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Pamela Ballantine, Presenter and Reporter, Ulster Television
Pamela Ballantine is a Presenter and Reporter with UTV’s evening magazine show UTV Live at 5.30 which covers the lighter side of life in the Province. She has been with UTV for a number of years, starting as a continuity announcer and newsreader before moving to the news room full time as a reporter and presenter. She has also presented programmes such as Farming Ulster, the Ulster Schools Quiz, Telethon and Hot Pursuits (an outdoor pursuit gameshow). As well as UTV Live she is also the Presenter/Reporter for RPM – UTV’s motorsport programme, covering the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
As a reporter for UTV Live she has covered many topics from Theatre Productions (even ones in swimming pools) to Theatre operations. One of her highlights last year was abseiling down the 17 stories of Churchill House in the centre of Belfast a week before the blow down and then being invited to watch the event itself and help carryout the countdown to the actual explosion. Over the last 30 years or so there haven’t been too many people who can admit that they are going to spend a Sunday Morning blowing up a building in Belfast.
 Bob De Barr, BCSC President, Director, Land Securities Group PLC
Robert (Bob) De Barr qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1975 and after a spell in agency joined Land Securities in 1977.
He was appointed Assistant Director to the Group's principle operating subsidiary, Land Securities Properties in 1986 and Director in 1992. Since the re-structure of the Group he is now Director of Development Partnerships within the Retail Business unit. Much of his current activity involves the two Alliance projects in Birmingham and Bristol. He is a Founder Director of both the Birmingham Alliance and the Bristol Alliance.
In 1993 he pioneered the Company’s “Talk Direct” letting initiative, encouraging retailers to have an open dialogue with Land Securities.
He is a Board Member and President of the British Council of Shopping Centres, a Member of the BCSC Government Affairs Committee, Trustee of the Educational Trust and was Chairman of the BCSC Conference and Retail Showcase 2001. He is also a Member of the International Council of Shopping Centres, as well as being a member of the Strategic Marketing Board of Marketing Birmingham.
Outside of the office his interests include golf, surfing, soccer and music.
 The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor, Councillor Wallace Browne
Cllr Wallace Browne has been a DUP representative in the Victoria DEA of Belfast since 1985. In the most recent election, he topped the poll with a 1st preference vote of 2,689. During his time in council he has served as Chairman of the Client Services Committee and has also served on the Health and Environmental Services Committee and Park and Amenities.
Cllr Browne was educated at Campbell College and graduated from Queens University Belfast in 1970. Since 2000 he has been a full time councillor in East Belfast and in 2002-2003 he had the privilege of serving the city in the post of High Sheriff. During his year as High Sheriff he served as the Chairman of the Belfast Host Town Organising Committee when Belfast had the privilege of hosting the USA for a week prior to the Special Olympics.
His family has a long tradition of public representation. His late grandfather was the chief reporter at the Belfast Newsletter and subsequently editor of Hansard at Stormont before becoming a Unionist member of the Senate.
Cllr Browne is an active campaigner for improvements in leisure facilities in the City of Belfast. In his role as Chairman of Client Services Committee he was instrumental in the initiation of the development of the Councils support for sport programme which has helped to promote sport both in the community and at club level.
Cllr Browne has been a member of the Democratic Unionist Party since 1979 and is currently chairman of the East Belfast Westminster Association and a member of the party’s Central Executive. He is a trustee of several local community and tenants associations.
Martyn Chase, Conference Chairman, Chairman, Dondaldsons
Martyn now has been involved in the retail development industry for almost 30 years – all with Donaldsons, where he is now Chairman.
Martyn’s early experience was in local authority consultancy – early projects were the Lanes at Carlisle (first BCSC Award winner), the Quadrant at Swansea and Eden Walk Kingston – all of which were developed direct by the Council (and were brilliant investments for them). Donaldsons remaining one of the leaders in this client sector.
This took Martyn into the heart of the retail debate – Environment Select Committee, Association of Town Centre Management, BID’s, Oxford Retail Group.English Historic Towns Forum and BURA all consumed energy and enthusiasm. At that time PPG6 (as was), town centre planning policy, investment in urban regeneration, mixed use and city centre management were controversial topics. Now all are an accepted context for our industry today – who would have believed only 10 years ago that BCSC would be working with English Heritage and CABE to produce guidance on retail environments, a key report where Martyn played a lead role in as Vice Chair of the Urban Task Force.
More recently Martyn has become involved for developers and investors in delivery of large-sale urban regeneration projects in partnership with the public sector. Victoria Square Belfast is typical. Originally appointed by Belfast Council in 1996 to set up City Centre Management in the Belfast, he spotted the opportunity for a new retail led scheme in the city. Martyn introduced AM Development of the Netherlands to the project and has seen the scheme through a selection process, a public enquiry and a judicial review before eventually being given the go-ahead in 2004. It involved a particularly tricky political environment with seven political parties and five successive Ministers to satisfy, all against the complex background of the Good Friday Agreement.
Pre-letting, land assembly, funding and development agreement negotiations felt the easiest part in this context, but in reality it all required eight years of commitment and stamina from Martyn, the AM team and many others.
Now the scheme is on site, funded by CGI, and anchored by a 20,000 sq m House of Fraser. 65,000 sq ft of retail, cinema, 100 apartments and 1000 car spaces will take Belfast right up the retail hierarchy – and bring £300M investment and 3,500 new jobs to the city.
Donaldsons is going from strength to strength, led by their retail and outsourcing business. A team of 550 enthusiastic people in 8 UK offices is now expanding into mainland Europe – with a further 150 staff managing shopping centres in 12 countries. In his role as Chairman Martyn is committed to a successful firm, friendly culture, support for the community and above all focus on making a positive contribution to the success of clients business.
Martyn is a family man with three children (19, 16 and 12) and many boats (and sailing clubs). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Freeman of the City of London (Court of the Needlemakers Company).
Martyn is delighted to have brought the BCSC Conference to Belfast. A unique city, warm welcome, splendid venues and terrific line up of speakers will make a great event – and a great party.
Declan Curry, Business Presenter for BBC1's "Breakfast"
Declan Curry is the friendly face of BBC morning business news, presenting regular updates and all the breaking news for BBC Breakfast and News 24.
Declan broadcasts live from the London Stock Exchange with analysis, gossip and wild rumour from the markets. He has also broadcast for the international news channel BBC World, and appears coast-to-coast across the United States for ABC News. Declan has explained the basics of money management on the personal finance programme It’s Your money and presented the early morning business programme Wake Up To Money for Radio 5 Live. Declan writes a weekly column for Investors Chronicle and contributes to a wide range of international publications. He plays a leading role in industry and business conferences as a chairman, facilitator or speaker.
Mohammed Dajani, Centre Director, Meadowhall
Mohammed Dajani was appointed Centre Director of Meadowhall in 1995. He joined the management team as Tenant Co-ordinator in 1991, progressing to Premises Manager in 1992. His association with Meadowhall, however, began years before. As an architect with Chapman Taylor Partnership, Mohammed worked on the original design of Meadowhall Centre.
Mohammed received his architectural training at the University of Studies in Florence where he graduated in 1977. Palestinian-born, Mohammed worked as an architect in Qatar, before moving to England in 1989 with his wife and three daughters. Since this time he has made Sheffield his home.
Mohammed is a Director of British Land Corporation Limited and a Governor of Sheffield Hallam University. He was previously a Director of Sheffield First for 3 years from March 2000 to March 2003.
Outside work, his interests include reading - history being a favourite subject. Not surprisingly, Mohammed also has a love of foreign culture and travel rates highly among his list of interests.
Jonathan Doughty, founderand Group Managing Director, Coverpoint Catering Consultancy Ltd
Jonathan Doughty is the founder and Group Managing Director of Coverpoint Catering Consultancy Ltd, an International Foodservice Consultancy specialising in Retail, Leisure and Tourism.
Having previously worked for a number of internationally recognised companies including Forte, Mars, Marriott and the Imperial Group in operations, foodservice, marketing and product development roles, Jonathan moved into foodservice consultancy.
Coverpoint provides advice to the Retail, Leisure and Tourism sectors in the UK and around the world. The business is part of a larger Group and has been trading for 12 years. The practice has been responsible for the foodservice development of a great number of the major shopping centres, leisure sites and mixed used developments in the UK and for the ongoing Tenant mix, strategy and standards of the operations.
Jonathan’s personal passion is Customer Service. This is focus of the practice and the consultant team work on all aspects of unit performance, service orientation and Guest focus to ensure excellence is achieved through the foodservice mix. As a past operator in both hotels and restaurants, Jonathan has a unique perspective on ‘Guest Services’ and the ‘Guest Journey’ through our retail centres and the offers within them.
Sir Tom Farmer
Sir Tom is the founder of Kwik-Fit, one of the World’s largest automotive parts repair and replacement specialists. He has spent all of his working life in the tyre and automotive industry.
He opened his first business, Tyres & Accessory Supplies in 1964 in Buccleuch Street, Edinburgh. He was then 23 years old.
In 1971 he founded Kwik-Fit in Edinburgh, which developed into one of the world’s largest automotive service companies with more than 2,300 company owned service parts and insurers. In April 1999 The Ford Motor Company made an agreed offer of £1.2billion for Kwik-Fit. Sir Tom left Kwik-Fit in February 2002 and now concentrates on his other business interests i.e. property development, venture capital and investment companies and is involved with a number of charity and community projects.
Sir Tom is also Chairman of Scotland Against Drugs Campaign, Chairman of The Trustees of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Non-Executive Director of My Travel PLC, Member of the Development Board of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Trustee of the Clerk Maxwell Cancer Research Fund, Honorary President of Young Enterprise Scotland, Trustee of Scottish Business Achievement Award Trust, President Queen Margaret University College Foundation, and Honorary President of the Entrepreneurial Exchange.
Sir Tom has received numerous awards and honours, most recently an Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University College, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh in 2002, Recipient of the Golden Plate Award – American Academy of Achievement in 2000, Scotland’s Elite Leader of the Year Award 1999, The Institute of Management Gold Medal 1998, Knights Bachelor in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1997, and Knight Commander with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (From Pope John Paul II) in 1997.
 Michael Gutman
Michael is the Chief Operating Officer for Westfield’s operations in the UK and Europe. He has been based in London for 3 years having previously worked in the Westfield Sydney head office for the preceding 10 years. Michael originally qualified as an architect in Sydney.
Westfield is the largest listed retail property company globally by equity market capitalisation (approx £12bn) with 129 centres in the UK, US, Australia and NZ.
In the UK Westfield manages and has an ownership interest in 8 centres, with a value of around £2bn, including Westfield Merry Hill, and is progressing redevelopment schemes of around £2bn. Currently the 2 major projects under construction are the £310m Derby extension and the £1.4 bn White City project. Westfield commenced operations in the UK in 2000.
In the UK Westfield currently employs around 400 people in the areas of Development, Finance, Design, Construction, Leasing, Centre Management and associated roles.
 Arnold L. de Haan, Chief Operating Officer, AM NV
Since May 2005 Mr. De Haan is Board Member of AM nv and Chief Operating Officer of AM Development bv.
As a Company Lawyer Mr. De Haan started in 1977 rising to Managing Director for Wereldhave / Interned Holding N.V. till 1989. He was responsible for the management company with commercial property in the U.S.A. and Europe.
The years 1989 and 1990 were spent as Managing Director at Vaste Waarden Nederland to build up the company and set out the strategic planning as well as the introduction of this company to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
From 1990 till 1994 Mr. De Haan, as an equity partner with European Metropolitan Property Services was responsible for coordinating and executing task relating to property asset management and development in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
From 1994 till 2005 he worked for Commerz Grundbesitz-Investment, a German open ended property fund. As Managing Director, Mr. De Haan was responsible for the acquisition, management and development of 160 projects in 13 countries totalling € 16 billion.
 James Horler, CEO, La Tasca
I started my career in this industry with Trusthouse Forte Hotels in 1981 as a kitchen porter, and started to carry out general waiting duties.
I was offered the position of Management Trainee with THF and after 2 years became Conference and Banqueting Manager at the Berystede Hotel in Ascot at the age of 19.
At 20 I left to take on the role of Food and Beverage Manager at the Post House Hotel in Swindon, and soon decided that my business skills were not going to be developed quickly enough, so transferred to THF Roadside where after a short period of time as a Unit Manager I became Regional Manager and then Regional Director at the age of 24.
I left Forte to join Granada in the motorway business and was soon responsible for 9 motorway services with an annual turnover of £210m and a staff complement of 2900. In 1995 I was awarded a Caterer & Hotelkeeper Acorn award.
Then the opportunity came to be creative, and in 1996 I joined City Centre Restaurants (now the Restaurant Group plc) and developed the Frankie & Benny’s brand into what it is today, growing the business to 65 outlets in a 5 year period.
In september 2001 I went on my own, acquiring La Tasca Restaurants Ltd, a group of 16 tapas restaurant and bars. In 2004, La Tasca was awarded Business of the Year in the North West by the Manchester Evening News and Best Concept at the Retailers’ Retail Awards and I received a Catey as Group Restaurateur of the Year.
In 2005, La Tasca was awarded Best Company by its peers and successfully floated on aim as La Tasca Group PLC at an enterprise value of £71m.
Not bad for a boy who started washing up at 16 in a hotel in Cambridge!
Michael P. Kercheval, President and CEO, ICSC
Michael P. Kercheval is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). He joined ICSC in January 2000 and was appointed to the position of President and CEO in May 2001, becoming only the third CEO in the association’s forty-six year history. In this role he is responsible for the day-to-day management of ICSC’s global operations and carrying out the association’s strategic objectives. Prior to joining ICSC, Mr. Kercheval was a senior executive at Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, an Australia-based global real estate company.
Following the completion of graduate work in economics at Columbia University, Mr. Kercheval joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1982 as an economist in its investment research area. Over the years, he held a series of positions culminating with the title of Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Equitable’s U.S. $12 billion commercial mortgage portfolio. When Equitable sold its real estate operations to Lend Lease in 1997, Kercheval was appointed to lead the transition management team, bringing together 6,000 worldwide employees and integrating operations. Most recently, Kercheval was Principal and CEO of Lend Lease Latin American Realty Advisors, Ltd, operating in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile.
Earlier in his career Kercheval worked on a series of public health and development projects in Central America, taught Urban Economics at Columbia University, and served as staff economist on the Colorado Governor’s Blue Ribbon panel on Economic Growth Management. A graduate of the University of Colorado with degrees in economics, political science, and international affairs, Kercheval earned his graduate degree in economics from Columbia University, New York. He has authored research papers on international economics, real estate investment, and economic growth management. A member of the National Association of Business Economists, ARES, and ULI, Kercheval serves on the boards of the Travel Business Roundtable and the New York Society of Association Executives. He, his wife Dana, and their two children reside near Princeton, New Jersey.
Founded in 1957, ICSC is the global trade association of the retail real estate industry with over 50,000 members in almost 80 countries.
Senator George Mitchall, Chair of peace negotiations in NI, Chairman Walt Disney Company, Chancellor Queens University NI and Partner DLA Piper
Senator George J. Mitchell entered the US Senate in 1980 and since this time has enjoyed an illustrious career in the Senate that spanned 14 years until he left in 1995.
During his tenure, Senator Mitchell earned enormous bipartisan respect. For six consecutive years he was voted "the most respected member" of the Senate by a bipartisan group of senior congressional aides.
In 1996, the governments of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland asked Senator Mitchell to chair the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland. Senator Mitchell led the negotiations for two years, work that ultimately resulted in a historic accord that ended decades of conflict. In May 1998, the agreement was overwhelmingly endorsed by voters in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. He has received numerous awards and honours recognising his service in the peace talks. These include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour the US government can give; the Philadelphia Liberty Medal; the Truman Institute Peace Prize; the German (Hesse) Peace Prize; and the United Nations (UNESCO) Peace Prize.
In the earlier part of his career Senator Mitchell was a trial lawyer in the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. He later moved to Maine and went into private practice in Portland until 1977. He was then appointed US attorney for Maine, a position he held until 1979, when he was appointed US district judge for Maine. He resigned that position in 1980 to accept his Senate appointment.
After leaving the Senate, Senator Mitchell joined the law firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, joining DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US in 2003 along with many other members of that firm. He serves as chairman of the board of the Walt Disney Company and serves on the board of Staples, Inc. He is also chancellor of The Queen’s University of Northern Ireland.
Sir Matthew Pinsent
On Saturday 21st August 2004 at the Athens Olympic Games, Matthew Pinsent CBE entered Olympic history. In one of the classic sporting moments of all time, he led the Great Britain coxless four to victory over the Canadian World Champions by only eight one hundredths of a second.
The GB crew of Matthew, James Cracknell, Ed Coode and Steve Williams competed for the lead with Canada throughout the 2000 metre race and with 200 to go the Canadians took the lead. However, in traditional fashion Matthew increased the stroke rate and the British boat clawed back the lead to win by inches. At the end neither crew knew who had won until the roar of the British supporters confirmed victory. Matthew is now one of only 5 athletes to win 4 consecutive Gold medals.
In 1992 Matthew graduated in Geography from St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he was President of the Oxford Rowing Club. He took part in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in 1990 and 1991, when Oxford beat Cambridge by substantial distances.
Also in 1992, at the age of only 21, Matthew had his first taste of Olympic success, when in a Coxless Pair with partner Sir Steve Redgrave, he won the Gold Medal at the Barcelona Olympics. Prior to that Olympic win he and Redgrave had enjoyed an unbeaten international season, and it was already obvious that Matthew was developing to become one of the world's greatest oarsmen.
At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 the Pinsent/Redgrave duo won another Gold Medal and throughout the nineties their outstanding combination also brought them Seven World Championship Gold's.
Their unbroken run of successes continued through to the Millennium Olympic Games in Sydney when Pinsent, again with Redgrave (now in a Coxless Four with James Cracknell and Tim Foster) again triumphed earning Pinsent his THIRD Olympic Gold Medal. "THE RACE" in which he did it was voted 'Britain's Greatest Sporting Moment' and the crew secured themselves a very special place in the heart of the nation.
After Sydney, Matthew formed a seemingly invincible Coxless Pair partnership with James Cracknell MBE. Undefeated throughout 2001, they went on to complete a unique feat in the history of rowing, by winning the Coxless Pair at the World Championships in Lucerne, a mere two hours after winning the Coxed Pairs. In the 2002 World Championships in Seville they defended their Coxless Pairs title, beating an experienced Australian crew who had beaten them in Lucerne earlier in the year and breaking the world record by 4 seconds in the process.
Matthew was awarded the MBE in the 1993 New Year's Honours List and the CBE in the New Years Honours list 2000. In the 2005 New Year’s Honours list he was awarded a knighthood.
On 30th November 2004 Matthew announced his retirement from international rowing. He undoubtedly sealed his name amongst the greatest Olympians of all time by winning again in Athens. His autobiography, “A lifetime in a race”, which he wrote himself was published on 2nd September 2004 and whatever the future holds, Matthew will no doubt be at the forefront of any career, whether it be in rowing, sport, business or the media.
Senator Feargal Quinn, Founder of SuperQuinn and Senator, Irish Parliament
Feargal Quinn is Executive Chairman of Superquinn, an independent Irish group, which he founded in 1960. Superquinn, a family-owned business, operates 20 supermarkets and 9 shopping centres.
Apart from his involvement with Superquinn, Feargal Quinn has made many other contributions to Irish life. For a decade he was chairman of An Post, the Irish postal system. He chaired a steering committee on the reform of a key element in Ireland's education system which oversaw the introduction of the Leaving Certificate Applied. He was chairman of St. Patrick’s Festival until 2003. Since 1993 he has been an independent member of the Irish Senate. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Dublin and by the National Council for Educational Awards. He received a Papal knighthood in 1994.
Senator Quinn serves on the board of directors of the American-based Food Marketing Institute and of CIES – the Food Business Forum based in Paris and is a Fellow of the Institute of Grocery Distribution in Britain.
José Quintela da Fonseca
José has a degree in Architecture, a Masters in Business Administration, and is now Senior Manager for Conceptual, Architectural and Design at Sonae Sierra.
The main shopping centres that have been developed under his design orientation include: Guimarãe Shopping in Portugal (ICSC commendation); ViaCatarina in Portugal (ICSC and MIPIM awards); NorteShopping in Portugal (ICSC award); Centro Colombo in Portugal(ICSC award, ICSC Design award in Las Vegas, MIPIM award); Centro Vasco da Gama in Portugal (ICSC award, ICSC Design award in Las Vegas, MIPIM award); Algarve Shopping in Portugal (ICSC commendation); Madeira Shopping in Madeira, Portugal (ICSC award); Parque D. Pedro in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; and Plaza Mayor in Málaga, Spain (ICSC Award).
José is working on the following centres which are currently under development: Alexa in Berlin, Germany; Freecia Rossa in Brescia, Italy; and Aegean Park in Athens, Greece.
Geoffrey Reid, Chairman, REID architecture
Geoffrey Reid has been a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects since 1974 and joined the BCSC in 1985.
In 1979 he formed REID architecture where he continues in his role as Chairman.
REID architecture is one of the Top 10 practices in the UK and is renowned for its Retail and Mixed Use Design.
The practice is currently working on many town centre regeneration projects across the country including Enfield, Bolton and Feltham and are architects for the multi-award winning ‘Gunwharf Quays’ in Portsmouth and ‘The Gate’ in Newcastle.
Geoffrey Reid has delivered a number of presentations at previous BCSC conferences. The topics have included the importance of design in the retail environment and the need for retail-led urban regeneration.
Stuart Rose, Chief Executive, Marks and Spencer
Stuart started his retail career in 1972 as a management trainee at Marks & Spencer. During the next 17 years he held a variety of roles including 10 years in the Food Division, eventually becoming commercial director heading up the European Division based in Paris.
In 1989 he was recruited by the Burton Group as a buying and merchandising director for Debenhams. Subsequently he became managing director of Evans and two years later took on a similar role at Dorothy Perkins. He was then chief executive of the Multiples Division between 1994 – 1997.
After he left the Group, following the demerger in 1997, Stuart joined Argos plc as chief executive in order to defend the takeover bid from GUS. GUS succeeded in their bid and Stuart was then hired as chief executive of Booker plc, the grocery cash-and-carry group. During his 2 years with Booker, the group was re-focused, re-financed and eventually merged with Iceland plc in May 2000.
Stuart re-joined Arcadia Group plc as chief executive in November 2000. Arcadia Group then owned many well-known high street names including Burton Menswear, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Hawkshead, Miss Selfridge, Principles, Racing Green, Top Shop, Top Man, Wallis, and Warehouse. In 2001 Arcadia Group sold Hawkshead, Principles, Racing Green and Warehouse to a management buy-out team.
Stuart left Arcadia in December 2002 following its acquisition by Philip Green/Taveta Investments for £850 million.
He was named Chief Executive of Marks and Spencer plc on 31 May 2004.
He is Chairman of the British Fashion Council and a Non-Executive Director of Land Securities plc.
His interests are flying and wine.
Francis Salway, Chief Executive of Land Securities Group PLC
Francis Salway is Chief Executive of Land Securities Group PLC, having joined the company in 2000.
Prior to joining Land Securities, he was an Investment Director at Standard Life Investments where, for a period of 8 years, he managed their two unit linked property funds, one of which was awarded Micropal Standard & Poor’s 1st place for 5 year performance in 1999.
Prior to joining Standard Life Investments in the mid 1980’s, he undertook a year’s research at the College of Estate Management, culminating in the publication of a book titled ‘Depreciation of Commercial Property’.
Michael Shearwood, Managing Director, Zara UK
Mike qualified as an optician while working for Donald & Aitchenson during the 1980s. He progressed to Regional Director for London before joining Vision Express in 1992. He held various positions at Vision Express during his 8 years there from Divisional Operations Manager, Franchise & Development Director, Group Business Development Director to Operations and Services Director. The varied responsibilities of his roles at Vision Express enabled him to gain valuable experience in all areas of retail from Operations, logistics, systems, finance & audit, to marketing, manufacturing, property acquisitions, store concept & design, customer services & communication and professional services.
After the successful sale of Vision Express in 1997 to GPS of France, Mike stayed on and was instrumental in strategic brand repositioning and development of Vision Express to Vision Express Optical Lab concept.
After 17 years in the optical industry the challenge of operating in a different retail category (and learning Spanish) was too difficult to resist and Mike joined Inditex as the Managing Director for Zara UK. 4 years later Mike is now the Managing Director of 7 companies and 4 brands for Inditex in the UK and Ireland with Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Zara Home.
John Strachan, BCSC Vice-President, UK Head of Retail, Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker
John Strachan is Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker’s UK head of retail, with overall responsibility for its European operation and liaison with the global business.
Successes
Advising on two of Europe’s largest development projects – Xanadu in Madrid and Bullring Birmingham, each 1.5m sq.ft. of retail and leisure space. In the UK, John is currently working on several new city centre projects and a number of retail parks.
In more than 25 years as a retail property specialist, he has advised on over 40 major shopping mall developments, and has worked with many of Europe’s leading retailers, in both town and city centres and retail parks.
General
A graduate of Reading University and fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, John joined Healey & Baker in 1972 and became a partner in 1981.
Head of Retail since 1996, John is a member of the UK and International Boards, chairman of the remuneration panel and trustee of the St.George’s Superannuation Fund. He has served on the Commercial Property Committee of the RICS and the awards panel of the Company of Chartered Surveyors. He is Estates Governor of Harrow School. A member of the Shop Agents Society and Accessible Retail, he is on the Board of Management of the British Council of Shopping Centres, Chaired its Conference in 2000 and is currently Vice President.
The organiser reserves the right to make any changes to the programme, speakers and timings that may be necessary due to circumstances beyond their control.
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