Paul Scully MP

Minister for London

Faraz Baber

Operations Director - Midlands & South East
RPS

Jon Neale

Head of Research - UK
JLL

As head of UK research, Jon leads a 20+ strong team and is responsible for research outputs, client support and consultancy projects across the full range of commercial and residential property sectors, from both occupier and investor/developer perspectives. He also sits on the EMEA Research Board, and has overall responsibility for leading research advisory services across Europe. Jon has almost fifteen years of experience, working in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining JLL, he was Head of Market Intelligence at the UK Government’s Homes and Communities Agency, in which he advised on regeneration, the housing market and relevant areas of policy.

Cath Webster

Chief Executive Officer
Thriving Investments

Cath leads Thriving Investments, a niche investment management company which is solely focussed on the UK Living Sector and seeks to generate strong returns for its investors through creating thriving communities.  Cath’s focus is to increase funds under management alongside the delivery of social value, augmenting the existing fund management platform across high-quality affordable housing, private-rented residential and urban regeneration strategies. She joined in January 2023 from property development and investment specialist Quintain where she was Executive Director for Strategy and Investment.

Outside of her exec role, she is a Trustee for the Creative Land Trust and Reading Real Estate Foundation at Henley Business School.

Anne Breen

Head of Investment Strategy (Real Estate)
Aberdeen Standard Investments

Erin Clarke

Relationship Director, Structured Property Finance
Investec

Lee Coward

Vice President, Investments, Europe
Oxford Properties

Lee is a senior member of Oxford’s European Investment Team, working on the origination and execution of European equity and credit investments. Lee’s primary focus is on UK opportunities, most recently in the multi-family and single-family residential sector including Oxford’s investment in Get Living.
Lee joined Oxford in 2013, originally in the corporate finance team, and previously led the sourcing of debt financing for all European investments as well as the formation of Oxford’s European credit investment strategy.

Lee attended the University of Warwick and is a also qualified Chartered Accountant.

Melanie Leech CBE

Chief Executive
BPF

Melanie joined the British Property Federation as Chief Executive in January 2015, following nine years as Director General of the Food and Drink Federation.

Melanie began her working life as a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police Service. She joined the civil service (HM Customs) in 1988 and subsequently held senior roles in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Office of the Rail Regulator and the Cabinet Office. Her role is to champion UK real estate and to promote a long-term, sustainable partnership between governments and the sector to deliver a high quality built environment, creating economic and social value for local communities.

Melanie is a Fellow of the RSA and an external member of the Council of the University of Essex. In 2015 she was awarded a CBE for services to the food and drink industry.

Mark Davy

Founder
Futurecity

Mark Davy is the Founder of Futurecity, a multi-disciplinary agency set up in 2007 to promote culture-driven placemaking. He sees culture as the guiding narrative for the regeneration and development of towns, cities and regions. Mark has persuaded the private sector to invest in major art projects including the Crossrail Culture Line, the Illuminated River Project and a cultural strategy for Wembley Park. Mark is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Advisory Panel, a Trustee to Hypha Studios, an Executive Director for the Land Economic Society and a Member of the NLA Expert Panel for Culture and National Trust Regional Advisory Group.

James Saunders

Chief Executive Officer
Quintain

James Saunders was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Quintain in October 2019.

James was previously Chief Operating Officer of Quintain and has been a main board director since 2017. As Chief Operating Officer, James led the place-making and estate management at Wembley Park, commercial partnerships, group marketing, IT and health and safety.

During his time at Quintain, James has led the repositioning of Wembley Park from an event destination to an exciting new neighbourhood for London. He has created the strategic direction for marketing, communications and place making that has led to dramatic reconsideration of the area, increase in footfall, improvements in press coverage and word-of -mouth, plus new partnerships including with Boxpark, Troubadour Theatres and Second Floor Studios.

As Chief Operating Officer, James also oversaw the Wembley Park estate operations team with responsibility for management of The SSE Arena, Wembley, London Designer Outlet, car parking, health and safety, service charge and retail development.

He has managed key stakeholder and commercial partner relationships with GLA, London Borough of Brent, Wembley Stadium, the FA, AEG and Realm, plus other local stakeholders. He was responsible for the renegotiation of agreements with adjacent landowners that unlocked the Wembley Park site from a development and operational perspective.

Prior to joining Quintain, James was the Chief Marketing Officer at The Cloud Networks, a consultant to Vodafone Europe and Brand Director at Coca-Cola Great Britain. He holds a Sloan Masters from London Business School, a Law Degree from Cambridge University and is a barrister-at-law.

Piers Clanford

Chief Operating Officer
Berkeley Group

Piers Clanford is Chief Operating Officer for the Berkeley Group, and Chairman of St George and St Joseph Homes.

Piers has been at Berkeley for over 25 years, holding a number of senior leadership roles within the Group’s operating companies. He has been a member of the Berkeley Group Executive Committee since 2022 and chairs the group-wide Land & Planning and Technical Committees. 

Piers has significant experience in large-scale, mixed-use regeneration projects across London, Birmingham and the south of England, including complex land assembly, community engagement, master planning and partnerships working with local and strategic authorities and third-party land owners.     

He is Chair of the Berkeley Foundation, an independent charity which works in partnership with Berkeley Group and the voluntary sector to support young people and their communities.  

Cllr Shama Tatler

Lead Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning
Brent Council

Shama Tatler has been a Councillor for the London Borough of Brent since 2014 and a member of the Cabinet in 2016 with responsibility for Regeneration, Property and Planning, overseeing some of London’s largest regeneration schemes. As part of her role she oversees some of the largest regeneration projects in London, including the Wembley Park area and also leads on the multi-award winning estate regeneration scheme in South Kilburn. As part of her lead member role she drives economic growth in Brent, as well as leading on innovative strategies on inclusive growth and affordable workspace. Recently, Shama has led on the adoption of Brent’s Local Plan and subsequent masterplan SPDs for the Neasden Station Growth Area and Church End

Nicola Mathers

Chief Executive Officer
Future of London

Nicola is CEO of Future of London, an independent network supporting housing, planning and regeneration professionals through leadership, research and networks. She leads on strategy, business development and partnerships.

Nicola is passionate about the role of the built environment to improve lives and address inequality. Previously at Design Council and CABE she led national programmes to support the public and private sectors to plan and deliver well designed buildings and spaces.