About Us

Paul provides overall leadership and direction, both strategically and operationally, for the firm’s real estate principally in Europe, Middle East and Africa but also all major global real estate projects outside the US.

Whilst leading his team through two mergers, one globalisation and the disposal of the firm’s consultancy business to IBM, including a European collocation exercise of 14,000 projects and 50,000 people moves, Paul additionally initiated, developed and implemented a Real Estate Centre of Excellence to support PwC property initiatives worldwide.

Other major achievements include: significantly reducing overhead costs in operational properties; the adoption and integration of new working practices as part of the firm’s business culture ‘PwC global workplace’; management of change including both the restructuring of the real estate group and the communication/structure necessary to implement new accommodation initiatives .

Paul continually leads research on the future working environment and is a regular speaker and contributor for both UK and International Property Conferences and Conventions.

Robin Harris has 20 years' experience in the property industry, including nine years with ISG. For the last two years he has been Sales & Marketing Director with COMO Group Ltd, a subsidiary of MACE.

Robin has been a member on the Board of the UK Chapter of CoreNet Global since its inception in 2002 following the integration of NACORE and IDRC, where he also played an active role.

As VP Programmes on the UK Board, Robin has overseen the UK Chapter's annual events calendar, which includes around 15 events plus the UK Summit and Awards Dinner. In addition to his responsibilities as VP Programmes, Robin was elected as Joint Deputy President in March 2006, and he took over the role of President in September 2007.

Robin's interests include dinghy and yacht sailing, as well as the odd spot of golf when time allows.

Nigel Baker joined Microsoft in 2004 as the Director of Corporate Services - International for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA).  Within his remit, he covers 5 disciplines, namely Real Estate and Facilities, Travel and Entertainment, General Procurement, Marketing Procurement and Auto Car Programme.

The EMEA region comprises of in excess of 65 countries, with a total of 210 properties, providing over 4mft².

Before joining Microsoft, Nigel was the Director of EMEA Real Estate at EDS (Electronic Data Systems).  He held this position for over 5 years.  During his time there, he was accountable for the property portfolio for the region which included handling new acquisitions, disposal of properties, lease renewals and re-gearing of leases.  One of the key success factors made within the region during his time there, was the decrease in the number of mt² per head and the FM outsourcing programme that happened within various countries, such as the UK, Belgium, France and Germany.

Nigel qualified as a surveyor and operated as a developer for a number of years.  He lives in Chiswick, West London with his wife and son.

Ian is an Executive Director of AYH.

Qualifying as a Building Surveyor, Ian's early career focussed on Project Management. His potential was soon recognised by AYH and his career development was fast tracked during the early/mid 1990's, resulting in him becoming actively involved in the AYH service broadening programme. As a major supporter of the company's sectorisation, and due to his background of working with occupiers and end users, Ian has been instrumental in project delivery at AYH as well as proactive client account management. Utilising his ability and strategic vision to develop ideas, together with his dynamic management and business knowledge, Ian has worked with many client organisations across all sectors assisting them in many aspects of their property portfolio rationalisation. He is now the Director responsible for the Client Development Group.

Jonathan has 12 years experience in the Construction Industry working for two leading cost consultancies. He graduated from Reading University in 1997 and has progressed quickly through his career obtaining a directorship with Turner and Townsend at 30 years of age. He is currently responsible for leading a 30 strong Commercial Occupier Team in the successful delivery of value added cost management services for blue chip clients such as HSBC, Macquarie and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Jonathan's interests outside work include football, travelling and golf whenever the opportunity arises.

Julie is the Head of Eversheds Real Estate Occupier Team and has significant experience in managing both UK and international transactions.

Julie's team co-ordinate and deliver real estate legal services across 135 jurisdictions and have dealt with a wide range of transactions including the acquisition of new premises in Moscow, Belgium and Italy. Lease regearing in Ireland, disposal of surplus manufacturing space in Germany and project managing a major joint venture in China.

The team are also responsible for managing global property portfolios including dealing with everything from day to day operational queries and transactional matters to strategic reviews.

Helen Butcher‘s  professional career reflects over fifteen years experience in Corporate Real Estate in multifaceted operations within Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. She is adept in the orchestration of programme and project management; planning, identifying resources and leading teams, most recently within the medical technology industry.

Helen joined the UK Chapter Board in May 2007 and is responsible for Communications. She has been instrumental in the setting up of the new web site.

She is committed to raising the profile of the Chapter and ensuring their voice is represented on all major property issues.

Harry is currently the European Real Estate Manager for Electrolux Major Appliances, the major Swedish White Goods Manufacturer. He has worked for them for 9 years. His focus is the provision of strategic advice to the operating business, which integrates real estate and financial analysis with the business drivers, to arrive at commonly agreed solutions.

His background and experience is varied. His career started as a Stockbroker before he moved into  real estate, initially in private practice, then retail banking (sorting out bad loan portfolios) and then latterly within Corporate Real Estate.

He has worked for end users for the last 15 years, 12 of which have been on the international stage, Europe, the Australasia's and North America.

Harry's interest in Corporate Real Estate has involved him in a variety of different arenas, speaking at conferences and both contributing and reviewing articles for different publications. He is also actively involved with Corenet and is currently Deputy VP learning on the UK Board.

Tracey Byer has been at DTZ since 2000, and primarily responsible for both creation and
management of large global corporate client relationships, including management of service delivery from transactions, through to valuations, financial re-engineering of real estate portfolios, including value creation via redevelopment/alternative use.

Richard Watton graduated with a Diploma in Estate Management in 1982 and has worked in a wide variety of real estate roles over the past 25 years. Initially based in the Midlands in England he specialised in residential building surveying, estate agency and property management. A move into rural practice work in 1984 involved compensation, land management and development.

In 1988 he relocated to Hong Kong, joining the commercial department of what is now CBRE. After 10 years specialising in office agency, marketing and corporate services he joined The Chase Manhattan Bank as regional portfolio manager for the Bank's occupational real estate in 1997.

Following the acquisition of Robert Fleming and subsequent merger with JP Morgan he was appointed Regional head of Real Estate Business Services with overall responsibility for the provision of real estate, facilities and general office services in the Asia Pacific Region. He gained extensive practical experience throughout the diverse real estate markets in Asia and managed a team of professionals comprising surveyors, architects, engineers, facility and project managers.

In 2005 he relocated with JPMorgan to London, to take on the role as Business Executive for Corporate Real Estate for the Europe Middle East and Africa region and
in 2007 he joined Lehman Brothers as Head of International Corporate Real Estate.

He has extensive international experience in the delivery of the integrated real estate, construction, property management, real estate finance, critical systems and engineering functions.

Now based in London he is a Chartered Surveyor, was Formerly Asia Pacific Regional Chairman of CoreNet Global, and is a member of the UK Board.

Stuart Bowman is the Director of the Energy and Sustainability Division at multi-disciplinary consulting engineers, hurleypalmerflatt. Stuart is a passionate believer in "evolution not revolution" when helping clients to achieve changes in their energy policies. He is process-driven, believing that effective change requires working with the flow in organisations, and not against it.

Stuart is also a Low Carbon Consultant and a Carbon Trust Adviser. He has vast experience in delivering sustainable solutions for construction as well as strategic environments, and his work spans most sectors of industry from commercial to education to healthcare.

Stuart is currently heading up phase three in the energy and sustainability solution for Stockley Park, which is the first data centre to meet GLA energy requirements. This project includes a 5MW on site Combined Heat Power and Cooling Energy Centre together with a 500kW Geothermal Heating and Cooling scheme. He is also currently fronting an on-site renewable and energy study for a corporate telecommunications company, which is likely to include a 40MW energy centre.

With well over twenty years experience in the Real Estate Industry I am employed by Black & Decker as Director of European Real Estate. The role covers the EMEA and Asia Pacific Regions and covers approx 5,500,000 sq.ft. in around 140 buildings.

The Global Real Estate team for Black & Decker comprises two people and is responsible for circa 17,000,000 m sq ft world wide with 350 plus locations in 100 plus countries. A significant proportion of this changes in any given year.

The role focuses on close liaison with the various business units and requires that the Real Estate function delivers solutions that meet the requirements of the individual business units in both the short and medium term. These must be achieved in such a way that the overall Corporate Objectives are adhered to, significant input is required and made into these so far as they relate to Real Estate.

Projects handled over the nine years I have been in this position cover all the normal Real Estate functions such as acquisition, disposal and fitting out works. However these functions only take place and the end of a lengthy and detailed business planning process that assesses the needs of the business and the best methods of delivery. Approximately 50% of my time is spent in this business planning and analysis stage.

Example of Major Projects.

• Acquisition and construction of four major new production facilities (32,000 sq m, 27,000 sq m, 12,000 sq m & 24,000 sqm) in China. Also handled office acquisitions in China, smaller factory acquisitions, marketing surplus manufacturing space in China and Taiwan and sold a large plant in Malaysia.
• Member of Core Planning team for Restructuring of European manufacturing operations that lead to closure of one UK plant and creation of a new plant in Czech. This was a fundamental element of rebuilding the European business such that it met all the key financial targets. I remain part of the core team that reviews manufacturing strategy on a rolling basis.
• Full Business Analysis of Distribution options for Middle East ie third party v in house v current scenario. Subsequently procured and constructed 13,000 sq m facility which we decided to own after lease v buy analysis. Currently this is being extended to add warehouse capacity and create a new office for he MEA Region HQ.
• Work with supply chain to rationalise European finished goods distribution network. 
• Restructuring of sales offices across one European sub-region to reduce costs and enhance future flexibility.
• Leading project to review Facilities management in Asia.

Elizabeth Parry is the Global Centre of Excellence for Real Estate for Cisco Systems. She joined Cisco in 2000 and was initially based in Hong Kong where she was Real Estate Manager for the AsiaPacific / Japan region.

Elizabeth has 22 years corporate real estate experience. Immediately prior to joining Cisco, Elizabeth was with CB Richard Ellis, where latterly she was based in Hong Kong and focused on providing real estate consultancy services to occupiers in Asia Pacific / Japan. Prior to that, she set up the CBRE office in Bombay; was Chief Representative for the company in Vietnam and; set up the property management infrastructures for newly developed schemes in Bangkok. She began her career in London with Drivers Jonas.

Elizabeth has a M.A. in Economics from Edinburgh University and a post-graduate Diploma in Land Economics from Aberdeen University. She is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Andrew joined Johnson Controls in 2008 after spending 3 years at The Walt Disney Company as International CRE Director responsible for a 2m sqft mixed office and studio portfolio in Europe and Asia Pacific.  He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in International Corporate Real Estate Services from a client and service provider perspective.  Andrew’s remit is to continue the growth of the Real Estate Services group across EMEA region.

Andrew has over 17 years experience providing strategic consulting and transactions advice to many Fortune 100 companies throughout Europe and Asia Pacific, working closely with project management and facility management specialists.  He has extensive experience of corporate governance advice, process improvements and outsourced service provider contracts.  He has focused on providing a business focussed real estate solution driven approach to problem solving based on a thorough understanding of the business drivers, marketplace and cultural issues. 

Previous Experience and Achievements:

• At The Walt Disney Company managed Real Estate Account Managers and Regional Transaction Service Providers to provide portfolio strategy, occupancy planning, acquisitions and disposals, lease renewals, options review and decision support to local Disney LoBs in 25 countries Projects ranged from small serviced office contacts to asset management strategy for 300,000sqft HQ. Approx 40 active international projects per year.
• Global Relationship Manager for a global bank responsible for portfolio management including global real estate database, generating monthly business unit reports on occupancy, cost and performance metrics worldwide, benchmarking performance of key buildings and internal scorecard. 
• Overall client manager for Wang Global and responsible for outsourced European Real Estate team of 3 people managing 450,000sqm portfolio of over 300 buildings in 23 countries.  Advised on real estate due diligence for corporate takeover reporting to International CEO; identified contingent  liabilities resulting in $25m+ reduction of purchase price; thereafter successfully implemented consolidation plan, achieving annual occupancy cost savings of $30m including disposal of 150,000sqm of space within 12 months.
• Client account manager for Microsoft, WPP Group, Mobil Oil, Oracle, Compaq, SBC Warburg and Dun and Bradstreet responsible for managing the client’s needs and expectations, delivering integrated services and regular project tracking reporting.