Real Estate:UK Annual Conference 2026 - Navigating Uncertainty, Exploring Opportunity

Hear from former interim chief executive and current Strategic Advisor Melanie Leech as she shares why the inaugural Real Estate:UK Annual Conference is a must-attend event for the industry. Bringing together senior leaders from across UK real estate, the day will explore the political, economic and market forces shaping the sector, alongside valuable opportunities to connect, learn and exchange ideas.

Vanessa Hale has been confirmed as Real Estate:UK’s founding Chief Executive ahead of its official launch as the new collective voice of the UK’s real estate industry on 30 April.

She joins Real Estate:UK from BNP Paribas Real Estate where she was Head of Research & Strategy and a member of the UK executive leadership team.

Vanessa has more than 20 years of global experience in research and strategy within the built environment, providing advisory services on complex projects across various asset classes such as the Build-to-Rent, office, retail, and industrial sectors. 

Her significant contributions to the Urban Land Institute include serving as the youngest Chair of ULI UK, regularly liaising with government bodies and engaging with media.

Dr Ed Braund is an Associate Professor in Computational Intelligence, Head of the School of Computing, Engineering, & Creative Industries, and Director of Luton Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the University of Bedfordshire.

His world-leading research focuses on the information processing abilities of logical, chemical, and physical systems to develop processors, sensors, and new forms of computational intelligences.

With colleagues, Ed recently created Luton AI, a civic organisation based at the University, which capitalises on the university’s expertise in AI and automation research to foster an ecosystem that drives business innovation and creates high-skilled job opportunities in the region. Since its launch in Spring 2024, Luton AI has engaged over 300 organisations and conducted specialised projects to support AI transformation. Ed has previously held senior leadership positions at other universities and has extensive consulting experience.

David Rennie is Geopolitics Editor of The Economist and author of The Telegram column.

He joined The Economist in 2007. From 2007-10 he was the EU correspondent and “Charlemagne” columnist, based in Brussels. From 2010-12 he was British political editor and “Bagehot” columnist, in London. In the summer of 2012 he moved to Washington DC. He was “Lexington” columnist 2012-17, and Washington bureau chief 2013-18. From 2018 to September 2024 he was Beijing bureau chief and “Chaguan” columnist. 

Previously, he was on the foreign staff of the Daily Telegraph, with postings in Sydney, Beijing, Washington DC and Brussels.

He won the 2010 UACES/Thomson Reuters “Reporting Europe” award. The Asia Society awarded the 2023 Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia to David Rennie and Sue-Lin Wong for their coverage of China.

Gerard Lyons is a highly respected economist and has been described by The Times as 'one of the most influential analysts of the global economy.' On public policy he was senior advisor to Gordon Brown’s Business Council for Britain, advised Boris Johnson when Mayor of London and was a candidate for Governor of the Bank of England in 2019. On the environment he has sat on the Advisory Board of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment since its inception in 2008. He is a board member of Bank of China (UK) and of BGC Partners, the global brokerage firm, has an excellent Forecasting record and is an active contributor to the economic policy debate.

James Seppala is the Chairman of Blackstone Europe and the Head of Real Estate Europe. Based in London, he joined Blackstone in 2011.

Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Seppala was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs & Co, where he spent 10 years focused on equity and debt investment opportunities in Europe and the United States on behalf of Goldman Sachs’s real estate private equity group.

 Mr. Seppala graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2001. Mr. Seppala currently serves as Chairman of BEPIF. He also serves on the Imperial College Council, the Imperial College Endowment Board, the advisory board of the Academy of Real Assets, is a governor of the John Lyon's Foundation, and serves on the European Advisory Board of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School. 

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Canary Wharf Group since 2021. Previous Executive Director roles include CFO at IQ Student Accommodation and Countryside Properties, CEO and Founder of Lodestone Capital Partners and CFO of Quintain. Previous Non Executive roles include Board Member and Chair of the Audit committee for British Land Plc, Hansteen Plc, Aga Rangemaster Plc and Alstria Office Reit AG. 

Simon Robson Brown is Head of Real Assets, Europe at Citco. He joined Citco in 2025 and is responsible for leading the firm’s real assets strategy across the region. Simon has over 25 years of investment experience and previously served as a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he led European listed real estate strategies. He was also a Board member the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA). Prior to this, he was a Principal and Portfolio Manager at CBRE Investment Management and held real estate research and analyst roles at UBS and Citigroup. Simon began his career at PwC. He holds a BA (Hons) from St John’s College, Cambridge, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

John is a recognised authority on real estate investment funds. In addition to his consulting work, he is non-executive chair of the SURE Residential Fund, a non-executive director of the Patrizia Hanover fund and a senior advisor to Enterprise Land. From 2014 to 2022 he was independent chair of the Supervisory Board of the UBS Triton property fund.

Prior to setting up John Forbes Consulting LLP, John spent 26 years at PwC where he was a partner and was the firm's international Subject Matter Expert for real estate funds.

Until their recent merger with the British Property Federation (BPF) to form Real Estate:UK (RE:UK), John was co-chair of the Public Policy Committee of the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF) and a member of the Indirect Investment Committee of the Investment Property Forum (IPF). He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Construction & Real Estate Steering Group and organises the UK real estate capital markets programme for the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Svitlana Gubriy is Head of Indirect Real Assets at Aberdeen and a senior investment professional with over 20 years’ experience across global real estate markets. She leads the firm’s indirect real asset strategies, with responsibility for global portfolio construction across listed and private real estate, including capital allocation, manager selection and oversight of multi-manager platforms.  Svitlana has invested across multiple market cycles and brings a global perspective, informed by regular engagement with company management teams and investor relations functions. Her experience spans public and private markets, investment banking and private equity, giving her a broad and integrated view of capital markets and real asset investing.  She is a member of the FTSE EPRA Nareit European Advisory Committee and is based in Edinburgh.

Lee is responsible for all aspects of strategy and execution relating to LGPS Central’s c.£8bn of global real estate investments (managed on behalf of 15 partner pension funds). Previously, he was Head of Real Estate at the Pension Protection Fund and spent 13yrs in the indirect real estate teams at Aviva Investors and LaSalle Investment Management, delivering global real estate investment solutions including launching LaSalle's flagship multi strategy global real estate fund. Prior to this, Lee held research and portfolio analysis roles with IPD (now MSCI) and CBRE Global Investors. Lee holds a BSc in biochemistry from Imperial College London.

Responsibilities at Schroders Capital

Nick is the Global Head of Real Estate at Schroders Capital and Chair of the Direct Investment Committee. Nick is also the Chief Executive of the regulated manager entity, Schroder Real Estate Investment Management Limited.

Background

Prior to joining Schroders in January 2012, Nick was Head of UK Investment at Invista Real Estate. Nick began his investment carreer at La Salle Investment Management. 

Education

Nick was awarded a BSc (Hons) in Estate Surveying, is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is an FCA approved person.

Jo Jackson is a Director at SEGRO, with responsibility for the Thames Valley portfolio, a £3bn‑plus commercial portfolio predominately based at Slough Trading Estate. Jo leads the full lifecycle of the portfolio with responsibility for asset management, leasing and development. Prior to joining SEGRO in 2021, Jo spent 15 years within valuation consultancy working for CBRE, Deloitte and Drivers Jonas providing valuation advice for a wide range of investors including property companies, funds and banks.

Jo is a board member of RE:UK following being a long-term member of Investment Property Forum (IPF), a prior board member of Investment Property Forum and chairing IPF’s Future Leaders committee since 2020. Jo is now chairing RE:Futures committees who will be responsible for driving the programme for all those within the Real Estate industry with up to 15 years experience.

We are delighted to welcome Citco as a Headline Sponsor for this year’s event. Their support reflects the importance of bringing together leading voices from across the industry, and we are pleased to partner with the team at Citco.

Citco is a global provider of fund administration and financial solutions, supporting many of the world’s largest institutional investors, alternative asset managers and multinational companies.

With more than 75 years of experience, Citco delivers end‑to‑end administration across real estate and infrastructure strategies. Its integrated approach covers entire fund structures, including SPVs and underlying asset‑level entities, and supports managers across the full fund and asset lifecycle. Drawing on deep industry expertise and technology‑enabled solutions, Citco administers complex, multi‑jurisdictional structures on a global basis. Find out more at https://www.citco.com/.

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP (CMS) is a leading international law firm with a strong presence across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. Formed through a series of mergers, CMS brings together deep expertise across corporate, real estate, finance, infrastructure, energy, and technology sectors. The firm advises corporates, financial institutions, governments, and investors on complex domestic and cross-border matters, with particular strength in real estate transactions, development projects, and investment structuring. Known for its sector-led and commercially focused approach, CMS combines local market knowledge with international reach to support clients on some of the most significant and high-value deals globally. Find out more here.

Travers Smith is a London headquartered independent full-service law firm working with some of the world's premier global asset managers, corporate organisations and banks. The strong full-service real estate practice advises private equity real estate funds, corporates and other investors, developers, lenders and occupiers on complex commercial property transactions across all asset classes. The team handles the full lifecycle of real estate work, from acquisitions, development projects and disposals to joint ventures, real estate finance, asset management and disputes, often with a cross-border dimension drawing on the firm’s broader corporate, tax, finance and funds expertise. Clients value Travers Smith’s commercial, pragmatic approach and its ability to bring specialist input on structuring, regulatory and ESG issues that increasingly shape real estate deals, making it a trusted adviser for global institutional investors, private equity real estate funds, REITs and major property companies. Learn more about how Travers Smith can support you here.

Anna O'Kennedy, Communication Trainer and Coach, Great Speech Writing and Communications

Having spent 15 years as an English teacher and leader in secondary schools, Anna decided to make a change. Her love of the written and spoken word led her to pursue a career in corporate communications, where she aims to save us all from cliché, cringe and death by bullet point!