Ann Allen
Manager Property Portfolio John Lewis Partnership Plc
Ann Allen joined John Lewis in 2008 bringing over 25 years of property experience to a newly created role heading up the Asset Management team.
Ann and her team have responsibility for the asset management of some 11m sq ft of property, including the 28 John Lewis Department Stores as well as the new “John Lewis at home” shop, distribution units, corporate offices and four Partner holiday centres.
Through a varied career Ann has gained a breadth of property experience working for both owners and occupiers including SEGRO, Sears, HBOS and the Home Office.
Roger Bootle is one of the City of London’s best-known economists, having worked in or around the financial markets since 1978. As well as being Managing Director of Capital Economics, he is also Economic Adviser to Deloitte, a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries. He was formerly Group Chief Economist at HSBC and before the change of government, he was appointed one of the Chancellor’s panel of economic forecasters, the so-called "Wise Men". He studied Economics at Oxford, and began his career in the academic world as a lecturer in Economics at St Anne’s College, Oxford.
Roger has written many articles on monetary economics and is joint author of the book, "Theory of Money", author of "Index-Linked Gilts" and of the bestseller "The Death of Inflation", which was published in April 1996 and has subsequently been translated into nine languages. Originally regarded as extreme, this book is now widely recognised as prophetic. Published in 2003, "Money for Nothing" correctly anticipated the current financial crisis and has been widely acclaimed and translated into Japanese, German, Italian and Korean. His latest book, "The Trouble With Markets", which will be published in October, analyses the deep causes of the crisis, and maps a way out.
Roger is a frequent performer at conferences and business gatherings around the world. He is a regular columnist for The Daily Telegraph and also appears frequently on national television and radio. Larry Elliott, economics editor of The Guardian, recently wrote: "It seems strange that no place has yet been found on the MPC for Roger Bootle, one of the country’s leading monetary economists."
Roger has a long and distinguished record of successful forecasting of major events and market movements, often in contrast to the prevailing orthodoxy of the time, including:
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Perceiving that real estate markets were caught up in a bubble.
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Foreseeing the serious impact of the credit crunch.
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Forecasting the collapse of the dotcom boom.
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Seeing that the UK would be forced out of the ERM in 1992 and, in contrast to the official Treasury line and the views of most forecasters, predicting that inflation and interest rates would fall.
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Forecasting that rising inflation would prompt UK interest rates to be raised to 15% in 1989.
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Realising that during the "hard monetarist" phase in 1979-81, inflation was going to fall sharply despite the fact the broad money supply was growing rapidly.
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And most famously, predicting as early as October 1990, that the financial climate in Europe and North America would be transformed by sustained low inflation - and maintaining this view even though many people in the market dismissed "The Death of Inflation" as a joke.
Mark Bowles joined HMV in 1999 and was appointed Property Director of HMV Group PLC in 2007. He is responsible for formulating and delivering the property strategy for the retail companies of HMV, Fopp and Waterstone's.
Mark has over 20 years property experience having previously worked for Allied Domecq Restaurants & Bars, Thorn High Street Properties, Sears and Norwich Union Investment Managers.
He sits on the Executive Committee of the Property Managers Association and is a member of the BCSC Retail Liaison Task Force.
Robin joined Elliott Bernerd in 1985 and in 1986 became a founder director of Chelsfield plc - a FTSE 250 publicly listed company. In this post, he initiated and developed a number of major international regeneration projects including Paddington Basin, White City and Stratford City in London. He also undertook the award-winning re-planning of the emerging Brierley Hill town centre, based around the Merry Hill regional retail facility in the West Midlands.
In November 2004, with assets including three of the largest retail projects in the UK, Chelsfield plc became part of Westfield. The retail projects in process at the time of the transition have been retained and are being progressed.
Robin moved to Lend Lease Corporation in 2005, working within Lend Lease Europe - the operating company for the business in Europe and the Middle East, including Bovis Lend Lease EMEA. Robin was appointed CEO and deputy chairman in February 2007. He announced his resignation from Lend Lease in September 2008 and will retain executive responsibilities until 2009.
Jeremy Collins
BCSC President,
Head of Retail Development, John Lewis
Jeremy is Head of Retail Development at John Lewis and has over 25 years of experience in property.
Having graduated from Reading University with a degree in Land Management he spent his formative years in the Economic Development Unit of Wirral Borough Council.
He then moved into the world of retail property, first with Bredero Properties, Grosvenor Square Properties/Associated British Ports, and MEPC. He moved to Lend Lease in 1998 to lead the development of Touchwood Shopping Centre, Solihull, before heading the company's UK retail team.
In late 2003 Jeremy joined John Lewis as Head of Retail Development to lead the expansion of the Partnership's development stores portfolio. To date ten new locations have been announced by John Lewis and shops have been opened in Cambridge, Liverpool and Leicester, with new shops under construction in Cardiff (2009 opening) and Stratford (2011 opening). Jeremy also has responsibility for the Asset and Property management of the portfolio.
Jeremy is President of BCSC. "I am keen to see BCSC grow and develop as a centre of excellence for research to inform the retail property industry, to strengthen relationships with partners, especially retailers and local authorities, and to reinforce our standing and influence with government."
Jonathan De Mello
Director of Property Consultancy,
Experian - Business Strategies Division
Experian Property Consultancy specialises in providing tailored solutions to the retail property sector. As Director of Property Consultancy, Jonathan has a wide-ranging role, incorporating management of a successful team of consultants and analysts, spearheading Experian’s consultancy offer worldwide, and creating strategies to help Experian’s clients to maximise their retail investment potential.
Jonathan has been working as a specialist consultant in the retail property sector for over 10 years, and his clients include Blackstone, Cargill, Henderson Global Investors, Land Securities, Lendlease, Redevco, Multi, UBS, Unibail-Rodamco and Westfield, all of which continue to benefit from his expertise and advice. Jonathan has worked on some of Europe's most high profile shopping centre developments, including Bluewater, Centro Oberhausen, Tres Aguas and Amsterdam’s Zuidas.
Jonathan is a member of the BCSC, ICSC and SPR, and regularly teaches ‘Advanced Research’ at the ICSC European Property School, which disseminates best practice education and advice to property professionals from around the world. As well as Jonathan’s client and teaching commitments, Jonathan regularly acts as a voice for Experian to the national and international media, having appeared as a retail expert on the BBC, ITN, Sky and Radio 4’s The Today Programme, and contributed to articles printed in the FT, Times, Telegraph, Economist and a range of specialist retail and property publications.
Paul Edwards
Head of Sustainability, Hammerson plc
Paul Edwards is the Head of Sustainability at Hammerson, a FTSE100 European REIT. Hammerson has concentrated on embedding sustainability into its culture and delivering community and environmental benefits to all assets and projects.
The results are already evident with two BREEAM Excellent certificates in 2008 and the existing portfolio showing a 10% reduction in carbon and 9% in water.
Hammerson was recently voted Sunday Times 12th greenest company in the UK, bronze status in BITC’s CR Index and named top in sector for Carbon Disclosure Project 6 scoring 96.
Before joining Hammerson, Paul worked for 10 years in Australia, USA and Asia, for Lend Lease and Arup. His projects in Australia won over 40 sustainability awards and delivered the first 5-star ABGR and 5 Green-star As Built ratings.
Dermot has led the Centre for Cities since 2005. The Centre is an independent research and policy institute, committed to helping UK cities improve their economic performance.
Previously, Dermot was a senior policy adviser at HM Treasury (1994-2005), including 3 years at the British Embassy in Washington DC (2001-04) and 2 years as a private secretary in both Ken Clarke’s and Gordon Brown's ministerial teams (1996-97). His range of Treasury policy responsibilities included financial services, the euro, productivity, enterprise and cities.
Dermot is from Clitheroe, Lancashire, and studied at Liverpool University (1986-89) and Queen's University, Belfast (1989-91).
Ken Ford
Executive Director,
Capital & Regional Plc
Ken Ford is an Executive Director of Capital & Regional Plc with responsibility for C&R's Retail Asset Management Platform, Capital & Regional Retail.
Assets under management across the retail park portfolio include, The Junction, and the leading UK fund of community shopping centres, The Mall - with a total value of approximately £2bn.
Ken has worked in commercial real estate for over 30 years specialising in retail. His career began in the agency field before he transferred to development, investment and management.
Julia Goldsworthy MP
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government
Julia Goldsworthy entered Parliament at her first attempt in 2005, gaining this seat from Labour on a 9.5 per cent swing and becoming the youngest MP in England. Her election in 2005 meant that the Liberal Democrats hold all the Westminster Parliament seats in Cornwall, for the first time since 1923.
Ms Goldsworthy initially worked as a researcher for the Liberal Democrat MP for Truro and St Austell, Matthew Taylor, before being appointed as a regeneration officer with the Carrick District Council, where she focused on regeneration issues and developing links with local businesses in the area. She remained there until her election to Westminster.
In Parliament, Ms Goldworthy was appointed as a spokeswoman on health by Charles Kennedy in 2005, and promoted in 2006 by new leader Sir Menzies Campbell, to become Vince Cable's deputy in the Treasury team, and was a member of the Public Administration select committee from 2005 until mid-2006.
Ms Goldworthy was promoted again in December 2007 to become Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government under Nick Clegg. She is also a member of the Public Administration Select Committee and a chair of the All Party rowing group.
Sir Stuart Hampson
Former Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership,
Chairman, Business Action on Economic Renewal Leadership Team
Sir Stuart Hampson became the John Lewis Partnership's fourth Chairman in February 1993.
Sir Stuart joined the Partnership in February 1982 and, after gaining retail experience in a number of department stores, he ran the Partnership's department store in Southampton, Tyrrell & Green (now John Lewis Southampton), as Managing Director for nearly three years.
In 1986 he was appointed to the Partnership's Central Board as Director of Research & Expansion and took charge of the Partnership's development programme. He was responsible for the first out-of-town John Lewis department store at High Wycombe (opened October 1988), as well as for new department stores at Aberdeen (October 1989) and Kingston (September 1990) and the relocation of Trewins in Watford (August 1990). The Deputy Chairmanship was added to his Partnership responsibilities in May 1989.
Sir Stuart has taken an active interest in planning policy and, as a founding member in May 1987 of the Oxford Retail Group, was closely involved in the debate on town centre/out-of-town development.
A Civil Service career for 12 years: the first part of Sir Stuart's career was spent in the Civil Service. He joined the Board of Trade in 1969, then served for two years in the UK Mission to the United Nations in Geneva
In 1978 he was appointed Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, Mr Roy Hattersley, in which post he was particularly concerned with pay, prices and mergers policy. On the change of Government in 1979 he was successively Private Secretary to the Minister for Consumer Affairs (then Mrs Sally Oppenheim) and the Secretary of State for Trade (then Mr John Nott) where he was closely concerned with general economic policy and that Department's special interest in export promotion and competition policy. Subsequently he served Mr John Biffen, Secretary of State in the same department.
In April 1981 he was promoted to Assistant Secretary and assigned to the team under Sir Derek Rayner which examined aspects of the efficiency of the Civil Service. His project dealt with personnel management in the Department of Trade and Industry.
London First: Sir Stuart was a founding Deputy Chairman of London First, the private/public sector partnership aimed at maintaining London's standing as a world-class capital (October 1992-December 1997).
Royal Society of Arts: Sir Stuart was a member of the RSA Inquiry into Tomorrow's Company: The Role of Business in a Changing World, and became a director of the Centre for Tomorrow's Company in 1996, and Chairman in 1998/99. He was elected to the Council of the RSA in 1995, served as Treasurer in 1997 and Chairman of the Society from May 1999-October 2001.
Royal Agricultural Society of England: President of the Society, 2005/06.
Honours: Sir Stuart was made a Knight Bachelor in the Queen's Birthday honours 1998. In 2001 he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship at St John's College, Oxford, from where he took his first degree (in modern languages) in 1969. He received an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Kingston University in January 1998, and from Southampton Solent University in November 2001.
Background and family: Sir Stuart was born in January 1947. He and his wife, Angela, have two grown up children. They live in Buckinghamshire.
Sarah Hannaford QC is a member of Keating Chambers. She specialises in construction, engineering and energy disputes with a particular focus on procurement law and regularly advises Government bodies, local authorities and industry clients on complex procurement issues.
Sarah has been involved in many of the leading procurement cases including Amaryllis Ltd v HM Treasury, R (on the application of the Law Society) v Legal Services Commission & the Lord Chancellor and BFS Group Ltd v (1) Secretary of State for Defence (2) Purple Foodservice Ltd.
William (Bill) Hicks QC read economics at Cambridge before coming to the Bar with the intention of specialising in planning. He was called in 1975 and took silk in 1995. He was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2000. He was joint head of Eldon Chambers one of the two Chambers which merged to form Landmark Chambers. He has been involved in a wide range of planning work for over 25 years.
Retail has always been an important part of his work. Examples of retail proposals that he has been involved with include Lakeside Thurrock, Cribbs Causeway Bristol, Liverpool One, Broadmarsh Nottingham, Park Place Croydon, M&S Warrington and Cardiff, and numerous food and retail warehouse proposals.
Ruairidh Jackson
Head of Planning and Property Strategy
The Co-operative Group
Ruairidh Jackson is Head of Planning and Property Strategy at The Co-operative Group. Before moving to The Co-operative in 2005, he worked in both local planning authorities and private practice. His present role includes responsibility for The Co-operative's major projects portfolio, including various renewable energy schemes, the redevelopment of the Group's 20 acre headquarters complex and delivery of a new head office in Manchester city centre, an eco town proposal near Leicester and other major masterplanning schemes in Scotland and South West England.
Ruairidh is also a board member of the National Retail Planning Forum and is closely involved in the Competition Commission's Review of Grocery Retailing and the Government's review of PPS 6.
Paul McNamara OBE
Head of Property Research,
PRUPIM
Paul joined Prudential Property Investment Managers Ltd in 1987 becoming Head of Property Research in 1990. He is responsible for the overall direction of property research and is also a Board Director.
Paul has a first class honours degree from the University of St Andrews and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh – both in Geography.
Paul was Chairman of the Investment Property Forum (IPF) 2005/2006 and was honoured by being made a Life Member of the IPF in January 2007. He is also a Fellow, a past President and a past Chairman of the UK Society of Property Researchers.
Amongst other activities, Paul is a Visiting Professor with the Department of Real Estate Management at Oxford Brookes University.
He is a non-executive director of international property investment performance measurers, IPD Holdings Limited.
Paul chairs the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change – Property Workstream and is Co-chair of the UNEP FI Property Working group.
Paul was awarded the OBE for services to the property industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in Summer 2003 and was awarded a lifetime achievement award by IPE in 2008
Paul has published widely across a range of property-related topics, most recently specialising in property derivatives and the impact of sustainability on property investment.
Bob Neill
MP
Conservative Shadow Minister for
Local Government and Planning
Bob Neill was elected as MP for Bromley and Chislehurst in June 2006 at a by-election following the sudden death of The Rt Hon Eric Forth. He had previously unsuccessfully contested Dagenham at the 1983 and 1987 general elections
Shortly after entering Parliament, Bob was appointed as a member of the Constitutional Affairs Committee which became the Justice Committee, a position he still holds. In 2007 Bob was appointed Shadow London Minister, joining the Shadow Communities & Local Government team. In 2008 he was made Shadow Local Government Minister, taking over the shadow planning brief and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and in January 2009.
He believes that it is vitally important to voice local people's concerns at Westminster and has consistently raised issues surrounding over-development and planning policy, the pressure of council tax, the quality and cost of rail services into Central London and the standard of public services across the borough.
Mr Neill was born in June 1952 and was educated at Abbs Cross Grammar School in Hornchurch. He went on to study law at the London School of Economics, gaining a Law LLB in 1973.
After finishing his degree, he spent a year as a trainee dealer at the London Stock Exchange in 1974, before joining a private law practice as barrister in 1975. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1990.
Prior to entering Parliament, Bob had been active in local government for a number of years. He represented Romford on the Greater London Authority and was Greater London Conservatives Deputy Chair from 1993-96 and Chair from 1996-99. He also led the GLA Conservative group from 2000-02. Bob also served as a councillor in the London Borough of Havering for 16 years, chairing the Environment and Social Services Committees.
He currently serves on the Metropolitan Police Authority and is a board member of the London Regional Arts Council.
His policy interests include policing and criminal justice, local government, planning, the environment and arts.
In his spare time he enjoys the theatre, travel, opera and sailing.
Alistair Parker
Development Partner,
Cushman & Wakefield
Alistair Parker, a Cushman & Wakefield Development Partner, is an acknowledged expert in retail led city and town centre regeneration schemes, both in the UK and internationally. Alistair's command of a combination of disciplines including investment, town planning, financial appraisal and urban design, is the principal reason for the recognition of the firm as a centre of expertise and market leader in retail led development.
He is also much involved in the 'Sustainable Communities' programme having been the advisor to Liverpool City Council on Grosvenor's 234,000m2 Liverpool One scheme and is currently advising Sheffield City Council in their partnership with Hammerson on the New Retail Quarter (105,000 m2). Other current involvements include the town centre schemes in Stockport, Northwich, Macclesfield, Crawley and Preston.
A graduate of Manchester University in Town Planning, Alistair Parker joined Healey & Baker in l980 initially undertaking retail agency in Ireland. He joined the Development team in 1985 and became a Partner in 1989. He is a member of the BPF Development & Regeneration, BCSC Conference and BCSC Urban Task Force Committees.
He is not related to Charlie Parker (below) although they worked together in Liverpool and were both born in the same hospital - in Kampala, Uganda.
Charlie Parker
Chief Executive, Oldham City Council
Charlie Parker is Chief Executive of Oldham Borough Council, the Lead Chief Executive for Greater Manchester Environment Commission Strategy team and Clerk to the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Previously Charlie was Director of Investment and Performance at English Partnerships where h e had overall responsibility for the agency's programme management and asset transfer functions, as well as its commercial joint ventures with Priority Sites, Network Space and the English Cities Fund.
In his position as Executive Director for Regeneration at Liverpool City Council, h is portfolio covered a wide range of services including regional policy, planning, estates, economic development, transport, social exclusion, city centre development (including retail and building infrastructure), environmental maintenance, street cleaning and housing.
He was involved in the major retail development in Liverpool as part of a joint venture initiative with Grosvenor Estates. The scheme was a 2m sq ft mixed-use expansion of the existing retail offer and he led the Council's team from the selection of the partner, through two major enquiries and the negotiation of the development agreement to a start on site.
Charlie also worked with the Milligan Group who developed the city's MET quarter. He was a key player in the Council's support for establishment of the new business improvement District (BID) for the current retail core. He has significant public sector experience of retailing and shopping and shares BCSC’s commitment to ensuring best practice between developers, local authorities and agents.
Charlie was also Chairman of the 2006 BCSC Conference & Showcase.
The former Enfield MP is now firmly established as a broadcaster and political commentator. Alongside television series on Spain and the natural world, he shares the sofa on This Week, weighs up ethical dilemmas on The Moral Maze, writes newspaper columns and reviews theatre for The New Statesman.
Michael Portillo began his career in the Conservative Party research department, developing policies for reducing the role of the state. He then became an advisor to the Secretary of State for Energy, working on privatisation schemes in oil, gas, electricity and coal.
Portillo won a parliamentary seat in the 1984 General Election, and was soon appointed a Government Whip and then Under-Secretary at the Department of Health & Social Security. In turn he was promoted to Minister of State for Transport then Local Government, where he oversaw the abolition of the poll tax.
He entered Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, controlling public spending and managing departmental allocations. He became Employment Secretary two years later, and finally took over at Defence - with a budget of £22bn. Often considered the greatest leader the Conservative Party never had, Michael talks about the problem with politicians.
Cllr John Shipley OBE
Leader,
Newcastle City Council
John Shipley is Leader of Newcastle City Council. He represents Parklands Ward and was first elected as a Councillor in May 1975. The City Council has 78 Elected Members (50 Liberal Democrat, 27 Labour and 1 Independent). The City is the regional capital of North East England, with a population of approximately 275,500.
From 1978 – 1998 John was Leader of the Liberal and then Liberal Democrat group on the Council and Leader of the Opposition for ten years from 1988-1998.
Since the local elections in May 2004 when the Liberal Democrats became the majority party, John was a member of the Executive as the Portfolio holder for Policy Co-ordination and Development. He now Chairs the Executive, following his appointment as Leader of the Council in May 2006.
John represents the City Council on a number of outside bodies including the Northern Way Steering Group and the Northern Way Transport Compact. He was appointed a Board Member of One North East in December 2005 and is a Board member of both the NewcastleGateshead City Development Company (1NG) and the Newcastle Science City Company Ltd. He chairs the Newcastle Partnership (LSP) and is a board member of the Theatre Royal Trust.
John worked for over 30 years with The Open University and was Regional Director for the North and for the European Union for 8 years until 2005.
Cllr David Sparks OBE
Chair, Regeneration and Transport Board,
LGA
Born in Warrington, Lancashire, David gained a BA Honours in Politics from Lancaster University. He worked as process worker in the chemical industry before moving to Birmingham as a careers adviser. He has qualifications in Vocational Guidance and is a member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
David was member for Birmingham Sparkhill from 1977-86, and deputy leader for West Midlands County Council until its abolition in 1986. He has been Councillor for Quarry Bank & Cradley on Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council since 1986. A careers adviser in Birmingham since 1972, David also worked part-time with Connexions until mid 2008.
David’s interests include rugby league (he was a qualified rugby league referee and is a Warrington fanatic), rugby union and Everton FC. He likes whiskey, port, and real ale and is an out-of-control bibliomaniac, with a lock-up garage full of second hand books.
Andy Spracklen is principal navigator and coach. He is an urban entrepreneur, planner, strategist, marketer, advocate, critical friend, facilitator and trainer all-in-one.
Andy is renowned for his energy, passion and dedication in shaping distinctive places, making connections between agendas and motivating the agents of change.
He is a former director of EDAW and a former associate director of Halcrow. With over 15 years in the industry Andy has built up a wide range of project leadership experience in strategic planning, masterplanning, visioning, sustainable development, urban regeneration and community and stakeholder engagement.
Andy also co-owns Ning restaurant in Manchester City Centre where he lives. His knowledge of this sector provides a unique twist to his skills set, creatively applying an understanding of food culture, retail operation, business management, marketing and branding to the field of urban planning.
Andy takes an engaging and confidence-building approach with his clients. He is also an experienced workshop facilitator, event organiser, conference speaker and has featured in regional, national and international media.
Steve Weaver was appointed Chief Executive of Blackpool Council in April 2002.
He was formerly Executive Director at Blackburn-with-Darwen Borough Council, responsible for Education, Social Services, Leisure and Rights Advice Entitlement.
As Head of Policy he was responsible for Urban Programme, European Funding, SRB and City Challenge as well as policy development, community relations and research.
He also spent 13 years as a town planner and has a range of related experience in finance, legal IT and personnel.
Steve received a diploma in Urban and Regional Planning from Sheffield Polytechnic in the mid 1980’s, and holds an honours degree in Geography and Geology from Sheffield University. He has a teaching qualification and has had several years of teaching experience.
He is a member of SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives), and a Board member of the Lancashire Economic Partnership.
Sue Willcox
Head of Town Planning, Transportation and
Property Communications,
Sainsbury's
Sue Willcox is Head of Town Planning, Transportation and Property Communications at Sainsbury’s.
Understanding and working with the planning system is key to Sainsbury’s growth plans and this role is to advise on emerging policy direction as well as to provide sound advice on projects.
Sue Chairs the Planning Committee of the British Property Federation and last September launched the BPF Planning Manifesto which was well received.
Sue is also a member of the BITC/CLG Underserved Markets Project which looks at the policy environment for retail led regeneration projects. Sue has given evidence to the Competition Commission on retail planning matters in the recent Grocery Sector Inquiry and also gave evidence to the Select Committee earlier this year looking at PPS6/4 and the proposals to replace the needs test with an impact test.
Peter Williams
Non-Executive Director,
ASOS plc and Cineworld Group plc
Peter is currently a non-executive director of ASOS plc, the online fashion retailer and Cineworld Group plc, one of the UK’s leading cinema chains, and is a member of the Design Council.
From December 2008 to May 2009 he was the executive director at JJB Sports plc responsible for the turnaround strategy. During that period he redefined the retail proposition, renegotiated the banking facilities, closed 2 loss making subsidiaries, disposed of the leisure division, restructured the plc board and implemented a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) – a first for a UK listed company.
For 13 years up to 2004, Peter worked for Selfridges, initially as Chief Financial Officer and then as Chief Executive, during its radical transformation from ‘Grace Brothers’ to one of the world’s leading department stores. Following Selfridges, he was the Chief Executive of Alpha Airports Group plc, an international company specialising in tax and duty free retailing and airline catering.
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen, Peter has held executive positions with Accenture, Aiwa (a division of Sony), Bandive Limited and Freemans plc. His previous non-executive positions have been with Capital Radio Group plc and GCap Media plc
Richard Wise, Chief Executive of Centros, leads a highly-skilled and experienced team specialising in retail-led city centre regeneration and retail asset management.
Over the past decade, Centros has delivered ten major schemes, all based on traditional open streets and a mix of uses. The most recent is arc in Bury St Edmunds, a 265,000 sq ft development anchored by Debenhams. As well as its 36 shops – more than 90% let despite the current economic difficulties - arc includes 62 apartments, 800 parking spaces and a 500-seat, multi-purpose public venue building. Having opened in March this year, arc has surpassed expectations, with retailers trading strongly and footfall exceeding projections.
Centros's current development pipeline includes: Northern Quarter, Portsmouth; Castle View, Lancaster; and Castle Piccadilly, York.
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BCSC, 1 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9BT
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