Press Releases

Simon Carter, Chief Executive of British Land, has joined the Board of the British Property Federation (BPF) as its new Junior Vice President.  The appointment was announced at the BPF’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 4 July. 

Simon will join the current BPF leadership team of President Mark Allan, Chief Executive of Landsec, and Vice President Jessica Hardman, Head of UK at DWS.  Guy Grainger, Head of Sustainability Services and ESG at JLL, becomes Immediate Past President, having served as President since January 2022.

Simon brings has been a member of the Board of British Land since 2018, first as Chief Financial Officer and as Chief Executive since 2020. He was previously Chief Financial Officer of Logicor, and prior to that Finance Director of Quintain. In his role as Junior Vice President he will work closely with the BPF’s elected leadership team and Chief Executive Melanie Leech to deliver the BPF’s policy agenda, including working with national and local government to  unlock more private capital to revitalise town and city centres and driving collaboration to cut carbon emissions across the UK built environment.

The AGM was followed by the BPF annual conference which officially launched its 60^th anniversary celebrations.

Ami Kotecha, Chair, and Sammy Pahal, Managing Director of the UK Proptech Association (UKPA), joined speakers at the BPF annual conference as the two organisations confirmed the intention to merge, with the UKPA becoming a subsidiary company of the BPF.

The BPF also announced that BPF Futures, a community for professionals with less than ten years’ experience in real estate, has now surpassed 2,000 members. The network, which is led by Chair Isabelle Hease, Chief Executive of Visitor Insights, provides a platform for younger professionals or those that have more recently entered the sector to help shape the future of the built environment.  

Simon Carter, Junior Vice President, British Property Federation, said: “I am proud to join the leadership team at the BPF at a critical time as we work with Government to drive economic growth and shape key policy reform. I am passionate about the role real estate can play in driving the economy, creating and supporting communities, improving social mobility and employment opportunities and enhancing health and wellbeing. There is so much we can achieve by working together and partnering with the public sector.”

Guy Grainger, Immediate-Past President, British Property Federation, commented: “Simon is an excellent addition to the Board and his deep knowledge of the sector and passion for delivering long-term social impact will be invaluable as the BPF partners with Government on two of its key missions to revitalise urban centres across the UK and decarbonise the built environment.”

Melanie Leech, Chief Executive, British Property Federation, said: “This is a milestone year for the BPF. We celebrate 60 years of serving the property sector and look forward confidently to the future. The creation of an integrated platform to unite the property and proptech voices is a hugely exciting opportunity to shape our future together and our ever-growing BPF Futures community shows what talent we have coming into the sector.”