Property & Regeneration Lunch 2024

Sam is the Director of Manchester’s Climate Change Agency and Deputy Director of Manchester’s Climate Change Partnership. She has over 25 years’ experience in the sustainability field and is passionate about the positive role that cities can play in tackling the climate crisis. She provides strategic vision to the work of the Agency and Partnership and champions the value of collaborative working. She has a proven track record in delivering award-winning, impactful services that reduce carbon emissions, deliver social and economic benefits, and build resilience to our changing climate. Since joining the Agency, Sam has grown the Partnership’s membership and its value proposition, including a deeper focus on the built environment through two City Challenge initiatives where local experts co-designed proposals to increase net zero standards for new buildings and accelerate the retrofit of commercial buildings.

Dr Fran Darlington-Pollock is Chief Exec of Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity, an independent charity who believes homelessness has no place in Greater Manchester. Her career has spanned time as a lecturer in population and health geography both in Liverpool and London, specialising in social and spatial inequalities, and then a period at Save the Children UK as a Research Advisor and Co-Chair of a global working group on research priorities for Save the Children International. Until recently, Fran was Chair of The Equality Trust. Fran is also a published author whose work spans inequality, migration, life expectancy and the welfare state. Since joining the Charity, Fran has grown the operational team, established a new calendar of events, and introduced a policy roundtable series exploring how to tackle the twinned homelessness and housing crises we face while spotlighting innovative local and national practice.

Alex joined Bruntwood from Salford University in 2006 having recently completed a BSc Building Surveying degree from University of Salford. Alex initially worked as a Building Surveyor in Bruntwood’s Manchester City Centre portfolio. In 2009 Alex became Chartered and then in 2012 moved to head up the Birmingham portfolio.

Alex always had a keen interest in building services and in 2010 began a part-time masters in Building Services Engineering at Brunel University, graduating with Distinction in 2016. In 2017 Alex moved to a central role within Bruntwood and is currently Head of Infrastructure & Energy, playing a key role in Bruntwood’s Net Zero Strategy and roll out of solar PV installations.

Andrew has developed his practice over the years, having transferred to specialise in Social Housing from a prior strong civil litigation background. Since then, Andrew has become a key member of the team and turned his hand to start and develop the Compliance, Building Safety and Decarbonisation Team for Social Housing at MSB. Andrew became a partner in 2023.

Andrew has developed novel ways of achieving results for clients, particularly in areas that are emerging. Andrew has achieved without notice breach of tenancy injunctions specifically relating to access and urgent works within a property, various orders including forced entry clauses in default of compliance guaranteeing that his clients can get into the property and further developed a method for forced decant where property conditions are such that it warrants further action. Andrew has received instructions for a range of breach of tenancy matters, including access for gas and electrical safety checks, access for remedial works, property condition issues, hoarding matters and access for retrofit works, specifically where time is sensitive owing to funding terms from Decarbonisation Funds. This has led to over 500 instructions in the last three years and his progress and development of this team from scratch has seen him listed as a recommended lawyer in the Legal 500 for 2023 and 2024.

Andrew is also looking to pioneer approaches taken utilising the Building Safety Act and without notice process for breach of tenancy matters, including positive actions taken by social housing landlords as well as assisting in guiding them through the issues with resident engagement, tenant voice and Building Remediation actions.

In addition, Andrew has led talks on Tenant Engagement strategies at the CIH Conference, and is co-chairing a new a focus group on Building Safety and Decarbonisation to give a voice for social housing providers.

Heather is Director of Sales for Clockwise, a rapidly growing Flexi Office space provider with sites across the UK and Europe. She has advised at 10 Downing Street on how to better support female entrepreneurs and in 2016 was named a Rising Star in the Manchester Young Talent Awards for her work building partnerships to better support fast growth businesses in the Manchester Business community. In 2018, she was named on the Northern Power Women Future List, and in 2019 was awarded “Female Networker of the Year” at the City of Manchester Business Awards and “Employee of the Year” in 2021.

Heather is co-chair of pro-manchester’s Property and Regeneration committee.

Suzanne is the head of Trowers & Hamlins’ Manchester office and leads the north west Real Estate practice. She specialises in the development of home ownership products working with Homes England in relation to its grant funded sale products, including the shared ownership lease and most recently the £19 billion Help to Buy programme.

Suzanne also sits on the MHCLG joint advisory committee set up to promote the development of the Build to Rent sector. On a wider basis, Suzanne advises clients on large scale property projects, including public private partnerships and regeneration schemes, Suzanne is also the partner in charge of our Residential Sales team in Manchester. Suzanne is named as a Leading Individual in both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500. She is also an editorial panel member for ThinkHouse a web based resource to promote knowledge sharing in the housing industry as well as being a business representative on MCC’s Our Manchester Forum.

Sasha is a senior housing executive with a track record of transformational leadership, making a real difference for customers.

She joined Irwell Valley Homes in 2017 as Chief Executive. Prior to her current role, she has held senior positions in the housing sector and led many award-winning development and regeneration partnerships.

Sasha’s Non-Executive roles include: Board member of North West Housing Services (the UK’s largest mutual services agency for housing co-operatives and community led housing), Chair of Hive Homes – a joint venture between ten housing providers and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver new homes for sale with profits being returned for investment in social housing, and Chair of the Centre for Women’s Justice, a national human rights charity. She leads on Equality & Diversity for the Greater Manchester Housing Partnership (GMHP), sits
on the ‘Tackling Inequalities’ Board of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and chairs the GMHP Influencing Group.