In this episode of PropertyShe, Susan Freeman speaks with Mark Shipman, founding partner of Michael Elliott, to mark his 40th year in real estate. Widely recognised as one of London’s leading investment advisers, Mark reflects on his early career, landmark deals, and the evolution of the London property market. He also shares his perspective on current market conditions, international investment trends, and how technology and regulation are reshaping the industry. 

In this episode, Mark Shipman speaks about: 

• Career beginnings & early influences – upbringing, first roles, mentors, and founding Michael Elliott at 24. 
• Formative deals & Chelsfield – early trades (e.g., Great Newport Street), portfolio transactions, and scaling through the 1990s–2000s. 
• How London’s market has evolved – rise of global capital, why international investors choose London (law, stability, culture), and today’s buyer mix. 
• Market cycles & shocks – lessons from the early-90s downturn, LTCM (1998), the 2008 crisis, and COVID’s long-term impact on confidence and debt. 
• Current investment sentiment – ebb and flow of overseas capital, growth of owner-occupier HQ purchases in prime Mayfair and St James’s. 
• Policy and tax headwinds – potential effects of a mansion tax, the end of tax-free shopping, and wider fiscal uncertainty. 
• Public markets & capital structure – REIT discounts, possible sector consolidation, and investor shifts towards lending and AI-linked opportunities. 
• Development and placemaking – examples including Sterling Square and the Fenwick/Bond Street redevelopment; importance of architecture, design, and tenant mix. 
• Hospitality snapshot – strong mid-market hotel performance contrasted with softer ultra-luxury demand. 
• Operator-led transactions – OpCo/PropCo structures and the BBC Maida Vale acquisition involving Hans Zimmer’s team. 
• Law and regulation – how the Building Safety Act 2022 is reshaping development risk and timelines. 
• AI in real estate – valuable analytical tool but still dependent on human judgment and negotiation. 
• Advisory approach & lessons – the importance of adaptability, financial understanding, and trusted professional relationships. 

Louise joined MAPP as Chief Executive Officer in September 2023 bringing with her a wealth of experience in UK and EMEA property. She is responsible for charting the company's strategic direction within the ever-evolving world of property operations.  

Louise leads the Executive team across MAPP’s Property Management business and subsidiaries; RE-DEFINED, Building Consultancy by MAPP and Energy by MAPP; ensuring outstanding service delivery, award-winning workplace culture and sustainable practices.  

Louise is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and until April 2025, was a non-executive Director and the Audit Chair of Miton UK MicroCap Trust plc. Previously, Louise was also a non-executive director for a number of early-stage property companies and held a range of senior executive appointments including at CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield where she was a member of the UK & Ireland Executive Committee and co-headed the EMEA Asset Services Business.  

Arthur Kay is an entrepreneur, and advisor to organisations building solutions for sustainable cities.

He is the founder of several urban design and technology companies, including the clean technology company – Bio-bean (acq. 2023), the design, technology, and development company – Skyroom, and the £100m Key Worker Homes Fund.

Arthur is an advisor to organisations including Innovo Group, and serving as a board member for Transport for London, The Royal Academy of Engineering, the Museum of the Home, and Fast Forward 2030.

In addition, Arthur holds academic appointments, as Associate Professor (Hon.) at UCL Institute for Global Prosperity. He has lectured on urban design at MIT, NYU, LSE and Imperial College London. He is co-author of the book Roadkill: Unveiling the True Cost of Our Toxic Relationship with Cars (Wiley, 2025), with Professor Dame Henrietta Moore.

Arthur’s work building solutions for sustainable cities has been recognised by the UN as a Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer, The Guardian as Sustainable Business Leader of the Year, MIT Technology Review as a 35-under-35 and Forbes as an all-star 30-under-30. His words and work have appeared in publications, including The Times, The Financial Times, The New York Times,  Bloomberg, National Geographic, The New Scientist, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, CNN, CNBC, CBS, Wired, Architect’s Journal, Architectural Review, and on the BBC.

Arthur studied architecture at UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, and entrepreneurship at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Founder and CEO of Hilltop Capital Partners. Paul has been at the forefront of starting successful real estate businesses; an investment professional with a core expertise and 30-year track record in property development, asset management and financial structuring; transacting as an independent over £1 billion in the UK and Continental European real estate markets. 
 
Paul’s career spans working as a floor trader on Wall Street in the 1980s to building one of the preeminent fully integrated property firms across CEE. In 1991 he took a trip to Eastern Europe where he ended up building the credit department of a major eastern European bank. In 1993 he built his first apartment; that single transaction grew to be one the largest fully integrated real estate advisory and investment businesses in Central and Eastern Europe called Ober-Haus working across 7 countries with a team of 350 professionals. Until 2010, he was Chairman of Hauser-Oberschneider; a developer and operating partner working with international and private equity real estate firms building housing, grocery anchored retail centres and a boutique hotel chain across CEE. Paul was famously known for selling his real estate portfolios and business pre GFC in 2008. 

Coming out of retirement, Paul founded Hilltop Capital Partners in the UK four years ago, a private markets specialist residential development financing partner for established residential developers and house builders across the U.K. Paul has also recently founded Hilltop Property Partners with Michela Hancock, former Greystar MD to deliver new build attainable multifamily housing across the UK and Europe. 

Nick is Chief Executive of NLA, which he co-founded with Peter Murray in 2005. 

Nick leads the NLA’s culture and values; fostering key relationships; developing new business areas & partnerships. He leads on the annual London Real Estate Forum and is Co-chair of the Opportunity London Partnership.

Chief Executive Officer at Thriving Investments Team 

Cath joined in January 2023 to lead on increasing funds under management alongside the delivery of social impact, augmenting the existing fund management platform across high-quality affordable housing, private-rented residential and urban regeneration strategies. She was previously Executive Director for Strategy and Investment at property development and investment specialist Quintain. Cath has 30 years of real estate experience across private equity, fund management and investment banking. She has an MBA from INSEAD and is a Member of the BPF’s Living Council, a Member of the RICS and Trustee (and former Co-Chair) for the Creative Land Trust. 

Sherin has very recently become became the Ministry of Defence's first director of Growth and Missions, implementing the Government’s Plan for Change, ensuring the uplift in Defence spending is driving growth across the UK and setting the direction for investment in Defence. 

Prior to that she was the MOD's first Director of Infrastructure, responsible for the strategic oversight of both global and domestic infrastructure and the Defence Estate Optimisation Portfolio worth over £5bn.  

She is also the MOD Race Champion, where her aim is to promote and champion ethnic diversity in the department, supporting colleagues from different backgrounds.  

Sherin's previous roles include Head of Commercial Office business at Lendlease, where she was responsible for a range of regeneration projects, in Stratford, Silvertown and Euston, with a gross development value of over £5bn.  

In Whitehall, she held the dual role of Head of Government Property Unit and Head of Property Profession and Function for the Civil Service.  

She is an architect by background and has led large scale infrastructure and regeneration projects around the globe.  

Sherin is also a trustee of the Imperial War Museum and won the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in the inaugural Real Estate, Infrastructure and Construction Category.  

Recently she was awarded an honorary doctorate from UCEM for contributions to the built environment.  

When she is not working in Defence she enjoys drawing. 

Ian Rickwood, Founder & CEO of Henley Group 

Ian Rickwood is a seasoned investor and serial entrepreneur with experience across geography and markets. He founded and became CEO of Henley in 2006 growing the business into the broad Investment business it is today creating many new successful ventures in that time. Prior to Henley he managed and grew two retail companies, one complete start up between 1996 and 2006 along with a private real estate company and a consultancy business, providing strategic advice and insight to large consumer good companies globally. Ian has a degree in economics and started life in the corporate world with Procter and Gamble, later moving to PepsiCo where he was the European Sales Marketing Director. 

Bishoy has been with Innovo from its inception and is the driving force behind Innovo’s core principle of harnessing the smartest technology and innovative sustainability practices to create positive disruption across the traditional construction and real estate sectors. 

Mark was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of The Government Property Agency in October 2024, heading up a 400-strong team that aims to transform how the civil service works and what its real estate portfolio looks like.

He is an established corporate leader with over 30 years of strategic and operational real estate experience across asset management, investment, development and operations. 

Mark was previously Managing Director UK and Ireland at Hammerson plc, Executive Director at Capital & Regional plc and Interim Corporate Director City Development at Liverpool City Council. 

He studied Industrial Economics at Nottingham University and began his career in Audit at KPMG.