London

Breakfast

September 19th 2023

‘West End, Midtown + the City – Re-Shaping the Real Estate Landscape’

The Savoy
Strand
London
WC2R 0EZ
Tel: 020 7836 4343
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Event speakers

Denz Ibrahim

Head of Futuring & Placemaking

Legal & General

Denz Ibrahim

Head of Futuring & Placemaking
Legal & General

Denz Ibrahim joined Legal & General (L&G) in 2019 as Head of Futuring and Placemaking. With a creative background in design and urbanism, he brings extensive experience in retail, placemaking, and re‑imagining the urban environment for the future. A graduate of the London School of Economics Cities Programme, Denz previously served as Head of Special Projects at Appear Here and later as Head of Placemaking for BNP Paribas Real Estate. At L&G, Denz leads the reinvention of how the business approaches retail - spatially, culturally, and commercially. He champions a cross‑sector, consumer‑centric approach to placemaking, curating environments that reconnect people with places and brands. His work guides the organization's understanding of cultural shifts in how people live, work, and play across its consumer‑facing environments, ensuring the delivery of places that are truly future‑ready. Denz is a member of the L&G Real Estate Equity Senior Leadership Team, a regular contributor to industry journals and media, and a board member of Foundry, the co‑working and business‑support incubator co‑founded by L&G in 2022.

Dee Corsi

Chief Executive Officer

New West End Company

Dee Corsi

Chief Executive Officer
New West End Company

Stella Abani MBE

Director of Economy & Skills

Westminster Council

Stella Abani MBE

Director of Economy & Skills
Westminster Council

Kristy Lansdown

Head of Development

The Crown Estate

Kristy Lansdown

Head of Development
The Crown Estate

Kristy joined the Crown Estate as Head of Development in September 2022, to lead the Development Strategy for the London portfolio, including Regent Street and St James’s.

Kristy previously worked at Lendlease Europe for 17 years holding a number of roles, most recently as Project Director for two of Lendlease’s flagship projects. These included; Elephant Park, a mixed use neighbourhood of c.3,000 homes, and The International Quarter London, a 2.5m sqf workplace destination on the doorstep to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Kristy brings an array of expertise having worked on the design, planning and delivery of a variety of large-scale projects across residential, workplace and retail uses, with a passion for public realm and placemaking outcomes.

Gwyn Richards

Planning and Development Director

City of London Corporation

Gwyn Richards

Planning and Development Director
City of London Corporation

Gwyn Richards is the Planning and Development Director in the City of London. He oversees the Development Management, Heritage, Sustainability, Transport Planning and Plans and Strategy teams which underpin all development in the City of London. In particular, he oversees the District Surveyor and Building Control functions as well as the Partnership and Engagement team. He has been at the City of London for over 15 years and was previously in senior positions in Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

David Lockyer

Head of Development

British Land

David Lockyer

Head of Development
British Land

With over 30 years property experience, David Lockyer was appointed Head of Development at British Land in July 2023. He is responsible for leading the strategic direction, co-ordination, and delivery of the company’s development activities. He has also been a member of British Land’s Executive Committee and Investment Committee since 2020. Having worked at British Land for over 13 years, David has been involved with many of the office developments the company has delivered and the investments that have been made over that time. Prior to joining British Land in 2010, David was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley in their real estate private equity team with asset management responsibility for their UK investments, having previously spent over 8 years working at GE Capital Real Estate.

Mike Keaveney

Director of Land and Development

Grainger plc

Mike Keaveney

Director of Land and Development
Grainger plc

Michael Keaveney is Director of Land and Development at Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord. He has overall responsibility for the delivery and growth of Grainger’s BTR development pipeline.

Michael has over 30 years of hands-on real estate and development experience. His expertise includes management of complex residential-led mixed use developments across the whole development lifecycle from identification and acquisition through to town planning, funding, construction, marketing, operation and exit.

Prior to joining Grainger, Mike Keaveney was Development Director at Concord London Developments Ltd, where he led on the acquisition of the Moxon Street car park site in Marylebone, W1 from Westminster City Council and was instrumental in the joint venture with Brookfield to develop out the 50-storey residential tower and affordable housing blocks at Principle Place in London EC1.

Mike’s early career was at Osprey PMI (part of Franklin + Andrews; now Mott MacDonald) where he was an Equity Partner and Board Director responsible for the London Office of Osprey PMI and its Commercial Development projects in the UK prior to moving to Ridgeford Developments Ltd and W1 Developments.

Michelle McGrath

Executive Director

Shaftesbury Capital PLC

Michelle McGrath

Executive Director
Shaftesbury Capital PLC

Susan Freeman

Partner

Mishcon de Reya

Susan Freeman

Partner
Mishcon de Reya

Susan is a Partner in the Real Estate department. An experienced real estate lawyer, her in-depth understanding of the property market, the emerging world of tech and her business training as a Sloan Masters MSc (London Business School) graduate, combined with a wide circle of contacts is an effective combination. She is also the business development Partner for her department and uses her commercial know how and connections to benefit clients and the firm. Susan's contacts help to make the firm’s programme of client seminars and events “must attend” networking opportunities.

David Ainsworth

Executive Chairman

CO-RE

David Ainsworth

Executive Chairman
CO-RE

David is Executive Chairman of developer CO-RE. Throughout his 40 year career, David has been responsible for a large number of significant commercial projects in Central London, usually from “cradle to grave”, covering all aspects of the development process and on behalf of many overseas investors. Current projects on site include Lansdowne House in Berkeley Square, pre-let to Blackstone, 20 Ropemaker in the City, pre -let to Linklaters, 120 Fleet Street & Stonecutter Court in Midtown, and the Fitzrovia in Tottenham Court Road. David has a BSC in Real Estate, is Past President of the City Property Association, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

David Lunts

Chief Executive Officer

Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation

David Lunts

Chief Executive Officer
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation

David Lunts was appointed as the permanent Chief Executive Officer of Old Oak and Park Royal Development in January 2021. He had previously been the interim Chief Executive Officer for OPDC since February 2019, and combined his work on London’s largest Opportunity Area with his duties as Executive Director of Housing and Land for the Greater London Authority. Between 2009-2012 David led as the Executive Director for London at the Homes and Communities Agency. His earlier career included three years at the GLA as Executive Director of Policy and Partnerships under Ken Livingstone, a leading role in housing and regeneration with Manchester City Council during the 1980s and early 90s and a three-year spell as director of Urban Policy for John Prescott at the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Alexander Jan

Non-Executive Chair

Central District Alliance

Alexander Jan

Non-Executive Chair
Central District Alliance

Alexander is the non-executive chair of Central District Alliance – the Business Improvement District covering Holborn, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, Bloomsbury and St Giles. He is Chief Economic Advisor to the London Property Alliance, which brings together the Westminster Property Association and the City Property Association to provide a unified voice for the real estate sector across the City, the West End and neighbouring commercial districts. Alexander was formerly Arup’s chief economist. He is currently researching and (slowly) writing a book on the remarkable life of Lord Ashfield, the first chairman and creator of London Transport.