Before becoming Mayor, Andy combined a career with John Lewis, Britain’s most successful workers’ co-operative, with a host of high-profile economic development roles, working with local and national government.

Starting on the John Lewis graduate scheme, Andy rose through the ranks to become managing director, overseeing one of the most successful periods in the company’s history.

He was also chair of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) between 2011 and 2016, helping to build the relationships that have underpinned the economic growth of the region.

Additionally, he has been lead non-executive director for the Department for Communities and Local Government as well as a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group.

Outside of work, Andy is passionate about the arts, particularly in the West Midlands, having previously served as vice chairman of Performances Birmingham Limited, which is responsible for running the city’s Symphony and Town Halls.

In June 2015, Andy was awarded the CBE for services to the national economy. He was named ‘Most Admired Leader’ by business magazine, Management Today in 2014 and received the ‘President’s award’ from the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce for his work in the region. He holds three honorary degrees from Birmingham City University, Aston University and the University of Birmingham.

David Marks is the CEO and co-founder of Brockton Everlast, a London-

based real estate investment firm established in 2006. The firm has

raised over £2.20 billion in institutional capital, developing and investing

into 370 properties across 22m sq ft. Its current focus spans three areas:

a 2m sq ft masterplan of laboratories in Cambridge, 1m sq ft of office

development in central London, and Fora, London’s largest flex office

operator, managing 3m sq ft and 30,000 desks across 70 buildings in

partnership with Blackstone. David has been a member of the Bank of

England’s Commercial Property Forum since 2006 and a trustee of the

National Gallery since 2017. David holds a Master’s from MIT and a BA

from the University of Manchester.

Dawn Baxendale is the new Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council,

commencing her appointment from 3 April 2018. Previously, Dawn was appointed

as Chief Executive for Southampton City Council in July 2013, having served as the

Council’s Interim Chief Executive since March 2013. Dawn was the Director of

Environment and Economy and had worked in Southampton City Council since

2009. Originally from Huddersfield, Dawn has had an impressive 25 year career in

local government and has an excellent track record for providing leadership that

delivers success. Starting with a fast-track management scheme with the European

Commission, in Brussels, working for the World Bank in Romania, she's worked the

length of the UK.

Simon Wilkes is Head of Development at Legal & General Investment Management Real Assets with responsibility for overseeing development activity within the Real Assets portfolios.

Major projects include the award winning Central Saint Giles and 245 Hammersmith Road which was the pioneer project and co funder for the BCO Social Value Measurement research project.

Simon is also the Investment Manager for the English Cities Fund a regeneration joint venture company between Homes England, Muse Developments and L&G.

Victoria Turnbull is the Joint Managing Director of Opus Land, a leading Property Investment company with offices within the

West Midlands and London.

Founded in 1999 and part owned and funded by Fiera Real Estate. , the company has an established track record in delivering

added-value solutions for real estate. The company has extensive experience of working in partnership with landowners,

investors and occupiers with assets under management approaching 3 million sq ft.

Previously Victoria was based in London where she worked as an Associate Director for Fiera Real Estate, a Real Estate Fund

Manager and Venture Capital backer of companies with a focus on opportunistic real estate investment. Before that, she was a

Senior Surveyor at King Sturge (now Jones Lang La Salle) in London where she specialised in commercial investment and

business recovery.

Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate Management from The University of Reading and is a chartered

member of RICS and CFA. She has a breadth of experience with over 15 years in the property industry dealing with direct

and indirect property investment, development and asset management. She has an appreciation of the challenges and

opportunities facing the Midlands and is uniquely placed to view these alongside her experience in the London market.

Adrian heads Shakespeare Martineau’s Commercial Real Estate team.

Recognised by Legal 500 as a leading individual, he has advised on projects such as Birmingham Bullring, the Mailbox and Birmingham Airport. He has trusted relationships with key players in real estate investment, development and regeneration nationally and regionally.

Adrian is Chair of global real estate Think Tank, the Urban Land Institute in the Midlands, and sits on Urban Land Institutes` UK Executive Committee.

Can we also update Stephen Chalcraft's bio to the below?

Stephen Chalcraft

Stephen is a real estate and projects lawyer with 20 years’ experience in structuring and delivering large and complex public/private regeneration and development projects. He specialises in advising Universities, Local Authorities and other public sector bodies, and advises on the complex range of issues that affect large scale real estate and development schemes.

Described by Legal 500 as "intellectual and entrepreneurial", Stephen’s role is to bring together multi-disciplinary teams in a way that is insightful and energetic. He works collaboratively with a project management approach, linking and co-ordinating a wide range of legal and commercial services to ensure that risks are managed and outcomes achieved. Managing the interfaces with the varied commercial, educational and social objectives of the client, its advisers and stakeholders form a key part of his role.

Peter Ferrari is Chief Executive at AshbyCapital. He set up the company is 2013, and has over 30 years’ experience working in the property industry. His previous experience includes roles as Managing Director at Heron International and as a Director at London & Edinburgh Trust. He was instrumental in the growth of both, working on exciting projects across various sectors in the UK and Europe.

Matt is the Chairman of the Midlands practice and Senior Partner for the Birmingham office. He leads a team of over 1,800 client specialists from offices in Birmingham, East Midlands and Milton Keynes.

Matt returns to Birmingham from his current role as PwC's regional chairman in the West and Wales region. Prior to his move to the West and Wales in 2013, Matt led PwC’s Deals practice in the Midlands.

He joined PwC in 1996 and was based in the West region until late 2004. In 2005 he moved to the Midlands where he was promoted to director, and in 2006 was admitted to the partnership. In 2010-13 he led the business recovery services team and latterly the deals team in the Midlands. He has worked with high-profile clients including Manganese Bronze - the manufacturer of the iconic London Black Cab, and The Cube in Birmingham.

Matt has lived in the Midlands for 14 years. Married to Jennie they have two sons, and as a family are keen skiers, football and rugby fans. He also participated in PwC's inaugural Ride the Nation charity event for the PwC Foundation in May 2015, which raised almost £150,000 for good causes around the UK regions.

Charles is a Senior Director within GVA’s National Offices Team, based in the Birmingham

office. Charles’s principal focus is city centre office agency and development and advises on

matters from site acquisition, commercial master planning, development strategy and

transactions, through to the acquisition of commercial property, providing advice to investors,

landlords and occupiers.

Key projects include The Colmore Building, Paradise, Arena Central and New Garden

Square. Recent key deals include Deutsche Bank at Brindleyplace, HSBC at Arena Central

and Regus at The Lewis Building.

Ben Sanderson is Executive Director in the real estate group at Hermes Investment Management. Hermes are a London headquartered institutional fund manager with real estate AUM of £8.5 billion. He oversees a £5 billion global real estate portfolio for one of Hermes key clients and is responsible for all real estate investments made on behalf of Hermes client funds outside the UK as well as overseeing the Hermes real estate debt investment programme. Ben also established the Hermes UK PRS/residential investment platform in 2015.

Ben has extensive experience of global real estate investing across public and private markets. Before joining Hermes in September 2008, Ben was Fund Manager of the M&G Global Real Estate Securities Fund and managed the UK Prudential’s global real estate securities exposure. Prior to that, he led Prudential Property Investment Management’s (PRUPIM – now M&G Real Estate) global view formation and strategy team for PRUPIM’s £17 billion of private real estate assets under management. From 1998 to 2003 Ben worked in London and Tokyo for Jones Lang LaSalle as part of the European and Asia Pacific real estate research teams.

Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees in Economics, is an FCA authorised person, a member of the UK Investment Property Forum (IPF) and chairs the IPF’s International Investment Group and is a member of the UK Society of Business Economists and the CFA Institute. Ben was also previously a member of the UK AREF Investor Committee and the IPF's Research Steering Group.

....Coming soon