Simon Harding-Roots

Managing Director
Muse

Cllr Grace Williams

Leader, Waltham Forest Borough Council, Deputy Chair & Executive for Housing + Regeneration
London Councils

Cllr Williams has been Leader of the London Borough of Waltham Forest since September 2021. She also serves as Deputy Chair of London Councils and its Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration.

Under her leadership, the council has: agreed its new corporate plan Mission Waltham Forest; convened the first ever Citizens Assembly on neighbourhood policing; undertaken an ambitious Affordable Housing Commission and Local Plan geared towards housing supply; and committed the council to building 1000 social homes.

Waltham Forest has also embarked on a comprehensive climate action plan, building on the borough’s pioneering active travel approach, and taking meaningful action to make our borough greener.

Meanwhile, during the cost-of-living crisis, Cllr Williams’ leadership has seen the council provide an extensive cost of living package of £5.6 million to Waltham Forest residents, when they needed it most. 

Before becoming leader, Grace was Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families for five years, leading Children’s Services to a ‘good’ rating with ‘outstanding’ for leadership and management judgement in 2019. Grace was also previously the London Councils Executive Member for Communities and Refugees.

Before becoming a councillor in 2014, Grace was a Civil Servant in central government, working on research and policy including in the areas of child poverty and disability equality. This was followed by five years working as a secondary English teacher in London schools. Grace sits on the LGA Improvement and Innovation Board and has worked as an LGA Peer Mentor and Reviewer. 

Tom Oliver

Director Investment Strategy & Commercial
Peabody

Tom began his career at English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, before working for the Homes and Communities Agency for 9 years. Between 2016-18 Tom worked for Catalyst developing new intermediate products before moving to a modular housing manufacturer as Head of New Business. In his current role Tom is responsible for aligning over £1bn of investment across Peabody’s existing portfolio and new homes and ensuring that our strategy for investment delivers Better Homes for our residents. Tom is also responsible for managing income generation across alternative funding, asset optimisation, commercial property and grant funding programmes.