Tim Burke

Deputy editor, EG

Burke joined EG as deputy editor in July 2019, before which he was property editor at Financial News, a Dow Jones publication. Earlier in his career, he wrote for and edited magazines covering capital markets and businesses across developed and emerging economies, including titles at The Economist Group and Thomson Reuters.

Patricia Brown MBE

Director, Central; founder, London 3.0

Brown has been in leadership roles since the mid-1990s, and at the heart of many of the initiatives that have been part of the successful urban evolution of London and beyond. She was part of the capital’s inaugural inward investment agency before leading Central London Partnership, the cross-sector partnership focused on maintaining the capital’s position as a global world city. Placing the combination of economic and social vibrancy at the centre of its groundbreaking work – including the establishment of the BIDs movement in the UK – helped to achieve a more people-centred, liveable, city. Through her consultancy, Central, Brown has continued this focus of inter-disciplinary dot-connecting, advising civic and business leaders on positive urban change and development; building the vision, collaborations, strategies and partnerships to achieve this. Building positive public-private partnerships has defined Brown’s work and she has led the British Property Federation’s work on this area for some years. Her latest initiative, London 3.0, aims to refocus on the contemporary challenges and updated solutions for London. She is the non-executive chair of South Kensington Estates and other current board positions include Historic England’s London and national advisory committees and GWR’s Strategic Advisory Board.

Fay Cannings

Senior inward investment manager, Waltham Forest Council

Cannings has more than 20 years’ experience in urban regeneration, community investment and leading small business programmes, both in the public and private sector. She joined Waltham Forest in June 2021 as town centre lead in the north of the borough in the regeneration team, before joining Jonathan Martin to support the next phase of growth with the inward investment service in the borough. Cannings worked for a property developer in community investment earlier in her career on major regeneration projects and also has a range of experience working on government-funded projects in employment, skills and business growth. She has a wealth of experience working with creative communities, partnership development and cultural programming.

Lord Richard Harrington

Politician and businessman

Lord Harrington of Watford is a British politician and businessman. He published a report on foreign direct investment into the UK for HM Treasury in November 2023. He was appointed to the Lords in 2022, becoming a joint minister of state at the Home Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities with responsibility for the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees. Harrington retired as MP for Watford in 2019, having first been elected in 2010. As an MP he held a number of ministerial roles, including as business and industry minister and pensions minister. Prior to being elected, he built a substantial business career in hotels and leisure, as well as wealth management, property and investing in start-ups.  He is on the board of the Royal Albert Hall and Nesta, a large not-for-profit that invests in companies with a social purpose.  

Ingrid Hooley

Director of place, Local Partnerships

Hooley has more than 30 years’ experience in public sector strategy, policy and delivery in urban and rural placemaking, housing and regeneration. Passionate about making a difference to people and places, she started work in the late 1980s in Yorkshire with the Department of Trade and Industry, moving on to regional development agencies in Yorkshire and London, then local authorities in London and the East Midlands. In her roles she has focused on making a positive difference to people and where they live. She sees working in public and private partnerships as key to creating positive change to places. Hooley has extensive experience in delivery and planning of strategic growth, complex programme management, place shaping, master-planning and infrastructure investment in national, regional and local government.

Dr Simon Kaye

Director of policy, Reform think tank

Kaye joined Reform as director of policy in April 2022 and led the Reimagining Whitehall programme for its 18 months. In 2023, he launched the Reform Scholars programme, and in 2024 he developed and led the Reimagining the Local State programme. Kaye hold a PhD in political theory and through his work with think tanks he has explored the democratic systems, government reform, political economy, localism and the way that knowledge affects policy. He has written major reports on community power, self-governanc, and reform strategies for both local and central government. At Reform he has authored work on the pathologies of the Whitehall system, the future of levelling up, policy ideas for transforming “left behind” neighbourhoods, and why central government should seek to “devolve by default”.

Dr Simon Kaye

Director of policy, Reform think tank

Kaye joined Reform as director of policy in April 2022 and led the Reimagining Whitehall programme for its 18 months. In 2023, he launched the Reform Scholars programme, and in 2024 he developed and led the Reimagining the Local State programme. Kaye hold a PhD in political theory and through his work with think tanks he has explored the democratic systems, government reform, political economy, localism and the way that knowledge affects policy. He has written major reports on community power, self-governanc, and reform strategies for both local and central government. At Reform he has authored work on the pathologies of the Whitehall system, the future of levelling up, policy ideas for transforming “left behind” neighbourhoods, and why central government should seek to “devolve by default”.

Pui-Guan Man

News editor, EG

As EG’s news editor, Pui-Guan Man oversees the news output for the website and magazine, working closely with its talented and dynamic team of writers to deliver the latest insights on trends affecting a wide range of commercial real estate sectors in the UK. An award-winning journalist, she was recognised as one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 for her work in 2020 and was shortlisted for a BSME Talent award in 2021.

Andy Martin

Non-executive chairman and senior adviser

Martin is based in London and has worked in the European property sector for more than 35 years. He started his career at Richard Ellis (now CBRE) and later became a senior partner at Strutt & Parker, where he was also the head of the commercial real estate division. After Strutt & Parker merged with BNP Paribas Real Estate in 2017, Martin became the UK chief executive of BNP Paribas Real Estate and was a member of its European board. He retired from BNP Real Estate at the end of 2020. Martin holds several advisory and board positions. He is a trustee of the Urban Land Institute and the former chairman of the ULI’s UK council. He is also a retained adviser to Stifel Nicolaus Europe, a US investment bank, and he is a member of the advisory board of Hodes Weill & Associates, a leading US placement agent. He has also served as a director of the Investment Property Forum from 2001-2009, during which time he was chairman from 2004-2005.

Jonathan Martin

Director of inward investment & higher education academic relationships, Waltham Forest Council

Martin is a chartered surveyor of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He has worked for national government agencies, private consultancy and local government, playing key property-based roles, supporting the regeneration of places in London and the wider South East. He leads the focus on securing new Inward Investment, with initiatives attracting growth sectors that include regeneration, housing, business workspace, higher education, and employment & skills – to help provide new homes, jobs, commercial floorspace and now higher education with facilities to support this inclusive growth in town centres and high streets.

Samantha McClary

Editor, EG

McClary has almost 20 years’ experience in real estate and business journalism, covering a wide range of topics. Alongside making sure EG delivers the best, most helpful, most accurate and, of course, most interesting content to EG’s readership across all platforms – print, online and audio – she also plays a leading role in enabling and delivering a more diverse environment for the real estate community through EG’s REWIRE and tech initiatives. A keen chair and regular wearer of too bright trousers, she seeks to help keep panel discussions and events lively with audience participation and insightful questioning

Julie Nugent

Chief executive, Coventry City Council

Nugent started her role as chief executive of Coventry City Council in June 2023. Over the past 20 years, she has shown a strong track record in attracting and delivering investment to support businesses, people and communities. Nugent has worked at a senior level across various organisations at a national, regional, and local level – including senior roles in government, the voluntary and education sectors. Most recently, Nugent was executive director for economy, skills, and communities at the West Midlands Combined Authority, where she was responsible for delivery across economic development, employment and skills, health and communities. She played a critical role in negotiating two devolution deals that resulted in more funding being released to the West Midlands region. This included leading the investment of more than £500m into training and employment support programmes that have helped thousands of local people get the skills and support they needed to secure jobs. Nugent has also led large-scale transformation programmes, overseeing the delivery of improved services to businesses and people.

Jenny Offord

Head of Meridian Water Regeneration, Enfield Council

As one of London’s largest regeneration areas, Meridian Water aims to deliver 10,000 homes and 6,000 jobs across distinct neighbourhoods with two new parks and infrastructure. Offord was an EG Future Leader in 2021, The Planner Woman of Influence in 2022 and Bisnow Women Leading Real Estate 2023.

Jackie Sadek

Director, Urban Strategy. Co-author Broken Homes

Sadek has more than 35 years’ experience in property, specialising in public-private sector partnerships, working with local authorities and investors. A former specialist adviser to government on urban regeneration, she now runs Urban Strategy, an urban regeneration consultancy. She was part of the Grimsey Review team on the future of the high street and an honorary Fellow of the Association of Chief Estates Surveyors. Sadek is the co-author of Broken Homes, a book on the housing crisis written with former EG editor Peter Bill, which was published in October 2020. She is chair of the UK Innovation Corridor, a bottom-up partnership of more than 15 local authorities, six universities and hundreds of innovation and science companies in the London-Stansted-Cambridge sub region.

Laura Shoaf CBE

Chief executive, West Midlands Combined Authority

Shoaf was appointed chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority in November 2021. Having previously led Transport for West Midlands, she has expanded her focus to include driving inclusive economic growth, increasing skills provision, regenerating land and housing, enhancing the environment and improving transport connectivity across the region. A recognised expert who has advised on national policy, Shoaf secured and oversaw the delivery of a £4bn transport investment package for the region. She was the first female chair of the Urban Transit Group and during her term supported the transport industry on its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, she was appointed by the Department for Transport as one of the UK’s first Violence Against Women and Girls Transport champions, and is tasked with working with passenger groups to identify areas for improvement across the country. Shoaf has a demonstrated track record of success in delivering change, most recently highlighted in securing the region’s Trailblazer Deeper Devolution Deal, which will see a seismic shift in power and influence from Westminster to the West Midlands.   

Tom Stannard

Chief executive, Salford City Council

Stannard is a UK local government professional and chief executive of Salford City Council. From 2018-2021 he was Wakefield Council’s corporate director of regeneration and economic growth, a key member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in one of the fastest-growing economies within the Leeds City Region. His previous roles include director of economy and skills at Oldham Council, and deputy chief executive of the UK Learning and Work Institute. He has also held senior leadership roles in Blackburn with Darwen (Lancashire), the London Borough of Hounslow, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea councils.

Adam Walker

Co-founder, Foundry

Walker and co-founder LGIM Real Assets established Foundry in 2022 as an operating platform which repurposes LGIM assets focused on the micro enterprise sectors. Walker’s experience in the regeneration sector started in 2012 with workspace-focused schemes including retail, F&B and flex. His passion comes from witnessing his parents running their SME from home in 1990s, and he is driven to curate space for people like his parents, including micro enterprises, untethered home-workers and isolated entrepreneurs.

Nick Walkley

Principal and UK president, Avison Young

Walkley is principal and UK president at global real estate advisory firm Avison Young. Prior to joining Avison Young in 2021, he led Homes England, the UK government’s land, development and housing investment body, where he was responsible for the delivery of major development programmes, national affordable housing projects and government-backed investment initiatives. Walkley has served as chief executive of two London local authorities, with a focus on building high-performing teams during periods of adversity and austerity. As a seasoned leader, he is passionate about fostering strong organisational culture driven by clear values and targets. In all his roles, Walkley has championed the power of urban regeneration and public-private partnership to improve peoples’ everyday lives.  An advocate for the dynamism and vitality of cities, Walkley is a firm believer that the best way to get to know a city is through is through its restaurants, bars and live music venues.