Rob was previously Group Property Director at Cable and Wireless plc and Novar plc as well as Director of Corporate Consultancy at DTZ plc. Responsibilities have included 3,000 properties spread across 80 countries representing £1bn of lease liabilities and £300m of property assets. His experience as a change manager in corporate turnarounds and in finding solutions to difficult property problem situations is widely recognised within the industry. Significant career highlights include:

• Property strategy – devised and implemented global strategies for leading FTSE corporations, delivering £100m pa cost savings; £100m cash generation and "fit for purpose" estates.
• Organisation management – restructured, upskilled and centralised in house property teams and outsourced non-core activities to achieve cost savings whilst upgrading the quality of advice.
• Risk – identified property related P&L, balance sheet and operational risk and thereafter devised management regimes to control and minimise the issues.
• Innovation – led a property outsource project to restructure £350m of lease liabilities to improve flexibility, raise cash and extinguish unwanted liabilties.

Peter has held the position of Group Property Director in 3 FTSE companies Emap plc, AWG plc (formerly Anglian Water) and most recently Reuters plc where he had responsibility for a £200m property budget and offices distributed through 100 countries. His achievements in linking property strategy to business strategy were acknowledged when he won the "Corporate Real Estate Executive of the Year" in 2005. Significant career highlights include:

• Project Director – consolidated 3000 staff into a new modern working environment in London as a major element of Reuters "Fast Forward" business transformation.
• Offshoring – led start up projects in India (1000 staff) and Thailand (600 staff).
• Corporate acquisitions – managed the property due diligence and integration of over £3 billion of corporate acquisitions.
• Innovation – devised and executed a telecoms strategy for AWG plc which was subsequently sold as a stand alone entity.

Mike was previously Director at CDC IXIS Real Estate Investment Bank involved in direct investment in pan-European real estate, including acquisition, financing, asset management and disposals. Mike was founding Director of Corporate Consultancy at DTZ plc where he was recognised as an industry-leading adviser to corporate clients on strategic property matters. Significant career highlights include:

• Investment – implemented aggressive business plan on a £120m European property portfolio purchase, delivering exceptional IRR cash returns to investors within 2 years.
• Cash generation – worked with FTSE utility to re-organise the in house property team and deliver over £100 million of cash from surplus property over 5 years.
• Property strategy – devised multi-HQ plan for major US-based information services company, delivering significant cost savings and enhancing existing asset values.
• Innovation – delivered leading edge advice on surplus leasehold liabilities, including a portfolio disposal by way of a company sale delivering a permanent, risk-free exit solution.

Mike Perkis has been advising corporate clients on a range of complex real estate and related business issues for many years, initially as a senior consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and more recently as an external advisor to BP. Previous to his corporate advisory roles, he was part of the Boots Properties team that built up and managed an £800m property investment portfolio. Significant career highlights include:

• Procurement – devised and managed major procurement programmes to appoint single preferred real estate advisers in Europe and Americas, from strategic inception through bidding to contract negotiation and implementation.
• Organisational Development – acted as personal advisor to newly appointed head of Global Real Estate in the transformation of the regional real estate teams to a global function. Played key roles in designing the organisation, developing roles and responsibilities and recruiting for key posts.
• Property Strategy – played integral role in developing a post merger UK Property Strategy impacting over 5,000 employees, ultimately resulting in a major office consolidation.
• Property Development – identified, evaluated and managed to completion retail development projects, consistently delivering projects in excess of targeted returns.

David spent 7 years at Dell Corporation during a period of aggressive growth. In his role as Director of Real Estate & Facilities in EMEA, he was responsible for doubling the corporation's operational estate in response to business expansion, mostly in emerging markets across the region. Prior to Dell, David spent 10 years at EDS where he gained extensive business transformation experience during a period of high public and private sector outsourcing. Significant career highlights include:

• Location strategy – devised and implemented leading edge property location plans for call centre and manufacturing in Africa and Ireland, as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
• Inward investment – negotiated a range of business and property incentives from a variety of Government agencies.
• Cost base – managed Dell's best in class "Low Cost Business Model" during period of record growth.
• Outsourcing – responsible for £100m estate transfer from public to private sector.

Matt was previously Head of Property for Emap plc and has worked as a consultant for both KPMG and Arthur Anderson. At Emap, he was responsible for the company's international property and facilities management function. His areas of expertise include:

• Property Strategy – formulated and implemented Emap's 5-year property strategy, including the restructuring of property services throughout the Group, consolidation plans and the upgrading sites to support cultural change. Previously, supported FTSE companies in strategic outsourcing initiatives including BT's "Project Warren" transaction, which incorporated some 7,500 properties.
• Capital Projects – including advising on the financial viability/funding of a proposed £600m town centre regeneration scheme and a consortium bid for the right to develop the Millennium peninsula. At Emap leading a capital spend programme including the delivery of new radio stations in the UK and a new head office in London.
• Corporate Acquisitions – supported corporate growth and restructuring by managing the property due diligence and subsequent integration of over £1bn of corporate acquisitions.
• Cost Management – worked with a number of corporations to deliver substantial cost reduction programmes through consolidation; disposals; renegotiation of lease terms and reduction facilities costs.

Colin was previously Director of Property and Facilities at IDT Europe. Previous positions have been as a Senior Project Manager with Capita and Chesterton where he was seconded to QVC the shopping channel and to Flemings Investment Bank to manage construction and relocation projects. His strong project management background and construction knowledge allied to client side Corporate Property experience enable him to lead and advise clients on all strategic and detailed property matters. Significant career highlights include:

• Property Strategy – acquisition, disposal and management of pan EMEA corporate property portfolio for telecommunications company including office and network infrastructure. Managing property expansion into 18 countries and over 40 locations including offices and technical/data centre facilities.
• Project Management – extensive high end office, distribution, data centre and call centre construction and fit out experience from inception to turnkey completion including 1,000,000 sq ft European HQ, Distribution and Call centre for major retail organisation.
• Facilities Management Outsourcing – responsible for outsourcing and management of entire FM function to ensure best practice.
• Relocation Management – lead relocation team managing migrations of 1000+ employees including dealing floor installations and call centre operations for major financial and telecom companies.
• Telecommunications – detailed experience of working in a leading edge telecoms environment and managing start up MVNO operations across Scandinavia.

James has previously held the position of Head of Property for the international division of Cable & Wireless plc as well as Director of Real Estate for First Data Corporation in EMEA and Asia Pacific. Prior to these roles, James worked for 5 years in the Asia Pacific arena for CB Richard Ellis advising a range of regional and multi national occupiers. Significant career highlights include:

• Property Strategy – formulated and implemented annual and 3 year property plans for individual business units within Cable & Wireless focused on realigning over 1200 'multi use' sites with ongoing operational needs.
• Programme Delivery – identified and delivered on a range of complex overseas cash generation transactions to remove inherited 'legacy' estates. Resulting cash generation of £26M over a 20 month period. Managed and delivered the roll out of new prime retail sites across the Caribbean for Cable & Wireless together with the complete rationalisation of their regional HQ and warehouse facilities.
• Corporate Acquisitions – managed the due diligence and integration of international corporate acquisitions for Cable & Wireless (including Guernsey and Monaco Telecom) and First Data Corporation (including GZS, Germany).

Chris was previously Head of Development for McDonald's Restaurants Limited with prior roles at Dewhurst and Druce & Co. Responsibilities included 1200 trading outlets with a book value in excess of £1.2bn and annual outgoings of £100m. His experience in delivering new sites, refurbishment and the control and management of the trading property portfolio of McDonald's in the United Kingdom provides a broad strategic knowledge of change management and the dynamics of retail organisations. His early experience on the asset management side of the business provides a focus on creatively maximising portfolio income and value, and minimising occupancy costs. Significant career highlights include:

• Property Strategy – managed from inception to implementation a development strategy review leading to major refurbishment, closure, relocation and increased opening programmes.
• Innovation – delivered off balance sheet development partnership structure and agreement providing potential £50m development profits.
• Organisation/Change Management – restructured, re-focussed and centralised in house property and construction teams to improve the level and type of service, whilst balancing internal and external resource and continuing to improve results.
• Procurement – instigated and managed the process of appointing a single preferred real estate consultancy to run a significant UK acquisition programme and by doing so raised new store inventory by 300%.
• Investment – advised on the upside potential of a retail portfolio in terms of likely occupational demand and further development opportunity.