People Property Place

​​ OUT NOW – Michael Kovacs, Founding Partner at Castleforge, a research-based, thematic, vertically integrated real estate investor, investing in the UK and Europe on behalf of pension funds, institutions and individuals, sits down with me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week.

Prior to founding Castleforge in 2010, Michael worked at Westbrook Partners in London, where he was involved in transactions representing over £2bn of asset value for Westbrook's various funds in the UK, Europe and Asia across a diverse range of real estate investment types. Prior to Westbrook Partners, Michael worked at the Blackstone Group in New York. Michael graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. I sat down with Michael, to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

• How he got into real estate and his early career steps • How getting stuck in a lift triggered the start of setting up a business • Evolving the business from advisory mandates to, co investing on deals, and then raising discretionary funds • Evolution of the office market and where the opportunity sits • Why vertical integration mattered in building Castleforge • The disconnect between occupier demand and investor sentiment relating to offices • Asia and the Middle East, capital raising pivot • Fundraising challenges - why raising Fund 4 has been tougher than the debut fund • Datacentre exploration, and debut deal

Oh and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Michael would invest should he have £500m of capital at his disposal.

Catch the full episode which is live on Youtube, Spotify and Apple NOW!

The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ powered by Rockbourne - the team build elite teams for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers.

#realestate #privateequity #property

Piers Slater is the Founder & CEO of Reef Origin with over two decades of experience building and scaling real estate platforms.

After founding Reef Estates in 2001 (trading as Reef Group from 2017), he grew the business to over £2bn under development management.

In 2024, he co-founded Reef Origin, focusing on sectors at the intersection of real assets and innovation - life sciences, Industry 4.0, digital, energy infrastructure, and venture capital - with a completed portfolio value exceeding £20bn under development management.

Piers holds a BSc in Estate Management and an MSc in Property Investment Finance, and is a Chartered Surveyor. He is also a founding investor and board director of Global Space Futures, Perpetual Atomics, and Xange.com, and sits on the boards of Didcot First and the Stevenage Development Board.

I sat down with Piers to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics: • Early career moves and how he got into real estate • Borrowing £50,000 from his father-in-law to set up Reef Origin • Building Reef Estates with a bucket load of naïve optimism, entrepreneurial spirit, and creativity • Transitioning the business from Reef Estates to Reef Origin – why, how & future ambitions • Owning the whole value chain & the strategic reasoning behind vertically integrating the business • Circular economy, climate, digital infrastructure, automation, AI & ML • Perspective on the current economic and political landscape - Is the UK economy anti-growth? • Diversification, international expansion, and current opportunity set • Decarbonisation, industrial strategy, and the role of nuclear energy as an economic driver • Future-proofing the built environment and reimagining real estate • Reef's £100bn enterprise value ambition

Oh and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Piers would invest should he have £500m of capital at his disposal.

Catch the full episode which is live on Youtube, Spotify and Apple NOW! The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ powered by Rockbourne - the team recruit Leadership & Future Leadership hires for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers. See below a snap shot of some of the projects the team have completed:

Built a full development team from scratch for an international developer launching a new platform in the UK. Completed a search for a COO/MD succession role, the most critical hire for a founder preparing for retirement within the next five years.

Successfully placed seven professionals across finance, development, and investment for a well-capitalised, active value investor. Successfully placed our 8th team member into a 12-person challenger brand - now that's a true partnership in action! Assembled a three-person investment team for an active residential investor and developer. Recruited a Head of Financial Modelling for a top investor/developer to enhance modelling, reporting, and decision-making to aid capital raising & deployment efforts. Struggling to hire top talent? Think there's a better way? Get in touch to see if we can help.

#peoplepropertyplace #podcast #rockbourne #realestate

This week we're taking you back for a re-cap on the Ian Marcus episode because it was that good. If you missed it the first time, here's your chance to catchup!

Ian Marcus OBE – Senior Adviser, Eastdil Secured

Ian is a graduate of the University of Cambridge having studied Land Economy. Since then, he has held roles at Bank of America, UBS, NatWest, Deutsche and Credit Suisse.

He currently sits on the board of 12 companies – everyone from Eastdill Secured, Elysian Residences, Town Centre Securities PLC, Work.life, Shurguard Self-Storage along with a number of others outside the real estate world.

I sat down with Ian to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

* How he got into real estate * People, People, People * Network & relationships * Risk aversion * Job selection criteria * Capital structures * Balancing 12 jobs! * Opportunities in the market * Favourite deals * Real estate heroes

Oh, and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Ian would invest should he have £500m of equity at his disposal.

Catch the full episode which will be live on Spotify, Apple and Youtube from Thursday this week.

The People Property Place Podcast? is powered by Rockbourne.

Who do you want to see on the Podcast?

Link in the comments below

#podcast #realestate #property #peoplepropertyplace

Jonathan Ivory is the Chief Investment Officer at Packaged Living where he leads on investment across all strategies. Jonathon is a member of The British Property Federation Build to Rent Sub-Committee, The Urban Land Institute Residential Council, Commercial Real Estate Finance Council Europe, Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government Build to Rent Committee and a director of The UK Apartment Association. I sat down with Jonathan to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

* Early career moves, muesing & reflections * The birth of the UK institutional PRS/BTR market * How Jonathan, alongside Ed and Mark, launched Packaged Living * Subsectors and product types - multifamily, single-family, and garden-style homes * Business model changes & need to be vertically integrated * The biggest challenges and 3 ideas for Rachel Reeves * Exclusive news… find out first about Packaged Living international expansion plans!

Oh and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Jonathan would invest should he have £500m of capital at his disposal.

Catch the full episode which is live on Youtube, Spotify and Apple NOW! If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:

Rod Lochart - CEO LendInvest - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6xB8F2GNUAky7GMIZRlXGn?si=pLDlzSlARTqfyC-fFgvzDw

Ian Marcus - Senior Advisor Eastdill Secured - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4vHMFEIMe8xLmSJ0iA0LhH?si=e4828de1173f42da

James Lock - Founder Rotation Real Estate - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fnRxXZzdrNvWgQhm7enHC?si=dn0EezvjTm6phgzbMrMamQ

Catherine Webster - CEO Thriving Investments - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6PRFdiSZh15qSugpDV3WXk?si=pJkA11ioQ3eH39aA683Sog

Richard Croft - Founder Martley Capital - https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RBihWA63enwyaMLlumPE1?si=e1e4d13a35324e79

The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ powered by Rockbourne - the team recruit Leadership & Future Leadership hires for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers. See below a snap shot of some of the projects the team have completed: * Built a full development team from scratch for an international developer launching a new platform in the UK.

* Completed a search for a COO/MD succession role, the most critical hire for a founder preparing for retirement within the next five years.

* Successfully placed six professionals across finance, development, and investment for a well-capitalised, active value investor.

* Successfully placed our 8th team member into a 12-person challenger brand - now that's a true partnership in action!

* Assembled a three-person investment team for an active residential investor and developer.

* Recruited a Head of Financial Modelling for a top investor/developer to enhance modelling, reporting, and decision-making to aid capital raising & deployment efforts. Struggling to hire top talent? Think there's a better way? Get in touch to see if we can help.

#peoplepropertyplace #podcast #rockbourne #realestate

Peter Clayton leads Property Finance at Leumi UK, bringing nearly 20 years of real estate finance experience. Since joining in 2021, he has worked across all property sectors with a range of borrowers, from entrepreneurs to institutional investors and has dramatically expanded the firm's lending book, team size and capability.

Previously, Peter held senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group and Santander UK. A Durham University Geography graduate, he started his career in the wine industry before transitioning to the real estate space.

I sat down with Peter to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

• Early career moves, reasons and learnings

• The role of clearing banks and their function and relevance in property finance.

• Understanding the cost of capitals impact on real estate finance and investment decisions.

• How Peter and the team have driven significant growth since joining Leumi

• Leumi's USP – In an increasingly noisy market, how Leumi stand out

• The use of debt brokers and how they add value in structuring deals.

• Underwriting assets & sponsors - assessing credibility, business plans, and long-term viability.

• Why overlooked sectors like retail can still present strong opportunities for contrarian investors

Oh and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Peter would invest should he have £500m of capital at his disposal. Catch the full episode which will is live on Youtube, Spotify and Apple NOW!

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like

Rod Lochart - CEO LendInvest

Ian Marcus - Senior Advisor Eastdill Secured

James Lock - Founder Rotation Real Estate

Catherine Webster - CEO Thriving Investments

Richard Croft - Founder Martley Capital

The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ powered by Rockbourne - the team recruit Leadership & Future Leadership hires for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers. See below a snap shot of some of the projects the team have completed:

• Built a full development team from scratch for an international developer launching a new platform in the UK.

• Completed a search for a COO/MD succession role, the most critical hire for a founder preparing for retirement within the next five years.

• Successfully placed six professionals across finance, development, and investment for a well-capitalised, active value investor.

• Successfully placed our 8th team member into a 12-person challenger brand - now that's a true partnership in action!

• Assembled a three-person investment team for an active residential investor and developer.

• Recruited a Head of Financial Modelling for a top investor/developer to enhance modelling, reporting, and decision-making to aid capital raising & deployment efforts.

Struggling to hire top talent? Think there's a better way? Get in touch to see if we can help.

#peoplepropertyplace #podcast #rockbourne #realestate

James Scott is the Co Founder and COO of Stories, a purpose-led property development company that partners with landowners to deliver long-term social, economic and environmental outcomes. James' role is focused on product, strategy and marketing alongside the operational side of the business.

​He is an Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge where he read mechanical engineering and he is a member of the UKGBC's Social Value task force.

I sat down with James to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

· How he got into real estate

· The high's, lows, and lessons learned along the way

· The biggest challenge right now

· Stories Business model: Principal Developer, Development Manager, Strategic Advisory

· What is true alignment with capital partners, developer, and asset owner

· Creating a financially sustainable and viable business

· Maximizing economic, social, and environmental impact for all stakeholders

· Measuring success through the triple bottom line: economic, social, and environmental impact

· Advice for those earlier in their journey

· The future of Stories and what's next

Oh and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place James would invest should he have £500m of capital at his disposal.

Catch the full episode which will be live on Youtube, Spotify and Apple NOW!

The People Property Place Podcast 🎙 powered by Rockbourne - the team recruit Leadership & Future Leadership hires for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers.

Who do you want to see on the Podcast?

#peoplepropertyplace #podcast #rockbourne #realestate

Chris Hunt, Co-Founder of V7 joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week for a rerun. Chris is hilarious, and his passion for the business, team, work and clients really shines through in this conversation. I sat down with Chris back in 2023, and this episode was the first released on video, so go check it out on Youtube!

V7 is a creative and forward-thinking asset and development management company, passionate about transforming mismanaged office buildings or sites into dynamic, highly sustainable service-led workspaces. Working with partners including institutional funds, family offices, private equity, and individual investors V7 add value to buildings by repositioning them in line with the very latest workplace trends and ESG credentials. Chris set the business up in 2015 alongside his co-founder Zak Veasey having worked at Cushman & Wakefield and Legal & General Investment Management. Chris is responsible for development management and investment day to day, and then V7's business strategy, new concepts, marketing and growth. I sat down with Chris to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

How he got into Real Estate

Recto fit

Carbon offsetting

Building Certification

Business model evolution

"Fight to quality" and "Hotelification of Offices"

Strengths-based leadership

Oh, and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Chris would invest should he have £500m of equity at his disposal? Catch the full episode which will be live on Spotify and Apple from Thursday this week. The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Rockbourne.

Who do you want to see on the Podcast?

Normal service on the pod will resume shortly (subject to no diary changes!)

Richard Croft CEO of Martley Capital Group joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ for ROUND 2. The first conversation I had with Richard, according to the stats, is the second most popular PPP episode to date... So, 11 months on from our first conversation I sat down with Richard to get the inside scoop on what the team have been working on, as well as his take on the current market... We spoke about: * His Predictions, Successes and Failures. * What does a Trump Presidency mean for UK real estate investment? * Real Estate Fractionalisation - different this time? * Is the Shed comeback on the cards? * Interest rates, inflation and a potential Real Estate Goldilocks situation? * The DEI & ESG agenda * Real Estate AI adoption and application * How HARD has this market actually been... * Of course, UK politics... And so much more...

Oh and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Richard would invest should he have £500m of capital at his disposal. Catch the full episode which is live on Youtube, Spotify and Apple NOW! Links below in comments 👇🏻 The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ powered by Rockbourne - the team recruit Leadership & Future Leadership hires for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers. #realestate #podcast #property #privateequity #peoplepropertyplace

Hugh Macdonald-Brown – Co-Founder & CEO of Roebuck joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week for our re-released conversation.

Hugh, or Macca, or 'Legend' as he goes by in our office, is full of energy and shares the realities of leaving a corporate job and setting out on the entrepreneurial path. Plenty of wins, but it hasn't been all smooth sailing...

Hands down one of my favourite episodes to date, and the stats don't lie either - you loved it first time around too!

Recorded in June 23, if you missed it then, be sure to check it out on your run, office commute or asset tour.

Roebuck is an an institutional grade pan-European real estate logistics investor who identify and create investment strategies across the risk spectrum, including core, core + and value add. Their current portfolio spans 7 countries, with more than 100 assets and a value in excess of €2.6bn.

Hugh is a graduate of Cass Business School (now Bayes) and started his career at BNP Paribas – he has since transacted more than €3.25bn within the logistics sector and has key relationships with the key investors, occupiers, developers and lenders in all of Roebucks target markets.

I sat down with Hugh to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

How he got into real estate

Why he set up Roebuck

The reality of starting a business

Institutionalising the business

IOS – Industrial Open Storage

Growth plans

And so much more...

Oh and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place Hugh would invest should he have £500m of equity at his disposal.

Out NOW wherever you get your podcasts.

The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️is powered by Rockbourne - the team recruit Leadership & Future Leadership hires for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers.

#realestate #podcast #property #privateequity #peoplepropertyplace

We think that this interview with Catherine was so good that we wanted to run it again to make sure you didn't miss it the first tome round!

Formerly known as PfP Capital, Thriving Investments is a leading fund manager with a social conscience. The business already manages three living strategies totalling £700m and so far it has acquired and delivered 3,500 private rented sector and for-sale homes and has six regeneration projects under way, as it targets 20,000 homes over the next decade.

Prior to joining Thriving Investments Catherine was an Executive Director – Strategy & Investment at Quintain and has previously held roles at Hudson Advisors and Lehman Brothers among others.

Catherine has an MBA from INSEAD and is a graduate of the University of Reading.

I sat down with Catherine to discuss a broad range of subjects which covered some of the following topics:

* How she got into real estate

* Working across surveying, banking & private equity

* Not being afraid to take a backward / sideways career move

* Skill stacking

* Turning capital wins into community gains

* Advice for those early in their career

* Building 20,000 homes in the next decade

Oh, and one last question - who are the People, what Property, and in which Place would Catherine invest should she have £500m of capital at her disposal. Catch the full episode which will be live on Spotify, Apple and Youtube NOW! The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Rockbourne Who do you want to see on the Podcast? Link in the comments below 👇🏻 #podcast #realestate #property #peoplepropertyplace

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6oCDnwWSTP685l6sn8F0a6

Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/people-property-place/id1652694140

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLugt7vb7tPvbp_im8m7PoAq4U0mG3TeYR

Podcast produced and edited by Matt Cook at https://mattcookproducer.com