People Property Place
People Property Place is a podcast that interviews leaders shaping the real estate investment management industry. Hosted by Matthew Watts, founder of Rockbourne, it explores the people, strategies, and trends driving property investment. The show sits at the intersection of real estate and media, building a community around those topics. Episodes feature conversations with executives and professionals about their work and perspectives in the sector.
Episodes
Hugo Llewelyn, CEO at Newcore Capital - Assets Society Needs Can Deliver Returns and Social Good (From the Archive)
This week, Matthew Watts revisits one of his favourite conversations from the archive. Episode 47, recorded on 17 October 2023, features Hugo Llewelyn, CEO and Co-Founder of Newcore Capital, a specialist real estate investment manager focused on social infrastructure. Hugo explains his investment philosophy and his thesis around asymmetric returns. He argues that investing in assets society needs
Joe Lister, CEO at Unite Group - Leading the UK's Biggest Student Landlord Through a Demand Shock
This episode was recorded on 29th September 2026. Joe Lister is CEO of Unite Group, the UK's largest owner and operator of purpose-built student accommodation. Joe joined Unite in 2002 from PwC's corporate finance team, when the business had 3,000 beds. He spent 15 years as CFO before taking over as CEO. He tells Matthew Watts how Unite helped turn student accommodation into an institutional asset
Gabriela Hersham, CEO at Huckletree - People Want Lifestyle Buildings, Not Office Buildings
Gabriela Hersham didn't set out to work in property. She studied international business with French and Spanish, then moved to New York to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute before moving into producing. Working out of an early WeWork gave her the idea, and when she moved back to London she set out to build the same kind of space. She grew up in a real estate family - her f
Jack Palmer, Managing Director at PTSP - Two Phone Calls From Any Decision Maker in Asia
Jack Palmer left school at 17 with his A-levels unfinished, supported by his dad and rather less so by his mum. He started out as an art handler at Christie's, working in the house sales department, photographing and cataloguing the contents of stately homes for a week or two at a time. At 19 he went back to Hong Kong, where he'd lived until he was eight, with the intention of getting into real es
Alex Price, Chief Executive at Ashen Capital - Character Matters More Than Skill When Backing a Founder
Alex Price started his career as an officer in the British Army, moved into investment banking, did an MBA at London Business School, and joined Palmer Capital in 2003. At that point the business had three or four people, a balance sheet under £1m, no funds under management and three operating partners. Over 16 years he built it alongside founder Ray Palmer into a business with more than £1bn of a
Guy Butler, Co-Founder at Glenbrook - The Risks You Care About Aren't the Ones Investors Do
Guy Butler grew up in a poor village in the Welsh valleys, the son of a butcher who understood the local property market better than he understood meat. He studied surveying at Reading, left an early consultancy role to co-found the planning and development boutique Turnberry Consulting in 1998, on the single condition that his name wasn't in the company name, and joined Grosvenor before he'd even
Tim Robinson, Head of Commercial at Knight Frank - 32 Years of Results Lead to the Job of a Lifetime
Tim Robinson joined Knight Frank as a graduate and has spent the whole of his 32-year career there, becoming an equity partner in 2008 and Head of Commercial in 2025. In April, he takes over as UK Managing Partner from Stephen Clifton, a role that will bring the firm's residential and commercial businesses together under one leader for the first time. His path started a long way from property. His
Allan Lockhart, CEO at NewRiver REIT - Retail Was a Dirty Word but Now It's the Top Performer.
Allan Lockhart never went to university. He left school for a graduate broking scheme in the City, spent a few years as an oil and gas liability broker in the Lloyd's of London building, and decided it wasn't for him because it felt intangible. A knee injury three weeks before a round-the-world trip changed his plans, and he took a job at the bottom of Strutt & Parker's retail team instead, openin
Roun Barry, CEO at ESR Europe - From an MBO in 1996 to a $100bn Global Platform
Roun Barry moved to the UK from South Africa in 1986, aged 26, using the trip as both a career test and an act of defiance against the politics of the time. He trained as a lawyer but went into real estate instead, working as a partner at Jones Lang Wootton and then running the UK portfolio at ING Real Estate. In 1996, he led a management buyout of the Dunedin business from ING, backed by the Roya
John Munday, CEO at Colliers UK - The Plan to Double Colliers UK by 2030
John Munday took over as chief executive of Colliers UK in March 2025, and he's set the business a target: £165m of revenue last year, £250m and beyond by 2030, with profitability rising alongside it. He's asked every team in the business the same question - how do you double in the next four years? John came into the industry through building surveying rather than agency. Early on he turned down
Brian Welsh, CEO at OPRE Group - Mobilise, Stabilise, Optimise: 21 Years in Operational Real Estate
Brian Welsh came into real estate through a side door. He'd been a Butlins Redcoat warming up crowds for Little and Large, a ski rep in Italy moving 5,000 people a week between hotels, then a health club manager launching gyms for Fitness First and David Lloyd. In 2005, while drumming up membership for a new club in Newcastle, he walked into what looked like a block of flats to pitch a corporate d
Rick de Blaby, Former CEO at Get Living - Looking Back on Building Britain's BTR Pioneer
Three weeks before this conversation, Rick de Blaby left Get Living after a decade running it. This is a look back over a 46-year career, and over the business he built from the Olympic Village into one of the UK's first institutional build-to-rent platforms. When Delancey and Qatari Diar bought the Athletes' Village off the government, the word "BTR" wasn't even in the lexicon yet. Rick got the c
Robert-Jan Foortse, Head of European Property at APG - Invest in the Trend Lines, Not the Headlines
Robert-Jan Foortse has been at APG for 23 years - he warned the man who hired him he'd probably get bored and leave within 3. He'd only been available because Arthur Andersen collapsed after Enron, and the job came out of sharing a cab back to the airport with the head of real estate at ABP. Today he runs the European property portfolio and sits on the investment committee at a pension investor wi
Andrew Jones, CEO at LondonMetric - Size Is the Outcome. It Was Never the Strategy.
Andrew Jones describes himself as a capital allocator first and a property person second. He was buying shares and reading Buffett and Munger as a teenager, long before he'd heard of a chartered surveyor, and he still thinks of a building as a widget - a tool for putting capital somewhere it'll be treated well. He was once asked by the man who developed the Trafford Centre what his ambitions for
Thomas Collins, COO at L1 Property - Can 80% of Property Management Be Automated?
Thomas Collins is the COO of L1 Property, the UK residential arm of Australian investment group L1. He came into real estate the long way round - economics at Oxford, McKinsey, a stint at Uber in its Travis Kalanick era, then British Airways - before an auctioned house on the south coast that cost six times its budget got him hooked on property. What makes this conversation different is what he'
Gary Hersham, Founder at Beauchamp Estates - 45 Years Brokering London's Most Expensive Homes
Gary Hersham has spent 45 years at the very top end of London property, brokering some of the most expensive private homes ever sold in the capital. He founded Beauchamp Estates, speaks seven languages, and has built a career on relationships with royalty, sovereigns and family offices who almost never deal in public. When he started in the early 80s, one of the established Chelsea agents told him
Tony Smedley, MD & Head of Europe at Heitman - The Next Real Estate Cycle Belongs to the Brave
Tony Smedley runs the European business at Heitman, a $50bn real estate manager that's 60 years old and still owned by its partners. He's spent 30 years working across pan-European real estate - early cross-border deals out of Brussels and Paris, building businesses at Insight and Schroders, co-founding Fountain Capital - and he's seen enough cycles to have a clear view on this one. His take is
Rodney Bysh, CEO at Feldberg Capital - It's the Best Time to Buy London Offices in 30 Years
Rodney Bysh has spent 30 years operating between Germany and the UK. He set up what's now a €68bn real estate platform from a serviced office at Henderson, did M&A at Rothschild & Co, built and sold Cording Real Estate to Edmond de Rothschild, and then started again. Feldberg Capital launched at the end of 2022, merged with Brunswick Property Partners, and has grown from £500m to £2bn under manag
Stafford Lancaster, CEO at Delancey - Never Get Caught Out: Inside Delancey's 25-Year Property Run
Stafford Lancaster has been at Delancey for over 25 years, working alongside Sir John and Jamie Ritblat. Today he runs the firm behind some of the UK's most recognisable real estate projects - Earls Court, East Village, Elephant and Castle - and he's just launched a new lending platform in Albion Arc. The thread that runs through the whole conversation is a single financing principle that Delanc
Rob Abraham, CEO at Supermarket Income REIT - From a 65p Share Price to FTSE 250 CEO in Under a Year
Rob Abraham joined Supermarket Income REIT when it owned seven stores. Today it owns 128 and he's the CEO of a FTSE 250 company at 35. Getting there involved a farming deal that collapsed weeks after he started, a pandemic that supercharged the business, a mini budget that stopped it dead, and a share price that hit 65p before the board decided to internalise the management and break away from A
Kirsty Wilman, COO & CFO at Rebalance Earth - Why Should Real Estate Investors Care About Nature?
This week I sat down with Kirsty Willman, CFO & COO of Rebalance Earth to ask Why Should Real Estate Investors Care About Nature? Kirsty spent 22 years in private markets finance, most recently as COO of Real Estate at Federated Hermes. She walked away from that to back a £100 billion market that nobody has properly built yet. Her view is straightforward. Flood risk is becoming impossible to insur
Lord Walker, Bywater & Iceland - Building A Billion Pound Timber-Led Property Business
This week, I sat down with Lord Walker, Executive Chair of Iceland Food Group, Founder and Chairman of Bywater, and the Prime Minister's Cost of Living Champion. Richard started his property career on the JLL graduate scheme in the West End before moving to Warsaw to build a value-add business across Eastern Europe. After returning to the UK, Bywater spent several years searching for its niche bef
James Halstead, CIO & MD European Value-Add Real Estate at BlackRock - Is Real Estate Facing an Existential Crisis?
This week, I sat down with James Halstead, Managing Director and BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer for European Value Add Real Estate, for a conversation that opens with one of the most direct and challenging questions the show has ever asked. Is real estate facing an existential crisis? James does not flinch. He gives a forensically honest answer about where real estate equity sits today relat
Rishi Bhuchar, CEO CBRE UK & Ireland - What Could Go Right? Walking Away from Jefferies to Run CBRE.
This week, I sat down with Rishi Bhuchar, CEO of CBRE UK and Ireland, for a conversation that is as much about who he is as a person as it is about what he has built across one of the most decorated careers in real estate investment banking. Rishi's story starts in a way that most people in this industry would not expect. Parents who arrived from India in the 1960s with nothing, a childhood where
Harry Wentworth Stanley, BauMont Real Estate Capital - Harry on James, Loss, and Legacy
This week is different. I'm joined by my friend Harry Wentworth Stanley, Investment Director at BauMont Real Estate Capital, for what I believe is the most important conversation I've ever had on this podcast. 20 years ago, Harry lost his older brother James to suicide. James was 21, in his final year at Newcastle, sporty, academic, popular, with no history of mental illness. Following a routine o
Mark Russell, Federated Hermes - 82% Of Property Returns Come From This. Are You Ignoring It?
This week, I sat down with Mark Russell, CIO and Head of Real Estate at Federated Hermes, for a conversation about what it really means to build a career on first principles, and why that philosophy is becoming more valuable in today's market than it has been in years. Mark's route into real estate began with a week of work experience organised by his headmaster, driving around the southeast in a
Justin Hildebrandt, Affinius Capital - $3Bn to $62Bn: The Affinius Capital Story
This week, I sat down with Justin Hildebrandt, Senior Managing Director and Head of Europe at Affinius Capital, to explore a career that began on construction sites in Napa Valley and has taken him to the forefront of one of the most quietly formidable real estate platforms operating in Europe today. Justin's path into real estate was shaped early. A father in construction, summers spent on job si
Mark Bourgeois, Chief Executive of the Government Property Agency - Managing £12 Billion of Government Real Estate
This week, I sat down with Mark Bourgeois, Chief Executive of the Government Property Agency, for a conversation that bridges the worlds of private sector real estate and public sector purpose in a way that very few guests on this show ever could. Mark's journey into real estate began not through a carefully planned career move but through a rugby sevens team at Donaldson's in Leeds. What followed
James Jacobs, MD & Global Head of Real Assets at Lazard - Real Asset Capital Formation: Who Wins?
This week, I sat down with James Jacobs, Managing Director and Global Head of Real Assets within the Private Capital Advisory team at Lazard, to explore the topic Real Asset Capital Formation: Who Wins? In this conversation, James opens with a striking assessment of where the market actually stands. Fundraising volumes rose for the first time in four years in 2025, up 27% year on year. But the hea
Shaun Simons, Co-Founder of Compton - Why 2026 Is the Year London Offices Finally Turn the Corner
This week on People Property Place, we do something different. Recorded live on the ground at Mipim in Cannes, this episode is the first of a new format: People Property Place Profiles. Where I walk and talk with some of the most outspoken and influential figures across the real assets industry. This week's conversation features Shaun Simons, co-founder of Compton, whose previous episode held the
Toby Phelps, Co-President of BGO - From Lehman Collapsing Next Door to Leading a $100 Billion Real Estate Platform
This week, I sat down with Toby Phelps, Co-President of BGO, who has spent 30 years at the top of European real estate investing and been involved in over $20 billion of transactions across logistics, office, retail, residential and healthcare assets. In this conversation, Toby traces a career that took him from JLL in the mid-nineties through Morgan Stanley's private equity real estate team, wher
Mathieu Elshout, Head of European Property at Aware Super – Why the Real Estate Distress Wave Never Came
This week, I sat down with Mathieu Elshout to explore the journey that took him from environmental sciences into institutional real estate investing, and how he is now helping build the European property platform for one of Australia's fastest growing pension funds. Mathieu is Head of European Property at Aware Super UK. Before joining Aware Super, he spent more than a decade at PGGM managing Euro
Michael Zerda, Global Head of Real Estate at Santander - Logic, Risk, and the Search for Asymmetric Reward
This week, I sat down with Michael Zerda to unpack a career that spans private equity real estate, distressed credit, structured capital and some of the most complex investment situations across Europe and the United States. Michael is Global Head of Real Estate at Santander Alternative Investments and CEO of Deva Capital, the real estate and corporate capital solutions investment arm of the busin
Emma Cariaga, COO at British Land – Why Scale Is Reshaping Listed Real Estate
This week, I sat down with Emma Cariaga, Chief Operating Officer at British Land, to unpack what it really takes to run one of the UK's largest listed real estate businesses during a period of structural change, capital market pressure, and sector consolidation. Emma is COO of British Land, a FTSE 100 property company with over 170 years of history and a portfolio concentrated in retail parks and
Michela Hancock, Co-Founder and CEO of Hilltop Property Partners – Why the Squeezed Middle Matters in UK Housing
This week, I sat down with Michela Hancock to unpack the journey from psychology graduate to property entrepreneur, and how she helped pioneer institutional build to rent in the UK long before it was widely accepted. Michela is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hilltop Property Partners. Before launching Hilltop, she worked across US and UK real estate, including early exposure to multifamily housing in t
Andrew Hynard, Senior Advisor & Non Executive Director - The UK Property Market Is at an Inflection Point
This week, I sat down with Andrew Hynard to unpack a corporate career that spans more than three decades at JLL, the chief executive leadership of one of London's most prestigious estates, and a post-executive chapter advising some of the most interesting property businesses in the UK. Andrew spent the majority of his career at JLL focused on Capital Markets, ultimately becoming Deputy Chairman of
Pavel Streblov, Managing Director and Board Member at Penta Real Estate – Why Penta Is Buying Into London at the Bottom
This week, I sat down with Pavel Streblov to unpack how one of Central Europe's most established private real estate groups is entering the UK market, why London still matters, and what it really takes to build and deliver at scale as a developer in today's environment. Pavel is Business Director at Penta Real Estate, a privately owned investment group founded by five university classmates, with m
Dr. Kate Jarvis, CEO Of Fifth Dimension - Why AI Native Firms Will Win in Real Estate
This week, I sat down with Dr. Kate Jarvis to unpack a journey that spans childhood instability, academic rigour, early machine learning, and the building of an AI native platform designed to fundamentally change how real asset decisions are made. Kate is CEO and co founder of Fifth Dimension, a technology company powering decision making across real assets, underwriting, asset management and port
Ian Rickwood, Chairman of Henley - The Hard Lessons Behind Long Term Real Estate Success
This week, I sat down with Ian Rickwood to unpack a career that spans entrepreneurship, private equity, consumer businesses, failed exits, market downturns, and ultimately the building of a long term real estate investment and capital platform. Ian is Founder and Chairman of Henley, a fast growing private equity real estate investment and venture capital business operating across the UK, Europe an
Niall Farmer, Head of UK Gamuda Land – How Global Capital Really Chooses UK Property Partners
This week, I sat down with Niall Farmer to unpack an unconventional real estate career that spans retail property, residential development, masterplanning, construction, and now leading the UK platform for one of Asia's most powerful real estate and infrastructure groups. Niall is Head of UK at Gamuda Land, part of the Gamuda Group, a global infrastructure and property developer with operations ac
Nick Leslau, Chairman and Founder, Prestbury Group – Why Capital Is Turning Away From Britain
In this episode of the People Property Place podcast, Nick Leslau, a real estate investing legend who has built and backed some of the most influential UK property vehicles of the last few decades, shares what really matters when markets turn and leverage starts to bite. Drawing on a career spanning Prestbury, listed platforms, major exits, and multiple cycles, Nick explains why credit, not proper
Harm Meijer, Founding Partner, ICAMAP – Why Private Equity Is Buying Listed Real Estate
In this episode of the People Property Place podcast, Harm Meijer draws on decades of experience across listed real estate and capital markets to unpack how cycles really play out when sentiment turns and leverage starts to bite. From his early career on the sell side to building ICAMAP, Harm explains why investors repeatedly misjudge market turning points, how incentives inside listed vehicles qu
Martin Towns, Global Head of Real Estate – The Playbook Behind M&G's $50bn Global Real Estate Business
This week, I sat down with Martin Towns to unpack a career built across brokerage, private equity, institutional fund management, and now global leadership, and what it takes to scale a real estate investment platform across multiple cycles and geographies. Martin is Global Head of Real Estate at M&G, responsible for the strategic direction and growth of a real estate business managing approximate
Randeesh Sandhu, Co-Founder and CEO – From the Brink of Death to £4BN in Private Credit
This week, I sat down with Randeesh Sandhu to unpack a career that spans investment banking, real estate development, private credit, and public markets, and what it really takes to build a durable lending platform across multiple cycles. Randeesh is Co-Founder and CEO of Precede Capital Partners, founded in 2021 as a portfolio company of TowerBrook Capital Partners. Prior to Precede, he co-founde
Tom Livelli, Partner at EQT Real Estate – Europe's Housing Imbalance and the Living Opportunity
Europe's Housing Imbalance and the Living Opportunity with Tom Livelli, Partner and Head of Living Strategies, Europe at EQT Real Estate This week, I sat down with Tom Livelli to dive into how Europe's chronic housing undersupply, shifting renter behaviour, and capital rotation are shaping one of the most compelling living strategies in global real estate today.  Tom is a Partner with EQT Real E
Simon Wallace, Head of UK Real Estate & Global Co-Head of Research DWS – Strategy, Cycles and Conviction in Real Estate
The Future of European Real Estate: Strategy, Capital, and Structural Change with Simon Wallace, Head of UK Real Estate & Global Co-Head of Research - DWS. This week, I sat down with Simon Wallace to explore how Europe's real estate landscape is shifting - and what that really means for investors, fund managers, and operators in the next cycle. Simon began his career as an economist before moving
Bay Downing, Joint CEO at Downing – How Technology Is Transforming PBSA
Technology, Talent, And The Future Of Purpose Built Living with Bay Downing, Joint CEO of Downing and Co Founder of Aboria Capital. One of the UK's leading vertically integrated living platforms with 6000 plus operational beds across top university cities. This week, I sat down with Bay Downing to explore how a second generation family business is evolving into a tech enabled, institutionally back
Jeffrey Reder, MD at CenterSquare Investment Management – Conviction in the Middle Market
This week, I sat down with Jeffrey Reder to unpack how the US real estate market is evolving, why the middle market is delivering some of the most compelling opportunities today, and what it really takes to outperform through multiple cycles. Jeff began his career in corporate finance at Salomon Brothers in New York before transitioning into direct real estate. Since joining CenterSquare in 2006,
Simon Martin, Senior Partner, Tristan Capital Partners - Cashflow, Cycles & Europe's Big Opportunity
The Future of European Real Estate: Capital, Cycles, and Opportunity with Simon Martin, Senior Partner, Chief Investment Strategist & Head of Research - Tristan Capital Partners. €15+ billion AUM leading institutional grade, full-service private equity real estate firm. This week, I sat down with Simon Martin to unpack how Europe's real estate market is changing and what it means for investors, fu
Alistair Smith, Head of Real Estate at Border to Coast – Building a £2bn Pension Property Platform
What does it take to design and deliver a £2 billion real-estate platform serving over a million UK pensioners - while keeping a long-term focus in a short-term world? This week, I sat down with Alistair Smith, Head of Real Estate at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, to unpack his 30-year career spanning advisory, private-equity, and institutional real estate - and the leadership lessons learn
Will Rowson, Founder of Newland Capital Partners – Reinventing Through Every Cycle
What does it take to stay relevant through four decades, across every market cycle, and still have the hunger to build something new? This week, I sat down with Will Rowson, Founder of Newland Capital Partners, to unpack his 35-year journey across global real estate — from gritty East London industrial estates to leading Europe's largest investment platform — and what it really takes to adapt, evo
Anthony Maxwell-Jones, Founder of Valorem – Building a Real Estate Platform from Scratch
What does it take to walk away from a successful private-equity career and build your own real-estate investment platform from scratch? This week, I sat down with Anthony Maxwell-Jones, Founder & Managing Partner at Valorem Investment Partners, to unpack his journey from the early days at Mercer / Castleforge to founding Valorem - and what he's learned along the way about timing, risk, and backing
José Pellicer, Founder Partner of Evonite – De-Globalisation, Contrarian Bets & The Next Decade of Real Estate
What happens when the global order that shaped real estate for decades begins to fracture? This week, I sat down with José Pellicer, Founder Partner at Evonite, to unpack how de-globalisation, contrarian bets, and a smarter approach to thematics will shape the winners of the next 5–10 years. José brings a sharp, historically grounded perspective on risk pricing, macro shifts, and how to identify r
Christophe Garbe, Managing Partner of GARBE - Building a Pan-European Real Estate Powerhouse
Building a Pan-European Real Estate Powerhouse | Christophe Garbe (GARBE) Subscribe To My Channel For More Videos: 👉 http://peoplepropertyplace.com/ Hey Everyone, Welcome Back! What does it take to scale a family-run development business into a €15 billion pan-European real estate platform? This week, I sat down with Christophe Garbe, Managing Partner of GARBE, to unpack how he grew the company fr
James Agar, Head of Real Estate Origination at PIC Capital - How Pension Funds Are Powering UK Housing
What happens when billions of pounds of pension money flow into real estate? Can creative deal structures solve the UK's housing and regeneration challenges in a high-rate environment? This week, I sat down with James Agar, Head of Real Estate Origination at PIC Capital, the investment arm of Pension Insurance Corporation plc, to unpack how institutional capital is reshaping housing, regeneration,
#144 Manish Gudka - CEO of Aprirose Real Estate Investment
Manish Gudka | Baptism of Fire to £1bn Deals | People Property Place Podcast Subscribe To My Channel For More Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLeY7xnoJ08uYlGb-Y0j96A For many, real estate careers are about steady growth, one sector, one model. But Manish Gudka's story at Aprirose shows what it takes to adapt, survive, and thrive across cycles. From the family soap business in Kenya seedin
#143 Simon Betty - Head of Europe - Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT
From billion-euro retail deals to leading Europe's largest apartment hotel operator, and now steering one of the fastest-growing healthcare real estate platforms, Simon Betty's career has spanned multiple cycles, asset classes, and countries. In this episode, Simon shares how his early career choices set him on a path into retail, how he navigated Hammerson through some of its most challenging mom
#142 Leo Shapland - Chief Executive of the King's Cross Estate
Leo Shapland, Chief Executive of the King's Cross Estate, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. He reflects on his formative experiences at Brookfield Multiplex, to building international platforms at Tishman Speyer, returning to London with Aviva, then leading at Workspace before taking on his current role overseeing one of Europe's most successful regeneration projects. Leo
#141 Jay Kwan - Managing Director and Head of Europe at QuadReal Property Group
Jay Kwan, Managing Director and Head of Europe at QuadReal Property Group, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week. We cover Jay's global journey from humble beginnings in LA, to Lehman Brothers, to leading international investment teams at Soros and TPG, and now spearheading QuadReal's growth across Europe. Jay shares hard-won lessons on capital cycles, navigating workouts, and b
#140 James Craig, Co-Founder of Oval Real Estate
James Craig, Co-Founder of Oval Real Estate, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week. We discuss James's journey from surveying to running a diversified real estate investment business. He reflects on pivotal career decisions, key deals, and the thinking behind Oval's sector-agnostic strategy. James shares lessons from launching Oval in a down market, building high-trust
#139 Kevin Mofid, Head of Industrial & Logistics Research at Savills
Kevin Mofid, Head of Industrial & Logistics Research at Savills, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We discuss his journey into real estate, the evolution of research in the sector, and key insights into the UK and European logistics markets. Kevin shares his data-driven view of market trends, rental growth dynamics, build-to-suit versus existing stock, and the increasing
#138 Philip Stott, Co-Founder of Caisson IO
Philip Stott, Co-Founder of Caisson IO, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week. We discuss his early career journey to co-founding Caisson IO, a boutique investment management firm that integrates data and technology to, invest and manage multi-let industrial assets across the UK. Philip shares valuable insights on the role of data in real estate, building a tech-enabled investmen
#137 Philip Gadsden - Managing Partner at Orchard Street Investment Management
Philip Gadsden, Managing Partner at Orchard Street Investment Management, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We cover his 40+ year career in institutional real estate - from Jones Lang Wootton and Gatehouse, to building Invista, and now leading Orchard Street's shift into impact investing. We get into his views on separate accounts, discretionary capital, asset-level execu
#136 Marcus Meijer - Founder and CEO of MARK
Marcus Meijer, Founder and CEO of MARK, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We talk through his journey from third-generation developer to building one of Europe's leading independent investment managers. We get into how Marcus thinks about platform creation, market timing, team building, and where he sees the next wave of opportunity. If you're interested in real estate pr
#135 Jon Lurie - Founder of Realty Corporation
Jon Lurie, Founder of Realty Corporation, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We talk through his journey from accidental landlord to managing billions at Goldman Sachs and Blackstone and why he decided to launch his own real estate investment firm. We get into how Jon navigates cycles, build conviction-led investment themes, and why real estate is no longer guaranteed a sp
#134 Gawain Smart - CEO of International Campus Group
Gawain Smart, CEO of International Campus Group, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We talk through his journey from a legal career in Canada and Wall Street to running one of Europe's largest living sector platforms. We get into what it takes to scale and professionalise a private equity-backed real estate business, how to lead through change, and what's coming next for E
#133 Dean Harrison, Founder of Harleyford Capital
Dean Harrison, Founder of Harleyford Capital, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We explore his journey from a motocross-obsessed upbringing to building Harleyford Capital, a best-in-class institutional operating platform in one of the toughest real estate markets of the last decade. Dean breaks down the discipline, grit, and mindset needed to build something from scratch.
#132 RECAP with Morwenna Hall - Chief Operating Officer - Related Argent
Revisiting: How Developers Are Becoming City Builders – with Morwenna Hall, COO, Related Argent In this special recap episode, we revisit one of our most thought-provoking conversations — with Morwenna Hall, Chief Operating Officer at Related Argent. As we reflect on the highlights from this episode, we explore how Morwenna redefines the role of the modern developer — far beyond bricks, leases, an
#131 Natan Lempert, Co-Founder and CEO of Built AI
Natan Lempert, Co-Founder and CEO of Built AI, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We unpack his journey from investment banking in New York and London to real estate private equity, and ultimately founding Built AI - a platform using AI to streamline underwriting and asset management for institutional real estate investors and brokers. Having been a practitioner, Natan bri
#130 RECAP with Keith Breslauer- MD & Senior Partner at Patron Capital
Keith Breslauer, Managing Director & Senior Partner at Patron Capital Partners, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week. Please note that this conversation was originally released on the 18th July 2024, and we have decided to re-release it given the recent news that Mitsubishi Estate Co. has acquired a majority stake in European private equity property fund manager Patron Cap
#129 Kevin Aitchison MBE, Managing Director – Savills Investment Management (Europe)
In this episode, I chat with Kevin Aitchison, MBE and Managing Director – Head of Europe at Savills Investment Management, about his remarkable journey from building surveyor to being an accomplished CEO, having led firms such as ING Real Estate, Knight Frank Investment Management, and Savills Investment Management's European platform. Kevin is unassuming, empathetic, honest, open, thoughtful, sel
#128 Zena Couppey - CEO of Altum Group
In this episode, I sat down with the absolute powerhouse that is Zena Couppey, CEO of Altum Group, to unpack her extraordinary journey from leaving school at 16 to leading Altum, a rapidly scaling global fund administration business more than 200 people across six international offices. If you're interested in business building, private markets, fund administration, or scaling a high-performance t
#127 Jermaine Browne - Co-Founder of Re:shape Living & Ark Co-Living
In this episode, I sat down with Jermaine Browne - co-founder of Re:shape Living Group and Ark Co-Living - to unpack his journey from urban sociology student to becoming one of the UK's leading voices in co-living, regeneration and alternative living. If you're interested in planning, entrepreneurial grit, urban renewal or the business of building places where people actually want to live, this is
#126 Sir David Michels – CEO, Investor, Chairman, Advisor, Legend
In this episode, I sit down with Sir David Michels (the first Sir on the pod!) – former CEO of Hilton, Deputy Chairman of Marks & Spencer, and Non-Executive Director at British Land and EasyJet – to explore his stellar corporate and non-executive career. If you're interested in leadership, decision-making and the realities of running capital-intensive businesses, this conversation offers direct in
#125 Sue Clayton - Senior Independent Advisor & Non Exec
Sue Clayton - Senior Independent Advisor & Non Exec How do you stay at the top of your game across four decades in commercial real estate? In this episode, I sit down with Sue Clayton, former Managing Director of Capital Markets at CBRE, board member, investor, adviser, and Co-Founder of Real Estate Balance - to break down a career built on trust, consistency, and integrity. We cover how Sue rose
#124 Alastair Mullens - Managing Director of Residential at Canary Wharf Group
Alastair Mullens is Managing Director - Residential at Canary Wharf Group. He joined the business in 2018 to establish the group's Build-to-Rent platform, Vertus. He now oversees all the residential functions at Canary Wharf. Prior to this he spent nine years with Hamptons International & Countrywide Group based in London and Hong Kong, working across residential management, leasing, and develop
#123 Ian Worboys - CEO and Co-Founder of EGLS
Ian Worboys is CEO and Co-Founder of EGLS, a pan-European logistics platform focused on sustainable development. With 40+ years in real estate, he's led major businesses including P3 Logistic Parks and Panattoni, and is known for building high-performing teams and scaling platforms across Europe. I sat down with Ian to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics: ·
#122 Damien Sharkey - Managing Director at HUB
Episode 122 — Damien Sharkey, Managing Director at HUB In this episode of People Property Place, we sit down with Damien Sharkey, Managing Director at HUB, to unpack how he rose from a family joinery workshop in rural Ireland to leading one of the UK's most forward-thinking development firms. We dive deep into: The evolution of Build-to-Rent (BTR) in the UK HUB's strategy behind converting "stran
#121 Carlo Matta - CEO of Nido Living
Carlo Matta is the CEO of Nido Living, a leading European student accommodation platform, where he drives growth and oversees delivery across the portfolio. He previously led CA Ventures' pan-European PBSA business, managing development, acquisitions, and operations and has held roles at Actis, Hines Europe, and he brings over 25 years of international real estate experience across Europe, the U
#120 Simon Cooke - founding shareholder & board member of Catella APAM
Simon Cooke is a founding shareholder and board member of Catella APAM, with over 40 years of experience in UK commercial real estate. He co-founded APAM in 2009 and he chairs the Investment Committee and shapes strategy, asset management, and client relationships. Simon recently launched the firm's first listed equities fund, securing £102.2 million to target undervalued UK-listed property compan
