Judges

Ann Allen is the CEO of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors. Formerly the Executive Director of Estates and Commercial Services at the University of Glasgow, she is a Chartered Surveyor with over 35 years’ experience working for such organisations as John Lewis; HBOS and UK Government. She has held several non-executive roles; as Chair of the Architecture Design Scotland Board; a member of the Scottish Futures Trust Board and as a Trustee of National Museums of Scotland, chairing its Estate Committee. Ann was awarded an MBE in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services to Higher Education received a Regional Director of the Year award from the Scottish Institute of Directors in 2018, and in February 2019 she received the Business Leadership Award at the Scottish Property Awards.

Laura Banks is Director of Edinburgh Cost Management at PMP, with a focus on residential, commercial and hospitality projects. Laura has over 17 years’ experience as a QS across both the public and private sectors, and worked in London and Paris before moving to Edinburgh. She is the recent past Chair of Women in Property (WiP) Central Scotland and now sits on the WiP committee as Schools Outreach Co-ordinator, working with local primary and high schools to promote the construction industry.

Virginia Beckett is CEO at Regent Capital Plc, where she is responsible for seeking out new commercial property and local energy investment and development opportunities UK-wide. Her role involves sourcing funding for property investments as well as maintaining an overview of Regent Capital’s extensive UK-wide portfolio of property investments.

Virginia is also a Director of New Resource Partners. NRP are a local energy innovation business advising on energy transition including renewables, smart energy infrastructure (SEI), local energy markets, and the confluence of property and energy. In particular Regent Capital and NRP are collaborating on an innovation led design project for a City-Wide Local Energy Exchange in Liverpool.

In her previous role at CBRE Capital Markets, Virginia was responsible for funding and delivering strategic multi-function projects for both the private and public sector. She has wide-ranging experience across all commercial property sectors, including office and industrial, with a particular emphasis on specialist and alternative markets including Hotels, Student Residences, and PRS.

Virginia is a Member of Court at the University of Strathclyde and is currently sitting on the post covid Glasgow City Centre Task Force (Commercial Property Project) led by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Glasgow City Council.

Paul is the Managing Director of Quartermile Ventures the developer behind Quartermile the award winning redevelopment of the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary site.

He is a Chartered Surveyor with over 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sector and has been involved in a number of high profile developments throughout the UK. Paul led the corporate acquisition of Quartermile with the backing of the London based private equity fund Moorfield. In addition he was responsible for the £82m funding deal with M+G Real Estate for the speculative development of Quartermile 3 and 4, which is one of the largest forward funding deals achieved in Scotland. 

Arron Finnie was educated at Robert Gordon’s College and later The University of Aberdeen.

Arron is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors with 25 years’ experience in the property industry.  He has been a Partner at Ryden since 2006 and until recently, he was Head of Agency for the firm.  He has now taken up a new role as Regional Managing Partner for the Aberdeen office.  His experience includes development, investment, acquisition, and disposal of all types of commercial property.  This focus has primarily been on office agency since becoming a Partner.   In recent years he has advised on a number of significant projects in Aberdeen, including PrimeFour Business Park, Kirkhill Business Park, iQ, The Capitol, and Marischal Square.

Arron is a member of the Trinity Group, a local public/private sector, planning & development collaboration initiative which has won national recognition for its work in trying to improve the delivery of new development in more challenging economic circumstances.

Paul is a Glasgow based partner in Thorntons Law's real estate team and is ranked as a "senior statesperson" in Chambers 2023 list of notable practitioners in this field. For more years than he would care to mention, Paul has undertaken a broad range of commercial property transactions for a diverse client base including UK and overseas based developers, funders, investors, tenants and landowners. Paul's forte is complex property transactions which require not only first rate property expertise but also the involvement of specialist advice in relation to planning or infrastructure development.

Paul is a member of the Property Standardisation Group (PSG) – a unique collaboration involving lawyers from four different law firms - which creates free standarised template documents to streamline the process for buying/leasing properties in Scotland.  He also sits on the Scottish Law Commission's Leases Advisory Group and is in the group which assists the RICS on an ad hoc basis with the reassessment of arbitrators/independent experts on the Chairman's panel in Scotland.

Catriona is a Partner at Oberlanders Architects, and leads the arts, civic and community projects for the practice. She is currently working with the National Trust for Scotland and numerous community groups for projects that include the recently opened Strathnaver Museum and Galson Estate Trust’s community hub on the Isle of Lewis.  Her current portfolio also includes Moray Council Growth Deal projects and various projects for NHS Highland.

Catriona established her own practice CH Architecture – which merged with Oberlanders in 2020 - and is acclaimed for the Falls of Shin Visitor Centre and the Ardgay Regeneration Project. She studied at the Mackintosh School of Architecture and initially worked in London for Benson + Forsyth as part of the delivery team for the Museum of Scotland and National Gallery of Ireland.   She is currently President of the Highlands and Islands Architectural Association and will be on the RIAS panel for the 2023 RIAS Awards.

The majority of Alasdair’s plus 30 years' experience in the Scottish Property Industry has been with JLL in Scotland. Originally joining Jones Lang Wootton from Donaldsons in 1989, Alasdair specialised in Office/Industrial Agency & Development but moved to a role in Capital Markets in 1995 acting for a variety of Institutional and Private UK and International Property Investors.

He was assumed as a partner to Jones Lang Wootton in 1997 and became a National Director following the merger with LaSalle Partners in 1987. Alasdair now runs the Scottish Operation of JLL but he continues to have an active role in Capital Markets undertaking both investment acquisitions and disposals for National and International Clients.

Alasdair is now an International Director of JLL Inc and a member of JLL’s UK Executive.

Alasdair graduated from Heriot Watt University in 1986 with a BSc (Hons) in Estate Management and subsequently completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Property Investment at the College of Estate Management at Reading University in November 1997. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a member of the Investment Property Forum and is a past chairman of the Scottish Property Federation but remains active on its Policy Board.

Alasdair is married with three children and lives in central Edinburgh, his wider interests include tennis, golf, rugby and hillwalking.

Jo leads Brodies’ real estate team of over 100 lawyers, which is top ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for real estate. Jo is personally ranked Band 1 in Chambers & Partners. Jo has been a partner in Brodies since 2006 and leads on various high profile investment and development deals spanning all types of asset and she also heads a team with a significant asset management practice covering the retail, office and industrial sectors. Her clients include various US and European private equity firms in addition to many UK based leading developers and investors.

Martin is Managing Director of European Development, specialising in large-scale, retail-led, mixed-use development, and is responsible for management of developments in the UK and across mainland Europe. In particular, Martin is responsible for the St James Quarter, Edinburgh regeneration project.

Martin joined the company in 2006 as a Development Manager, following a career in architecture, master-planning and development after studying and tutoring in Oxford.

Over his career he has been responsible for taking over 15m sq ft of retail-led floorspace through the planning system, as well as working on the delivery of three shopping malls and numerous individual buildings both in the UK and internationally.

Martin has worked on the master-planning and development management of two new town centres, numerous city extensions and regeneration projects as well as a number of retail refurbishment projects in the UK. He has specialised throughout his career on retail-led mixed-use with a particular focus on financially and socially sustainable environments. Martin is also a member of the British Council of Shopping Centres and a qualified Architect and Urban Designer. He won the Individual Contribution Award at the 2017 Scottish Property Awards for his role in the development of St James Quarter, Edinburgh.

Alan Robertson is a Chartered Surveyor with more than 35 years’ experience in commercial real estate. Most of his career has been with JLL where he had a number of roles in Edinburgh before becoming managing director of the firm’s Scottish business. In 2008 he changed direction to work internationally, firstly as managing director of JLL in Turkey before relocating to Dubai in 2011 as regional CEO for JLL in the Middle East & North Africa.

He is highly experienced in a broad range of disciplines and sectors including leasing, sales, development, corporate real estate, master-planning, investment, and valuation. While working in Edinburgh he helped with the development and leasing of several important projects including The Exchange District and Edinburgh Park.

On his retirement from JLL in summer 2018 he returned to live in Edinburgh where he has a portfolio of non-executive and consulting roles. In the real estate sector, he is a director of Drum Income Plus REIT plc and Struan Property Ltd.  He has recently become a member of the Court of Heriot-Watt University and is Chair of their Infrastructure Committee.

Kevin is the founder and Managing Director of K R Developments Group a property development business. A highly experienced and professional property industry veteran with over 40 years in the business he is passionate about creating new developments. K R Developments has successfully developed several student accommodation buildings and is currently in the process of completing three new developments in partnership with Chicago based CA Ventures in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Sheffield, for summer 2021. The company is also active in the emerging Build to Rent sector and is hoping to commence its Kelvin Living development of 424 residential apartments in Glasgow’s West End in 2021. Prior to setting up K R Developments, Kevin was Managing Director and one of the three founding Directors and Shareholders of Macdonald Estates. The business was established in 1997 and quickly became renowned as one of the leading developers in Scotland particularly in the retail sector. A Fellow of The Royal institution of Chartered Surveyors, Kevin also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management.

Graham is an architect and urban planner, based in Glasgow. He is a Partner at Austin-Smith:Lord, whom he joined in 1998 having studied architecture and urban design at Edinburgh College of Art and TU-Berlin.

His current projects include the ambitious (Y)our City Centre project for Glasgow City Council, in collaboration with MVRDV, planning a bold future vision for Glasgow's city centre.

Graham is leading the feasibility study for Technology and Innovation Centre Zone in the Glasgow City Innovation District for the University of Strathclyde. He is also involved in the design of a new Glasgow High Street railway station and is A-S:L's Project Partner for V&A's Collection and Research Centre at the London Olympic Park in collaboration with lead architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

He was Depute Chair of Architecture + Design Scotland from 2010 to 2019 and became a Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland in 2014.

Lynn works at M&G Real Estate as a Portfolio Director – Development & ESG, working on their office development portfolio including the flagship project – 40 Leadenhall. She has extensive experience in development across the UK and Europe having previously worked at Europa and Aviva. She is passionate about sustainable design and the drive to zero carbon. She is a judge for the BCO and Construction News Awards. In her spare time she plays golf and is currently trying to get a good handicap.

A highly experienced and multi award winning Property Investor/Developer, Chris Stewart has been in business for over 25 years.  His company, Chris Stewart Group, has interests across residential, office, retail and hotel and leisure and specialises in complex city centre transformational projects. 

Highlights include the redevelopment of Advocate’s Close in Edinburgh’s Old Town and the sympathetic regeneration of the former RBS Headquarters on St Andrew Square as The Edinburgh Grand.   The company is currently progressing Love Loan, a £100m development in Glasgow City Centre, part of the Glasgow City Innovation District.  Completing in 2024, it will bring a host of new tenants to the city including AC Marriott, Soho House and Flight Club. 

Nick White is a Chartered Surveyor with more than 25 years’ experience in commercial real estate. 

Starting his career with Knight Frank & Rutley in central London in 1995, Nick was promoted to Partner in 2002 and transferred back to his native Edinburgh with Knight Frank LLP in 2004 before joining CALA Properties as Regional Acquisitions Director in 2007.  Following 2 years as a senior consultant to The City of Edinburgh Council’s Economic Development team, Nick co-founded CuthbertWhite in 2011 where, as Director of Agency and Development, he provides specialist, independent advice to a number of funds, property companies, private family offices, HNWI’s, developers, local authorities and charities, with a particular focus upon the office sector.

Nick is also a Director and Trustee of Edinburgh World Heritage.

Lynda is the Global Director of Estates & Facilities at Heriot-Watt University and has a broad portfolio of responsibilities managing an international team across the University’s five campuses in Scotland, Dubai, and Malaysia. She is an experienced and pragmatic real estate management, investment, and development professional; recognised for delivering often complex business objectives - specifically around performance and transformation.  Prior to joining higher education, Lynda had 25 years of experience working client side in the private sector at BAE Systems, Hemingway Properties, and IM Properties successfully building and managing large property portfolios.