#142 Leo Shapland - Chief Executive of the King’s Cross Estate
Leo Shapland, Chief Executive of the King’s Cross Estate, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. He reflects on his formative experiences at Brookfield Multiplex, to building international platforms at Tishman Speyer, returning to London with Aviva, then leading at Workspace before taking on his current role overseeing one of Europe’s most successful regeneration projects. Leo reflects on career pivots between investment, development, and leadership, the lessons learned on his journey. He shares candid thoughts on today’s market dynamics, and what it really takes to run a complex, mixed-use estate that attracts 20 million visitors a year. If you’re interested in global real estate careers, platform-building, large-scale regeneration, or the future of London’s office and mixed-use market, this episode is for you. Key Topics Covered in This Episode: • How watching the regeneration of Shad Thames sparked his interest in real estate. • Leaving Cushman after just two days to join Multiplex, taking on pan-European acquisitions in his early 20s. • What a decade at Tishman Speyer taught him about capital raising, transactions, and development. • Lessons from moving abroad: delivering large office and residential projects in San Francisco and opening Tishman’s Seattle office. • Why he shifted from pure investment to broaden out into development, operations, and leadership. • Returning to London: Aviva Investors, governance, ESG, and making countercyclical bets during Covid. • The Workspace experience: working closely with entrepreneurial SME customers and running a vertically integrated platform. • Why Kings Cross is, in his view, one of Europe’s best regeneration schemes - and what the future looks like • His take on the market – where demand is strongest and what is the hardest to make work right now. And finally... With £500m to invest, which People, what Property, and which Place would he choose? Enjoying the show? Follow and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ is powered by Rockbourne: Giving real estate investors a difficult choice, who to hire. If you're serious about hiring top real estate talent in 2025 and want to do it differently, DM me on LinkedIn. #realestate #property #podcast #placemaking #regeneration #realestateinvestment #kingscross #London
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#141 Jay Kwan - Managing Director and Head of Europe at QuadReal Property Group
Jay Kwan, Managing Director and Head of Europe at QuadReal Property Group, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week. We cover Jay’s global journey from humble beginnings in LA, to Lehman Brothers, to leading international investment teams at Soros and TPG, and now spearheading QuadReal’s growth across Europe. Jay shares hard-won lessons on capital cycles, navigating workouts, and building trust-based partnerships across multiple markets. He breaks down the thinking behind QuadReal’s platform strategy, sector convictions, and how they deploy long-term capital flexibly across the risk curve. If you're interested in global real estate investing, institutional capital, platform-building, or market timing, this episode is worth your time. Key Topics Covered in This Episode: • Breaking into real estate through Lehman Brothers and surviving the “Squid Game” analyst culling • Gaining an edge through international experience across Asia, Europe, the US and Russia • Learning through workouts, restructurings and JV fallouts that shaped his investment approach • Building QuadReal in Europe from scratch. First hires, first deals, and their conviction-led strategy • Why cultural and ethical alignment matter more than strategy • Want to partner with QuadReal? Jay shares what they look for in an operating partner • Navigating market uncertainty and geopolitical risk while staying agile • The myth of permanence and how sectors can shift faster than expected · Why you shouldn’t chase a pay cheque, instead focus on stacking skills, take international chances, and look for asymmetric opportunities. And finally... With £500m to invest, which People, what Property, and which Place would he choose? Enjoying the show? Follow and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Rockbourne: Giving real estate investors a difficult choice, who to hire. If you're serious about hiring top real estate talent in 2025 and want to do it differently, DM me on LinkedIn. #realestate #privateequity #property #podcast #investor
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#140 James Craig, Co-Founder of Oval Real Estate
James Craig, Co-Founder of Oval Real Estate, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week. We discuss James’s journey from surveying to running a diversified real estate investment business. He reflects on pivotal career decisions, key deals, and the thinking behind Oval’s sector-agnostic strategy. James shares lessons from launching Oval in a down market, building high-trust partnerships, and navigating complex development and regeneration projects. He also gives his view on current market dynamics, the role of public-private collaboration, and what it takes to build a successful, enduring real estate business. If you're interested in real estate entrepreneurship, platform-building, public-sector partnership, or value-add investing, this episode is for you. Key Topics Covered in This Episode: · Betting on Fit Over Convention · Why he walked away from his APC and corporate surveying path early, in favour of an entrepreneurial property trading-led environment. · Skill stacking – how he learned to originate, manage, and exit deals across Europe · Reality of trying, (unsuccessfully) to match deals with capital, and the lessons learnt · Oval’s origin story, approach to business, investment thesis and partnership philosophy · How they have pivoted during market cycles, and have deliberately avoided single-sector exposure. · Inside scoop on what it takes to have a successful public & private partnership · We discuss key deals, from Digbeth and the Langham Estate to Mayfair offices and the £900m Henderson portfolio · Message to would-be founders: "Don’t wait. It doesn’t matter if it’s a good or bad market. You’ve just got to go for it." And finally... With £500m to invest, which People, what Property, and which Place would he choose? Enjoying the show? Follow and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Rockbourne: Giving real estate investors a difficult choice, who to hire. If you're serious about hiring top real estate talent in 2025 and want to do it differently, DM me on LinkedIn. #realestate #property #podcast #regeneration #realestateinvestment #placemaking #offices #birmingham #london
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#139 Kevin Mofid, Head of Industrial & Logistics Research at Savills
Kevin Mofid, Head of Industrial & Logistics Research at Savills, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week. We discuss his journey into real estate, the evolution of research in the sector, and key insights into the UK and European logistics markets. Kevin shares his data-driven view of market trends, rental growth dynamics, build-to-suit versus existing stock, and the increasing importance of supply-side fundamentals when making investment decisions. If you're active in the industrial or logistics real estate market across the UK & Europe, and you're interested in data-driven decision-making, or the forces shaping demand and supply in the sector, this episode is for you. Key Topics Covered in This Episode: · Kevin’s unconventional path into real estate, and his pivotal early career moves · The evolution of research from a back-office function to a front-line, strategic, in demand tool · What the UK logistics data is really showing, and why build-to-suit deals are under pressure · Rising vacancy in a market with strong demand, and what that disconnect tells us · Speculative development trends, and how they’re shaping short-term supply risks · Why second-hand stock is growing fast, and how much of it is actually usable · The real drivers of industrial demand, and why retail still dominates · Nearshoring, reshoring, and how they are reshaping long-term European strategy · Rental growth that’s defying historic vacancy relationships, and why · The evolving role of AI in warehousing and supply chain decision-making · Why smart investors are prioritising supply-side data over demand forecasts · Kevin’s take on the biggest risk facing the sector today, and the data point he’s watching most closely Enjoying the show? Follow and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ is powered by Rockbourne: Giving real estate investors a difficult choice, who to hire. If you're serious about hiring top real estate talent in 2025 and want to do it differently, DM me on LinkedIn. #realestate #property #podcast #logistics #data #industrial
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#138 Philip Stott, Co-Founder of Caisson IO
Philip Stott, Co-Founder of Caisson IO, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week. We discuss his early career journey to co-founding Caisson IO, a boutique investment management firm that integrates data and technology to, invest and manage multi-let industrial assets across the UK. Philip shares valuable insights on the role of data in real estate, building a tech-enabled investment platform, and how their approach to asset management has evolved. If you're interested in real estate investment management, data-driven strategies, or scaling a specialised platform in the industrial sector, this episode is for you. Key Topics Covered in This Episode: · Early exposure to real estate and how Philip’s family business influenced his entrepreneurial mindset · How Philip’s career evolved from traditional surveying to tech sales and then pivoting into investment management · Insights from his experience at Yardi, including building their European platform and understanding financial systems and applying this learing to the investment management space · How they launched the business - raising capital from friends and family · How data-driven insights help Caisson IO identify market trends and opportunities in multi-let industrial assets · The resilience and appeal of multi-let industrial assets as a stable income-generating asset class · Building a strong, collaborative team and fostering a culture of empowerment for business growth · Caisson IO’s plans for future growth, leveraging specialixed expertise and data-backed strategies And finally... With £500m to invest, which People, what Property, and which Place would Philip choose? Enjoying the show? Follow and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. The People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ is powered by Rockbourne: Giving real estate investors a difficult choice, who to hire. If you're serious about hiring top real estate talent in 2025 and want to do it differently, DM me on LinkedIn.
Powered by Rockbourne, the central intention of this podcast is to share the stories, views, opinions, and career journeys of the movers, shakers, innovators, and leaders in the real estate investment management industry.
Whether you are an existing real estate professional, aspiring to break into the space, or just want to know more about this fascinating sector this podcast is for you.
New episodes of The People Property Place Podcast will be released regularly and you will be able to find them for free on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or any App that supports podcasts.
Oh, and one last thing - in every episode, I will be asking each guest who are the People, what Property, and which Place they would be looking to invest, should they have £500m at their disposal.
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