October 12th 2022
‘Build To Rent - Spaces to Grow; Places to Live’
‘The Drum’ at Wembley
Brent Civic Centre
Engineers Way
Wembley HA9 OFJ
Tel: 020 8937 4340
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Event speakers
David Jennings
Chairman
Movers & Shakers
Leigh Natasha Salter
Managing Director
Movers & Shakers
Leigh Natasha Salter is Managing Director of Movers & Shakers, having formerly been the Business and Events Director. Leigh has been responsible for developing the brand over the last 14 years and was responsible for the launch of the Movers & Shakers UK Regional events programme. Previously she worked in marketing, communications and research, and also ran the Windsor & Maidenhead Borough’s Business to Community Partnership, facilitating CSR for businesses. She qualified at Oxford University with a BA Honours in Human Sciences, and a scholarship, and is also a member of the BPF, WPA and UK-GBC.
James Pargeter
Senior Advisor
GAA
James is a recognised advocate for the purpose-built operational Rented Living sector (incl. Build to Rent (BTR) and Single-Family Rent (SFR)) within the wider residential sector, with over 25 years’ varied delivery experience as a Project Manager and Advisor. He aims to help address the UK’s housing crisis through policy and practice, recognising that a full tenure spectrum is key to resolving this challenge. Through successive roles at Deloitte, Greystar and GAA, alongside sector roles including at BPF, the ARL and UKSFA, he has a track record of making positive differences to project outcomes.
James is a tireless campaigner for a much-needed cultural change around renting, including better appreciation of the benefits of purpose-built rental housing, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), and intermediate affordable homes. He was included in EG's 'BTR's 50 Most Influential’ list.
Simon Scott
Lead Director - Living Capital Markets
JLL
Rebecca Taylor
Managing Director Multi-Family
Long Harbour
Rebecca is the Managing Director of Long Harbour’s BtR / Multifamily business. Since joining Long Harbour in 2015, Rebecca has deployed over £750mn of equity and leads on the LHMF JV which is a £1.5bn partnership with PSP and Cadillac Fairview. Rebecca has over 15 years’ experience in development and investment having worked in projects in Australia, UK, Ireland and UAE. Prior to joining Long Harbour, Rebecca spent eight years at Laing O’Rourke working in their property and investment team. Here she worked on their offsite housing solution and a number of PFI/PPP deals. She is the Vice-Chair of the BPF BTR Committee, is on the steering group for the UKAA Best Practice Guide and a member of the ULI UK Residential Council.
Richard Jackson MRICS
Managing Director & Co-Founder, Apache Capital
Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, Present Made
Catherine Raynsford
Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management
Hyde Group
Catherine Raynsford is Director of Stakeholder and Investment Management.
Catherine has worked in real estate for over 15 years specialising in public private partnerships, working with public sector landowners to bring forward major developments and regeneration projects.
Catherine works closely with our public sector partners and grow our initiatives with local government, this is a new role for Hyde and will focus on our strategy to engage with private capital.
Catherine leads a team to identify, develop and enhance long-term partnerships with a broad mix of private sector partners including housebuilders, developers, and institutional investors.
Iain Murray
Senior Director - BTR Consultancy (Europe)
Cortland Consult
Olivia Harris
Chief Executive
Dolphin Living
Olivia Harris was appointed as Chief Executive of Dolphin Living in April 2017. Previously, Olivia was Finance Director at Dolphin, providing financial and commercial oversight on a wide range of property and related projects, including debt and fund raising. Olivia is a Chartered Accountant and has worked for more than 15 years in the property industry.
Helen Gordon
Chief Executive Officer
Grainger plc
Helen was appointed Chief Executive of Grainger in January 2016.
Helen has spent over 40 years in Real Estate and joined Grainger from RBS where she spent five years as Global Head of Real Estate Asset Management. Prior to that, Helen held the role of Director of Legal and General Property. Other previous roles include Group Property Director of Railtrack and Managing Director of John Laing Developments.
Helen sits on the Board of Derwent London as Senior Independent Director, is currently Deputy Chairman of the European Public Real Estate Association and is Past President of the BPF.
Helen is a chartered surveyor and an Honorary Fellow of University College of Estate Management.
James Saunders
Chief Executive Officer
Quintain
James Saunders was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Quintain in October 2019.
James was previously Chief Operating Officer of Quintain and has been a main board director since 2017. As Chief Operating Officer, James led the place-making and estate management at Wembley Park, commercial partnerships, group marketing, IT and health and safety.
During his time at Quintain, James has led the repositioning of Wembley Park from an event destination to an exciting new neighbourhood for London. He has created the strategic direction for marketing, communications and place making that has led to dramatic reconsideration of the area, increase in footfall, improvements in press coverage and word-of -mouth, plus new partnerships including with Boxpark, Troubadour Theatres and Second Floor Studios.
As Chief Operating Officer, James also oversaw the Wembley Park estate operations team with responsibility for management of The SSE Arena, Wembley, London Designer Outlet, car parking, health and safety, service charge and retail development.
He has managed key stakeholder and commercial partner relationships with GLA, London Borough of Brent, Wembley Stadium, the FA, AEG and Realm, plus other local stakeholders. He was responsible for the renegotiation of agreements with adjacent landowners that unlocked the Wembley Park site from a development and operational perspective.
Prior to joining Quintain, James was the Chief Marketing Officer at The Cloud Networks, a consultant to Vodafone Europe and Brand Director at Coca-Cola Great Britain. He holds a Sloan Masters from London Business School, a Law Degree from Cambridge University and is a barrister-at-law.
Hannah Marsh
Co-Founder and Chief Partnership Officer
HomeViews
Hannah moved into the property industry four years ago when she co-founded the property rating service HomeViews. She started her career at GSK, spending seven years at the pharma giant before joining a luxury skincare startup. As Marketing Director Hannah helped take it from a table-top business to a brand featuring in stores such as Selfridges and Barney’s New York.
In property, she has quickly become an authority on the Build to Rent and PRS sectors.
Alastair Mullens
Managing Director
Vertus
Alastair joined Canary Wharf Group in 2018, to establish the Canary Wharf Group’s (CWG) Build-to-Rent platform, Vertus. He is currently overseeing the delivery of three seed assets totalling 1,137 units, all based on the Canary Wharf Estate. The first new residential tenants moved in in February 2020. He is now working closely with CWG’s development team to design and envision the future phases of private rental product for the Estate.
Over the last twelve years Alastair has gained a broad experience of the UK residential property market; initially in Residential Management before moving into Residential Development and then centring on the emerging Build-to-Rent market. He spent 9 years with Hamptons International & Countrywide Group based in London and Hong Kong. In 2015 he returned from Asia to focus on Build-to-Rent lease-up delivery for various clients across London. His final role at Countrywide was as National Director of Corporate PRS & Build to Rent, during this time he oversaw the delivery of the group’s operational management platform. This included the delivery of two Build-to-Rent assets in the north-west totalling 488 units for the Vista fund, The Cargo Building in Liverpool and Pomona Wharf in Manchester.
Michela Hancock
Managing Director Europe
Greystar
Russell Pedley
Director & Co-Founder
Assael Architecture
Russell is Director and Co-Founder of Assael Architecture. With over 30 years as an architect and 15 years in urban design, he has a strong passion for creating a sense of place with historical and cultural connections in all of his work.
Russell spent many years spearheading Assael’s skills in the design of professionally-managed Build to Rent communities in the private rented sector. Following years of research, including many study trips to the US, and producing design guides for the UK, Assael is now one of the leading architects in the sector, paving the way with key projects such as Union Wharf in Greenwich for Essential Living, Blackhorse Mills in Walthamstow for Legal & General, and Pontoon Dock in Newham for Linkcity. Russell also co-authored both editions of the Urban Land Institute’s Build to Rent: A Best Practice Guide, which was sponsored by the British Government, and he is now Chair of the ULI’s UK Residential Council and advises on MHCLG’s Build to Rent Joint Committee.
Nick Whitten
Head of UK Residential and Living Research, EMEA
JLL
Melanie Leech CBE
Chief Executive
BPF
Melanie joined the British Property Federation as Chief Executive in January 2015, following nine years as Director General of the Food and Drink Federation.
Melanie began her working life as a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police Service. She joined the civil service (HM Customs) in 1988 and subsequently held senior roles in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Office of the Rail Regulator and the Cabinet Office. Her role is to champion UK real estate and to promote a long-term, sustainable partnership between governments and the sector to deliver a high quality built environment, creating economic and social value for local communities.
Melanie is a Fellow of the RSA and an external member of the Council of the University of Essex. In 2015 she was awarded a CBE for services to the food and drink industry.
Eleanor McMillan
Investment Director
Savills IM
Rick de Blaby
CEO
Get Living
Ryan Prince
Vice Chairman, Realstar Group
Founder & CEO, UNCLE
Ryan Prince grew up in Toronto, Canada before moving to the UK in 1998 to pursue a post graduate degree at the London School of Economics. At 21, Ryan co-founded iGabriel, an early stage technology venture capital firm with investors including Lord Myners, Peter Gabriel and Brent Hoberman.
Ryan entered the property sector by establishing the international arm of the Realstar Group of companies in 2002. Realstar is a fully integrated real estate investor and manager with $9B of AUM. Since that time, Ryan has led the firm’s overseas efforts in the healthcare, hospitality, student housing and professional living sectors. The firm has gone on to acquire or develop in excess of £3B assets including the UK’s largest hotel real estate transaction, a £1B portfolio of Holiday Inn hotels comprising over 13,000 rooms in a joint venture with GIC Real Estate and Lehman Brothers, which it successfully sold in 2015.
Frustrated by the lack of decent living accommodation in the UK, Ryan established the UNCLE brand in 2017. UNCLE aims to take the ‘lord’ attitude out of being a landlord by offering design-savvy apartments combined with a straight-talking, no-nonsense approach for renters who are tired being treated like second-class citizens in their own homes. Since its launch, UNCLE has opened 7 locations with 4 more on the way, totaling nearly 4,000 apartments, primarily in London and one in Manchester and Leeds. Most recently, Realstar formed a joint venture with QuadReal, the property arm of the province of British Columbia’s pension funds in order to continue to grow the UNCLE portfolio.
Ryan is also on the Leadership Council and Advisory Board of Facing History & Ourselves (www.facinghistory.org), a not‐for‐profit organisation that works with students to take an active role in society in fighting racism and intolerance. He is married with three children.
University of Western Ontario, London School of Economics
Ailish Christian-West
Chief Operating Officer
Get Living
Nick Hunter
Associate Director
Cast
Lesley Roberts
Director of BTR Operations
Godwin Developments
Lesley plays a pivotal role in developing and delivering Godwin’s plans to build a £1 billion national BTR portfolio. Her main remit is the creation of the BTR operational strategy across both the single and multifamily developments for the business. Working in close collaboration with internal teams and external providers, she is responsible for the operational performance and profitability of our single and multifamily assets while also delivering a leading customer experience across the entire proposition.
With a career spanning over 20 years, Lesley has extensive high-level experience with both the BTR and PRS sectors, and has for some time been at the heart of shaping the UK’s Build to Rent offer as President of The UK Apartment Association (UKAA). Prior to joining Godwin, she served as a Partner at Allsop LLP and CEO of Allsop Letting and Management, where she advised developers and institutional investors on the acquisition, design, build and operation of large-scale BTR portfolios. A member of the British Property Federation’s (BPF) residential board, Lesley also toured the US studying the multifamily model there and was instrumental in the concept and development of the UKAA’s BTR Best Practice Guide launched in 2022. She was previously Chair of Soho Housing Association and held roles at Pinnacle Places, Young Group, and City Living London.
Marcus Foley
Co-Founder
Tommy
Michael Judd
Associate
Hawkins\Brown
Emma Rosser
Associate Director – UK Living Research and Strategy
JLL
Emma leads JLL’s research in UK living capital markets, providing insights and reports on build-to-rent, student accommodation, co-living and later living. She supports JLL’s living capital markets team and the research consultancy. She is a former business analyst and journalist. She was residential editor at Estates Gazette, where she reported on residential investment and development, and established BTR data through EG Radius, alongside a series of print supplements exploring the growth of the sector.
Cllr Promise Knight
Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters Security
Brent Council
Cllr Promise Knight is Cabinet Lead Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters’ Security at Brent Council where she has strategic oversight over a range of housing services, including Brent’s private housing strategy and renters’ support. Promise has worked for a number of Parliamentarians in both Houses of Parliament, and at Citizens UK as a Community Organiser responsible for civic engagement.
Colette McCormack
Partner
Winckworth Sherwood
Colette leads the national Winckworth Sherwood Planning team and has over 25 years’ experience specialising in complex housing led mixed use developments. She is ranked band 1 and a leading individual in planning in the legal directories ( bites by clients and peers).She provides strategic planning advice and is known for her ability to lead on and deliver complex projects. She is solutions driven and collaborative in her approach to unlocking obstacles to development. She understands the development cycle but also the regulatory and public law paradigm that public bodies and housing associations work within. Her work advising developers, local planning authorities, Government departments and housing associations gives her a unique insight and in depth knowledge of housing delivery including BtR . Colette advises on some of the largest and complex developments across the country including the iconic Battersea Power Station for Wandsworth Council, Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters for Peel Holdings and Barking Riverside Limited acting for the joint venture between L&Q and the GLA (all of which deliver BtR) and BtR operators such as Moda Living .
Sowgol Zarinchang
Managing Director
Way of Life
Mark Davy
Founder
Futurecity
Mark Davy is the Founder of Futurecity, a multi-disciplinary agency set up in 2007 to promote culture-driven placemaking. He sees culture as the guiding narrative for the regeneration and development of towns, cities and regions. Mark has persuaded the private sector to invest in major art projects including the Crossrail Culture Line, the Illuminated River Project and a cultural strategy for Wembley Park. Mark is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Advisory Panel, a Trustee to Hypha Studios, an Executive Director for the Land Economic Society and a Member of the NLA Expert Panel for Culture and National Trust Regional Advisory Group.
Charlotte Constance
Founder & Managing Director
Conductor
Peter Goring
Technical Director
Mace
Victoria Quinlan
President - Europe
Cortland
Victoria leads the European business for Cortland where she is responsible for our strategic vision and growth as well as ensuring the we deliver for our residents and associates. She brings a wealth of experience in the real estate and construction sectors, having held positions spanning investment, development, business operations, finance and capital markets transactions.
Mark Allnutt
Executive Director, Europe
Greystar Europe Holdings Ltd
Mark Allnutt leads our vertically integrated platform in Europe overseeing investment, development, and operations in seven markets. He works closely with our in-country leaders in in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, and the UK to deliver a superior product for consumers and drive returns for investors. Since 2013, we have grown exponentially delivering purpose-designed and thoughtfully amenitised buildings at scale for multifamily, young professional and student housing.
Prior to joining Greystar in 2014, Mark was the Group Executive Commercial Director of Thames Valley Housing (TVH) where he was responsible for originating and managing the company’s joint venture vehicles. He was also a founding Director of Fizzy Living, the sovereign wealth fund-backed multifamily subsidiary of TVH, subsequently acquired by Greystar in 2021.
Michelle Hannah
Director
Cast
Michelle is a Director specialising in project management and strategic consultancy. Michelle has worked with a diverse range of clients including Housing Associations, Local Authorities and Private Developers, owning delivery responsibility of commissions through all stages of the development process including initial project brief setting, site acquisition, master planning, planning viability and the raising of equity & debt financing. Michelle has a keen interest in reinventing procurement processes to better suit project needs moving away from a standard ‘one size fits all’ approach. Michelle often speaks at external events covering subjects including MMC, innovative procurement and viability. Michelle has developed a deep specialism within the Build to Rent sector and is the author of Cast’s report, ‘The Rental Space Race’. Michelle also initiated Cast’s strategic research function, supporting Mark Farmer in the preparation of the 2016 independent review of the UK’s construction labour market, commissioned by the UK Government, entitled ‘Modernise or Die’ and a published research paper for NHBC on Modern Methods of Construction. Michelle is a qualified accountant.
Chris Hall
Innovation Services Manager
NHBC
Camilla Cole
Founder & Managing Director
Hypha Studios
Huw Davies
Deputy Managing Director
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Tom Henry
Investment Director
Legal & General Suburban Build to Rent