UK Office Series: Investment and Development Conference

Michael Kovacs founded Castleforge in 2010. Prior to founding Castleforge, Michael worked at Westbrook Partners in London, where he was involved in transactions for Westbrook’s various funds in the UK, Europe and Asia across a diverse range of real estate investment types. Prior to Westbrook Partners, Michael worked at The Blackstone Group in New York, where he was involved in mergers and acquisitions across a wide range of industry sectors. Michael graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and he currently serves on the University’s UK Europe Leadership Committee.

Dan’s focus at Delancey is sourcing, reviewing and analysing opportunities across all asset classes within the UK and making recommendations to the Delancey board. Prior to joining Delancey in 2016, Dan spent nearly 5 years at CBRE where he was an Associate Director in their Central London Investment team. During this time he advised institutions, private equity, REITS, family offices and overseas investors on investment opportunities within central London, with typical lot sizes ranging from £10m – £250m.

Alexa Baden-Powell is a Senior Investment Manager for GPE, a FTSE 250 Real Estate Investment Trust specialising in investment and development of property in central London. Alexa has also recently been listed as the ‘Investment Innovator’ in BisNow’s list of Power Women changing UK real estate. Alexa is responsible for driving new acquisitions and sales, including the cycle of deal origination, underwriting, due diligence and transaction execution. Recent projects include, the purchase of the Soho Square Estate (£70m), and the acquisitions of 141 Wardour Street (£39m), 6-10 St Andrew Street (£30m) and 7-15 Gresse Street (£36.5m).

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, on major lettings and on the real estate aspects of corporate and financing transactions. 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 2025. John is member of the Hall of Fame for corporate occupiers, is recognised as a leading individual for development and as a key lawyer for investment in the commercial property section of Legal 500 2025. He is recognised as a notable practitioner in IFLR1000 2024 and is also listed in Who’s Who Legal: Real Estate 2024.

Jeremy is a chartered surveyor with 20 (+) years of experience in the real estate sector, specialising in the development and asset management of commercial, residential, and mixed-use projects in central London. Prior to joining Quadrant as a development director, Jeremy spent 9 years working for developer Chelsfield where he played a pivotal role in the design and construction of a 330,000 sq. ft development located in Knightsbridge on behalf of investor The Olayan Group. This landmark scheme was built behind a retained facade and comprises contemporary retail space, Grade A offices, super prime residential and a rooftop restaurant and 3 storey basement. The scheme also delivered significant improvements to the existing London underground infrastructure including relocating an existing operational entrance, provision of step free access, cooling the tube interfaces and other public realm improvements.

Rob has over 25 years of development and multi-sector experience in London and the wider UK, delivering high quality customer focused buildings designed to maximise value, and joined AXA IM Alts from the mixed use regeneration of Battersea Power Station (“BPS”), where he served as Chief Development Officer. Prior to BPS, Rob spent 12 years at FTSE 100 property company British Land, latterly as Head of Office Development. A Chartered Surveyor, Rob started his career at Knight Frank before moving to Orbit Developments. Having overseen more than 5m sq ft of development, Rob has wide ranging experience of all elements of development and place making with emphasis on value creation, de-risking and delivering enhanced returns, whilst working closely with a variety of multi disciplinary teams and joint venture partners. Rob supports the ongoing growth of AXA IM Alts’ market-leading development platform which pursues both develop-to-trade and develop-to-hold strategies over the whole asset classes spectrum and aims to capitalise on increasing occupier and investor demand for high-quality buildings which are future fit with leading ESG credentials.

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.

Alexandra Thorpe is an Associate Director at CO—RE, a leading London-based developer renowned for delivering exceptional workspaces. Alex played a pivotal role in the development of Stonecutter, a landmark office building in the City of London, which achieved 100% pre-letting ahead of its completion in summer 2025. With a background in Construction Engineering Management and early career experience at Skanska, Alex brings deep expertise across all stages of the development cycle, with a particular focus on planning, design, and leasing. Her portfolio includes high-profile projects such as The Monument Building, 77 Coleman Street, and Stonecutter.

Anja is a passionate advocate for innovative climate-responsible and heritage-sensitive development solutions, building upon JRA’s established reputation as a leading voice in the commercial retrofit sector. Prior to joining JRA in 2023, she made her mark as Associate Director and Head of Sustainability at Conran & Partners, where she was responsible for the reinvention of Grade II listed Centre Point Tower for Almacantar with change of use from office to high-end residential as well as award-winning workplace projects such as Conran´s headquarters in Clerkenwell. During previous roles at Grimshaw, ORMS and Fletcher Priest Architects, her projects include One Lothbury for Welbeck Land, 40 Eastbourne Terrace for Landsec, the East Thames Headquarters for Stanhope/FirstBase and Carlyon Bay for CEG. With over 20 years’ experience in project and risk management, contracts and construction law, Anja brings a highly considered and strategic approach to technically complex projects and architectural practice. She is a Certified Passivhaus Designer and is listed on the RIBA Conservation Register. She contributes her expertise to the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard, the Sustainable Design Collective, Don’t Waste Buildings and enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience more widely within the industry.

Matt leads Vorboss’ strategic partnerships in the commercial real estate sector, working with landlords, developers, and agents to give their tenants the very best in managed tech, including connectivity, IT and cybersecurity. Since joining, he’s led teams across delivery, strategy, and operations, giving him the end-to-end insight to build partnerships that deliver real value. With over 15 years’ experience, Matt helps transform buildings into future-ready assets, redefining what the market expects from a managed services provider.

With over a decade at AET Flexible Space, Karl has progressed from UK Sales Manager to Head of Client Delivery, overseeing the full client journey — from initial engagement through to project completion. A recognised specialist in underfloor air conditioning systems, Karl possesses an exceptional technical understanding of AET’s solutions and their application across diverse building types. He plays a key role in advancing AET’s sustainability initiatives, currently leading the development of the company’s comprehensive Sustainability Report in collaboration with WSP, and contributing to wider research into energy efficiency and low-carbon strategies within the HVAC sector. Karl’s expertise ensures seamless communication, exceptional service, and the successful delivery of every project.

Luke is an architect and partner at Studio PDP, he qualified as a Passivhaus Consultant in 2012 and has a passion for creating lasting, sustainable, low carbon buildings. With an in-depth understanding of building performance, his breadth of knowledge both informs his own project work and provides additional expertise across all work in the practice. With experience on a range of heritage buildings, Luke was team lead for the large-scale, Grade I listed residential development, Regent’s Crescent and the Grade II listed workplace retrofit of Eighty Strand (formerly Shell-Mex House). Recently completed is Claridge House, an adaptive reuse retrofit of a 1920s mansion block designed to achieve net-zero carbon ‘in use’, and awarded the 2025 AJ Retrofit Award for Decarbonisation and Net-Zero. Luke is currently working on a large workplace retrofit in the City of London.

Ben is the co-founder & Director of Etainabl, a data-driven ESG and performance management platform designed to help real estate owners and investors de-risk portfolios, identify and prioritise cost-saving interventions, and accurately measure sustainability performance. With a background in sustainability and energy consulting, Ben has extensive experience across operational ESG, GHG reporting, carbon analysis, SECR and GRESB. He specialises in turning complex asset-level data into clear commercial insights that support better investment decisions, operational efficiency and long-term value protection.

Vijay is responsible for executing the sales and business development activities for WIG’s Indoor Networks business working in partnership with the UK’s leading real estate owners, developers and operators. WIG is an independent wireless infrastructure operator that has pioneered the neutral host model in the UK. The company builds and operates communication towers (masts) in rural and suburban areas together with 5G capable small cells, and indoor networks to improve mobile coverage inside office buildings, hotels, shopping centres, stadiums and on city streets. WIG’s neutral host networks already provide coverage in venues with over 1.6bn of annual footfall and is backed by Brookfield Infrastructure a leading global infrastructure investment fund. Vijay has spent over 25 years in the technology, media and telecoms industries having held senior executive roles with leading organisations such as News Corporation, Sky and Video Networks. Vijay holds an Engineering honours degree from University of London and an MBA from London Business School.