Irish corporate giant Danuta Gray is to replace Bill Shannon as chair of Midlands-based beds-and-sheds developer St Modwen.

The move means St Modwen join a growing list of U.K. Midlands property ventures with women at the helm, including Victoria Turnball, joint managing director at Opus Land.

Gray joins as a non-executive director and chair designate with effect from 1 October. She will take over as chair at the end of the company’s next annual general meeting scheduled for 29 March.

Gray is one of Dublin's leading boardroom fixtures. Until 2012 she was chair of Telefónica O2 in Ireland, having previously been its chief executive from 2001 to 2010. She has previously also served as a non-executive director of PageGroup, Paddy Power Betfair, Aer Lingus Group and Irish Life & Permanent.

She is currently a non-executive director of Direct Line Insurance Group, senior independent director of Aldermore Group, a non-executive director and chair of the remuneration committee of Old Mutual and a non-executive director of the Defence Board of the U.K. Ministry of Defence.

Earlier this year Bisnow published pioneering research into the real experience of women in commercial real estate in the U.K., U.S. and Ireland. Interviews with women in all three markets revealed a lingering sense of disrespect, fear and frustration as women continue to grapple with wage disparity, sexism, upward mobility and sexual harassment. Bisnow found that some women feel left out, left behind and, at times, voiceless.