Property & Regeneration

My background and experience has provided the base for specialising in this area of work. I started my career as a chartered surveyor in private practice and then became the joint managing director of a private property company. I then spent fourteen years as a main board director of English Estates whose operations are now divided between the Regional Development Agencies and English Partnerships.

My experience has been extensive. It ranges from the development and management of the largest industrial property portfolio in the UK to the redevelopment of the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham and the development of Belasis Hall Technology Park with ICI. It includes advice to Shell UK, the Department of Trade & Industry in its review of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, advice to Regional Development Agencies and many Local Authorities on regeneration and property strategies. The work has also taken me overseas to advise on strategies and projects in countries such as Hungary, Latvia and Russia.

Appraisals

I have given advice on the appraisal of property to many public and private sector clients for various types of properties in many locations. The work has included advice to the Department of Trade & Industry on the UK Atomic Energy Authority's site at Harwell, feasibility studies for Yorkshire Forward on a new strategic employment site alongside the M62 motorway and a major leisure attraction close to the M1 motorway. It has also included the appraisal of town centre development schemes in towns such as Wrexham and Billingham, major brown-field sites and many projects for Local Authorities and Regional Development Agencies.

Strategies

I have been involved in strategic thinking since the early part of my career. At English Estates I was responsible for schemes such as the redevelopment of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham and gained a particular insight into setting and implementing strategies.

The work has taken me to many parts of the UK and overseas. In England I have prepared area strategies stretching from major waterfront and brown-field schemes in the North East through the North and Midlands to Gravesend alongside the Thames. Overseas the work has taken me to places such as Hungary, Latvia and Russia.

The strategies have produced a variety of end uses and mixed use schemes including industrial estates, science and office parks, leisure, retail, residential and waterfront uses.

Innovative Projects

During my career I have been fortunate in meeting people who have driven change, particularly in the USA, and to have worked for an organisation that gave me the license and resources to innovate within a sensible framework.

Examples include the development of a number of waterfront schemes at places such as Chatham, Whitehaven and Maryport. Other examples include the development of science and technology parks linked to the Universities of Durham, Leeds, Bradford, Hull, Sheffield and Salford and mixed studio and workspace schemes in major cities.

Organisational Advice

My background experience has included corporate responsibility for a large statutory corporation and its subsidiary companies and line-management responsibility for 200 professional and support staff.  

Drawing on this background I have provided advice on organisational strategies including advice to Yorkshire Forward and OneNE. This has involved the identification of clear objectives and recommendations on the organisation of personnel to achieve these objectives.

I have also developed a specialisation in advising property, regeneration and public services organisations on the recruitment of Chief Executives and senior personnel. Clients have included Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Succession Planning.

Delivery & Public/Private Partnerships

The ability to deliver successful schemes is an essential part of the property regeneration process. My experience has extended from the delivery of private schemes to those which have required a mix of public and private funds.

Work has included single projects in many towns in the Midlands with resultant investments sold to pension funds and insurance companies such as Norwich Union and Standard Life. It has also included numbers of industrial workspace schemes developed in partnership with funders such as The Coal Board Pension Fund, HSBC and Barclays Bank.

More recently I have been involved in providing advice on the structuring of public/private vehicles which can fund and implement regeneration schemes. Examples include the development at St Mary's Island at Chatham with Countryside Properties Plc, advice on joint ventures to Shell UK at its research park in Sittingbourne and advice to the Regional Development Agencies on a number of projects.