Capital Markets And Investing In The London Office Market

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  Jon Spencer-Hall

  Jon is a Partner in our London office, specialising in the successful cost management of challenging and complex schemes. He is passionate about using our data and intelligence to achieve each Client’s unique definition of value on every scheme he is involved in. His recent work at Core Five has included Bankside Yards, a large masterplan scheme for Native Land that encompasses working around significant Network Rail and UKPN assets, and a variety of other projects with Clients including Platform, Sellar, Patrizia, and the Battersea Power Station Development Company. Prior to joining Core Five Jon worked for Davis Langdon (now AECOM) and was involved in a number of prestigious schemes, including being based at Sellar’s site office on the Shard at London Bridge for four years. He originally graduated from the University of Cambridge, receiving a BA (Hons) and CASM in Mathematics, and subsequently received an MSc in Surveying from the University College of Estate Management. Jon is part of several initiatives at Core Five dedicated to encouraging diversity in the built environment professions. He was fortunate to join our great industry as a non-cognate himself, and is committed to encouraging access to talent from all backgrounds and creating environments in which they can thrive.

  Core Five

  Partner

  Jon Spencer-Hall

  Partner

  Core Five

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  Michael Kovacs

  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.

  Castleforge

  Founding Partner

  Michael Kovacs

  Founding Partner

  Castleforge

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  Alexa Baden-Powell

  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).

  GPE

  Senior Investment Manager

  Alexa Baden-Powell

  Senior Investment Manager

  GPE

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  Laure Duhot

  Laure has 25 years of investment experience across property asset classes. In her last senior executive role, she was Head of Investment and Capital Markets for Europe at Lendlease. Previously, she was a Managing Director at Grainger, Pradera, and Sunrise Senior Living and a founding partner of MCP (now M3CP). In this time, she has closed circa £17 billion of transactions, raising and investing capital around the world. Laure also has 12 years’ prior experience in private equity, investment banking, fixed income and corporate lending; she also has a solid track record as a business angel investor in the proptech sector. Her operating experience has focused on the living sector (affordable housing, PRS, senior living and student housing). Currently, Laure is an acting non-executive director to several businesses including a French company listed on Euronext, a LSE-listed debt fund and two REITs part of the FTSE250 index. She is also serving as the independent member on CBRE-IM’s UK Investment Committee.

  Hiris Capital

  MD

  Laure Duhot

  MD

  Hiris Capital

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  Jenny Harbord

  Jenny is responsible for transactions and funding activities in the UK, overseeing investment underwriting and capital relationships. Jenny has over 20 years of investment, development and fund management experience across the risk spectrum and over multiple sectors including; mixed use, office, residential and retail. Prior to joining Art-Invest, Jenny worked at Lendlease where she focused on capital solutions for major London urban regeneration sites including the International Quarter, Stratford, and Elephant and Castle. She has covered land sales, development JVs, forward sale/funding, establishment of investment vehicles and been a Fund Manager. Jenny holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Bristol, a Diploma in Actuarial Techniques, as well as the FPC and IMC.

  Art-Invest

  Senior Investment Manager

  Jenny Harbord

  Senior Investment Manager

  Art-Invest

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  William Rabey

  “William Rabey is Head of Client Relations at Colorminium, London’s leading façade strategists with a delivery capability holding a 46 year reputation in the RE development market on both repositioning and new build schemes. Colorminium’s unique value is held in the ability to deliver comfort and mitigate risk pre-planning and onwards through an initial Optimisation offering, which is now recognised as London’s “go to” process, where investor and developer Clients continue to be faced with increasing market challenges. William holds experience over 10 years in the wider real estate market, including occupier requirements through to construction delivery, where he leads Colorminium’s approach to enabling Clients to ultimately realise best ROI from the facade. Recent Clients he has personally worked with include Clivedale, Native Land, Railpen, FORE, Morgan Capital and many more across multiple forthcoming prime commercial London developments. With a passion to transform a traditional and naturally disjointed approach, he see’s exponential opportunity simply by adopting a new informed approach in the quest for exceptional world class experiential buildings”

  Colorminium

  Head of Client Relations

  Moderator

  William Rabey

  Head of Client Relations

  Colorminium

Management And Operations: Catering To Employee Needs

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  CJ Uhure

  CJ Uhure is an experienced Chartered Surveyor with a demonstrated history of working in multiple property sectors, including retail, telecoms, office and leisure markets. The majority of CJ’s career has been spent working “in-house”, driving value and growth from commercial property portfolios, and delivering property transformation within evolving businesses. Skilled in asset management, acquisitions & disposals, general practise estate management, working with landlords and tenants, real estate transformation, and lease negotiations. CJ has over 15 years’ experience within the profession. He is Director of Group Property at Reed. Prior to this, he was Head of Property at The Rank Group plc, and prior to that was at CTIL (Vodafone and O2 joint venture) as Regional Estate Manager. He has also worked on the advisory side, advising landlords and occupiers across all asset classes in and around North London. CJ holds a Master of Science (MSc) focused in Real Estate Development Planning from The University of Reading, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) with Hons in Estate Management from The University of Greenwich and is part of Diversity Talks Real Estate. He is passionate about building positive relationships with landlords and occupiers and helping to promote the RICS to the next generation of Chartered Surveyors.

  Reed

  Director of Group Property

  CJ Uhure

  Director of Group Property

  Reed

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  Zac Goodman

  Zac has gained over 15 years' experience in the commercial real estate sector. He is the Co-Founder & Director of TSP, a multi-award-winning and B Corp certified Investment & Asset Management company. Zac is a natural entrepreneur, dedicated mentor, and 6-time Countdown winner.

  TSP

  Owner

  Zac Goodman

  Owner

  TSP

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  Tarun Mathur

  Director, Offices

  Canary Wharf Group plc

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  Katherine Sanganee

  For over a decade, Katherine Sanganee has championed wellbeing and sustainable practices. Starting her career with Landcare Australia, a grass-roots environmental charity, Katherine has international research and communications experience. This includes work with the Canadian Standards Association in Toronto during the pandemic and five years for Special Acoustic Services (SAS International) in the British manufacturing sector. Recently, she has set up the Concept Development department at SAS with a focus on sustainability and wellbeing in the design of workspaces, schools, and healthcare facilities.

  SAS International

  Head of Concept Development

  Katherine Sanganee

  Head of Concept Development

  SAS International

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  Cristiano Testi

  Cristiano is a Principal Director in the interiors team at tp bennett who enjoys the full spectrum of a project, from inception to completion. He works closely with clients to establish a strong vision, and with consultants and contractors to ensure attention to detail and high-quality delivery. His dedication to excellence led to an invitation to join the national judging panel for the BCO National Awards. His past project experience ranges from PwC’s HQ refurbishment at Embankment Place, advising Société Générale on its pre-let at One Bank Street before leading the design of the new premises, and working with Frank Gehry on Meta’s campus at King’s Cross. More recently, he is working with Citi to reimagine their EMEA HQ at 25 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, supporting Linklaters on their move to 20 Ropemaker, and providing ongoing advice to DeepMind. His experience with technology, finance, professional services and legal occupiers as well as leading developers allows him to share insightful solutions with clients in a variety of sectors and disciplines. Cristiano has been instrumental in developing and reinforcing our relationships with practice partners in the US, East and West Coast, and the Middle East, which have led to projects for PayPal in California, Spotify in Boston, Dubai, London and Amsterdam, and frameworks and opportunities globally. Cristiano is passionate about the industry. He served as Chair of the BCO NextGen committee, which seeks to develop the next generation of talent, and was recently Chair of the BCO Urban Affairs Group.

  TP Bennett

  Principal Director

  Cristiano Testi

  Principal Director

  TP Bennett

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  Chris Garthwaite

  With over 30 years of experience Chris is a widely recognised, leading pioneer of innovative customer experience solutions in an ever-changing market. Constantly championing the customer, he has delivered transformation programmes for a range of global organisations. Always putting the customer at the heart of the business, his visionary approach helps organisations challenge their status quo and shape their future based on customer insight and a deeper understanding of the value of customer experience.

  CGA Experience

  CEO

  Moderator

  Chris Garthwaite

  CEO

  CGA Experience

London Office Development Spotlight

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  Rowan Jenkins

  Rowan has broad, major projects experience across retail, residential and commercial sectors. He started his real estate career in 1993 and gained extensive Construction and Project Management experience over 13 years with LendLease, and subsequently with Laing O'Rourke. In 2010 Rowan moved into Development Management and has managed the site acquisition, design, planning approvals, sales, leasing and delivery of over 2,000 apartments and associated ground floor retail, as well as in excess of 1.2m sq ft of Commercial Office space.

  Quadrant

  Partner

  Rowan Jenkins

  Partner

  Quadrant

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  Michael Wiseman

  Michael Wiseman is Head of Office Leasing at British Land, leading on engagement with our office customers across the 7.5m sq ft London portfolio. Mike has been in this role since 2016 and is responsible for leading the team in developing and executing leasing strategies, optimising our office product, and identifying trends to help us evolve our office strategy. Prior to this and since joining British Land in 2011,

  British Land

  Head of Office Leasing

  Michael Wiseman

  Head of Office Leasing

  British Land

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  Lara Samworth

  Lara is a Leasing Director working on commercial projects. Her primary focus is developing a marketing and leasing campaign for each development whilst also being involved in product design and pre-development phases. Prior to joining Stanhope in 2021 she was a Partner in the London Office Agency team at Knight Frank where she spent seven years providing development consultancy and leasing advice to clients. She qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2015, having previously gained an MSc in Real Estate from the University of Reading and a Business Degree from Nottingham University.

  Stanhope

  Leasing Director

  Lara Samworth

  Leasing Director

  Stanhope

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  Simon Swietochowski

  As a qualified architect with over 20 years’ experience covering a diverse range of sectors both in the UK and internationally, Simon is meticulous in his approach to delivering quality in the built environment. He is passionate about the way we shape the cities around us, and believes in buildings that enable people to flourish, creating low carbon, healthy and inspiring places to inhabit, engage with and enjoy. He works across the Sellar portfolio, leading on initiatives that explore, tackle, and mitigate some key challenges facing the real estate industry.

  Sellar

  Development Director

  Simon Swietochowski

  Development Director

  Sellar

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  Richard Hollingworth

  Richard is the CEO of M3 Consulting. Since joining in 2006, he has led large-scale projects for institutional clients and landowners, championing sustainable design and socially responsible strategies. He brings extensive experience delivering complex schemes, tall buildings, and masterplans across commercial, residential, and mixed-use sectors, with a focus on Central London.

  M3 Consulting

  CEO

  Richard Hollingworth

  CEO

  M3 Consulting

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  John Nevin

  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.

  Slaughter and May

  Partner

  Moderator

  John Nevin

  Partner

  Slaughter and May

Also Insight From

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  Dr Alexandra Dobra-Kiel

  Alexandra is currently Innovation & Strategy Director at Behave where she creates innovative solutions to help clients achieve sustainable growth. Previously, she was the Banking and Capital Markets Insight Lead for Deloitte UK, where she helped financial services companies better prepare for game-changing trends by identifying new corporate and business strategies. Alexandra started her career at Accenture, where, as part of her secondment to Nesta, she helped city governments support innovation and entrepreneurship. She is a speaker at conferences (Tech & Trends, Women in Finance Online Festival), an author in practitioner journals (CEO Magazine, The European Business Review), an invited expert (Quilter Conference, UK Finance), and a commentator in the media (Euromoney, Financial News). Alexandra holds a PhD from Warwick and a master’s from Cambridge.

  Behave

  Innovation & Strategy Director

  Presentation: Belonging In The Workplace An Imperative For The Bottom Line

  Dr Alexandra Dobra-Kiel

  Innovation & Strategy Director

  Behave

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  Rachael Owens

  Rachael heads up Buckley Gray Yeoman’s integrated approach to sustainability. She leads a team of sustainability champions who are embedded in projects across the practice. A champion of adaptive reuse, Rachael has a wealth of experience in smart retention and enhancement of existing buildings. Recent projects include the design and development of 65 Fleet Street, a 220,000sqft retrofit commercial scheme where 97% of the existing structure is to be retained to dramatically minimise embodied carbon emissions. Rachael is a WELL accredited professional, a 2021 RIBA journal Rising Star and is part of the Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN), where she coordinates the Climate Literacy Group. Rachael’s work in ACAN includes contribution to the campaign to regulate embodied carbon, which, along with the report ‘The Carbon Footprint of Construction’ that she co-authored, was recognised by the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products Awards in 2021. She has also guest lectured at University of East London and Kingston University on matters of sustainability in the built environment.

  Buckley Gray Yeoman

  Head of Sustainability

  Presentation: The Crises We Face And Your Role In Building A Better Future

  Rachael Owens

  Head of Sustainability

  Buckley Gray Yeoman