Robert Davis MBE DL

Nick Walkley is Principal and UK President at global real estate advisory firm Avison Young. Prior to joining Avison Young in 2021, Nick was Chief Executive of Homes England, the UK Government’s land, development, and housing investor. He led the creation and growth of the new Agency, responsible for the management/delivery of a diverse portfolio including the affordable homes programme, new towns, urban brownfield schemes, support to SMEs and infrastructure funding. 

He has served as Chief Executive of two London local authorities, with a focus on building high performing teams during periods of adversity and austerity, and as a seasoned leader, is passionate about fostering strong organisational culture driven by clear values.

In all his roles, Nick 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, Nick is a firm believer that the best way to get to know a city is through its restaurants, bars, and record stores.

Chris is the Chairman of the UK Infrastructure Bank and of Evelyn Partners, the wealth management company. 

He's also a Member of the Corporate Board of Cancer Research UK. 

He stepped down as Senior Independent Director of BAE Systems PLC at the end of 2023.

In his executive career, Chris was most recently CEO of British Land. Before that, he was CEO of Barclays‘ Commercial Bank. 

His earlier career was spent at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Partner and at Morgan Grenfell.

Chris has an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

He was awarded a CBE in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to business, particularly during the COVID-19 response.

Debra is the founder and CEO of SAY, an award-winning consultancy business working with investors and developers to provide strategic operational advice for mixed-use and living assets. Debra has over 25 years’ experience in residential property and is recognised as one of the major contributors to the industry. Before starting SAY, Debra was Director of Asset and Property Management at Grainger plc. 

She is an expert in residential property and asset management with a particular focus on build to rent, placemaking, regeneration and industry innovation. She has a keen interest in the positive social impact that can be delivered through new development and  has been a long-standing advocate for encouraging diversity within the real estate sector

Debra has non-executive roles on the boards of  Grove End Housing Limited, M&G Shared Ownership Fund, is an advisor to DeverellSmith Recruitment and served on the Board of Notting Hill Housing for nine years. 

She is a recognised spokesperson on behalf of the residential sector and is a member of Property Week's Resi Senate. 

Zac is the Co-Founder & Director of TSP, a multi award-winning and B Corp certified Investment & Asset Management company that looks for opportunities to add value and leverage their operational capability. He has over 15 years' experience in the commercial real estate sector.

Zac is a natural entrepreneur, a dedicated mentor and 6-time Countdown winner. 

Michael Phillips is a Principal and the Chairman and President of Jamestown, a US based global, design-focused real estate investment and management company. He is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. 

As President, Michael oversees the development and execution of the company’s real estate projects globally. 

During his tenure, Jamestown has grown its portfolio of assets in key markets throughout the US and expanded its investment footprint to South America and Europe, more than tripling the firm’s assets under management. 

Michael is the driving force behind the company’s adaptive reuse projects including Chelsea Market in New York City, Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Industry City in Brooklyn, and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. 

He is nationally recognized for his creative leadership and ability to build unique, iconic urban centers. 

He attended the American University in London.

Stephanie Hyde is UK CEO and EMEA Markets CEO at JLL.

She joined JLL in 2021 to lead the UK business following over 25 years in professional services. Stephanie’s role recently expanded to incorporate the leadership of JLL’s EMEA Markets Advisory business across EMEA as CEO.

Stephanie is responsible for driving strategy and results for JLL’s leasing advisory and property management businesses as well as delivering a connected, approach for clients across the UK and EMEA region.

Under her leadership, the UK business renewed its commitment to its sustainability strategy and goals, with the expansion of its sustainability team and services alongside the introduction of a new sustainability framework. She is continuing this work across the EMEA region and passionately  believes that to achieve net zero carbon commitments, businesses must move beyond words, from strategy to implementation to deliver measurable actions.

During her time at PwC, Stephanie delivered growth across multiple business lines, developed client programmes in the UK and globally, and ran PwC’s industry programme with a key focus on technology, transformation and sustainability. She previously led the UK regional business for PwC and was a member of the firm’s Global Leadership Team and UK Executive Board. Stephanie has worked with clients across a wide range of sectors from energy and pharmaceuticals to public sector and consumer products.

Martin Samworth joined CBRE as a graduate in 1983 and enjoyed 37 years service with the company until 2020.

He has extensive global corporate experience across the entire real estate sector at the highest level with Developers, Investors and Occupiers and with a background of specialising in Investment, Development and Real Estate Finance advice.

He was appointed as CBRE Group President and Chairman APAC/EMEA, before retiring in December 2020.

Since then Martin has taken on a number of Non-Executive and Chairing roles covering many aspects of the real estate industry.

These roles include Chairing the RICS Board.

Laura is CEO of London & Partners, the business growth and destination agency for London. 

She leads London & Partners in its mission to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable and inclusive. 

Laura runs inward investment and trade for the capital, supporting thousands of innovative businesses to grow in London and internationally. 

She leads London’s tourism industry to develop it as a destination and win visitors and events, including the Let’s Do London campaign and Visit London. 

Laura is a global advocate for London, regularly appearing in international media and events. 

Laura has been CEO of London & Partners since 2017, leading through both Brexit and COVID. 

Before that she spent nearly a decade at global advertising agency WPP, where she was Managing Director of the Government & Public Sector Practice. 

Over the past 40 years, Despina has consistently pioneered the science of evaluating employee priorities and evolving trends of office users. 

This has led to innovation and implementation of transformative workplace environments for global corporates such as: Accenture, Barclays, BBC, BP, Cisco, Deutsche Bank, GSK, Google, HSBC, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley & Unilever and substantial improvements in the design of exemplary real estate developments for investors worldwide. 

In her role at Cushman & Wakefield, she inputs across the firm’s global business, on the rapidly-changing context of work and its impact on employee engagement, productivity, wellbeing and the future role & purpose of the office. 

With these factors increasingly determining the real estate decisions of leading corporations, Despina’s unrivalled insight on the future of work benefits occupiers, developers and investors – through repositioning commercial real estate to drive top line performance, cultural aspirations, ESG commitments & profitability. 

She is the current President of the British Council of Offices (BCO) and the host of the upcoming ‘Purpose of Place’ podcast. She regularly lectures, writes and contributes to media, research and publications on the future of the workplace and serves on various advisory boards including Delos™, the founders of the WELL Building Standard.

Hannah is the Founder and CEO of Hybr, a curated rental platform for first-time renters.  It provides young people with a one-stop-rental-shop, whilst enabling operators to fill vacancies quickly, with pre-vetted and engaged young tenants. 

Hannah launched Hybr straight out of university in 2019 after experiencing first-hand the problems in the student rental market during her time at Bristol University. 

Hybr now operates in nine cities and has raised £2.5m from investors to support its development.

Hannah is a Great British Entrepreneur and Montagu Evans Disrupter of the Year winner.

She has recently been voted one of Property Week RESI's young Trailblazers.