energy, his creativity and frank and honest approach, he understands the effects work spaces have on teams and a business.

Sophie is Office Manager at artificial intelligence firm Peak. Having joined the business in 2016, Sophie was initially responsible for establishing and developing key processes in Peak’s early days as a new start-up, implementing finance, HR and admin policies in order to allow the business to grow and build for the future. Since then, Sophie’s role has continued to evolve; she was responsible for the coordination and project management of the recent relocation of Peak’s Manchester headquarters. Sophie has previous experience working across a number of sectors including education, social care and healthcare, having been a personal assistant for directors and management at Manchester’s NHS Saint Mary’s Hospital.

Anthony joined Workman as part of their graduate scheme over 13 years’ ago, and has been a Partner in Property Management within Workman’s Manchester office since 2015. Having opened over 25 years ago, the Manchester office has since grown to include one of the largest property management and building consultancy teams in the north-west including 11 Partners and 90 staff and is instructed on significant assets in the city such as NOMA, Great Northern, Manchester Fort Shopping Park, Tower 12 and The Anchorage, Salford Quays. Anthony oversees the commercial team specialising in offices and industrial acting for a range of institutional investors, fund managers and property companies such Aberdeen Standard Investments, CBREGI, Arlington and Canmoor.

In the eighteen months she has so far been at OBI, Nicola has brought her talent and enthusiasm for creating considered commercial interior design for many of the award-winning company’s clients including Junkyard Golf, Hello Soda, Douglas Scott and Walker Smith. She’s also played an instrumental role in the comprehensive refurbishment of Canada House on Chepstow Street, Manchester. With a degree in Interior Architecture and Design, Nicola started her career in London before moving back home to the North West two years ago.

Urban design historian Mark Ovenden is an author, broadcaster and lecturer whose is the presenter of a forthcoming documentary on Manchester’s skyscraper construction boom for BBC Radio Four (19th November 2018). His best-selling books have been translated into many languages. His recent one-hour TV documentary for BBC4 was watched by 400,000, and book sales are approaching a quarter of a million. Mark brings joyful insight and accessibility to what might on the surface appear dry or technical subjects. His infectious enthusiasm enthrals audiences. His books focus on the cartography, design, architecture, signage and typefaces of public transport networks and urban geography. Mark is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society with a decent social media presence (@markovenden). He was born and brought up in London and lived in various cities in France, the USA, and UK. His background was in broadcast and print media. Before returning to his love of maps in the early “noughties” (a term he claims to have first coined and publicised in the 90s!) he worked as a presenter and producer for the BBC and commercial radio stations. Recent works include a revised edition on “Transit Maps of The World” (2015 - then Japanese and Spanish language editions of it), “Johnston & Gill” (2017), and the forthcoming “Airline Maps of the World” (2019), and “Northern Powerhouse” (2019). Mark is now based in Manchester.