David Lunts

Chief Executive Officer
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation

David Lunts was appointed as the permanent Chief Executive Officer of Old Oak and Park Royal Development in January 2021. He had previously been the interim Chief Executive Officer for OPDC since February 2019, and combined his work on London’s largest Opportunity Area with his duties as Executive Director of Housing and Land for the Greater London Authority. Between 2009-2012 David led as the Executive Director for London at the Homes and Communities Agency. His earlier career included three years at the GLA as Executive Director of Policy and Partnerships under Ken Livingstone, a leading role in housing and regeneration with Manchester City Council during the 1980s and early 90s and a three-year spell as director of Urban Policy for John Prescott at the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Alice Sewell MRICS

Investment Director
Imperial College London

Alice is an Investment Director at Imperial College London, a top-ranked university in the UK and 2^nd globally, focused on STEMB education and research. She joined Imperial in 2019 on secondment and full-time in 2021 to asset manage Imperial’s Endowment property fund and investment property assets. She is also a trustee of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA).

Cllr Peter Mason

Leader of the Council
London Borough of Ealing

Peter Mason is the Leader of the London Borough of Ealing. First elected as a Labour councillor in 2014, he represents the area of Southall Green.  Before being elected Leader of Ealing in 2021, he served in cabinet in various portfolios including housing, planning, skills and employment as well as public service reform and transformation. He is the London Councils executive member of planning and skills and the LGA Labour Group Deputy Leader.

Professionally, he is a trained town planner holding a master’s in urban regeneration from the Bartlett School of Planning. Before taking over the leadership at Ealing he was the head of public sector at a leading digital engagement PropTech company. He is a frequent commentator on the issues of power and identity in the built environment.

Gary Sacks

Chief Executive Officer
City & Docklands Group

Gary started developing under the name City & Docklands. This business rapidly expanded from the acquisition of the first piece of development land in London E16, to the successful completion of 19 developments and the delivery of more than 3,596 homes across London. In 2000 Gary established LiFE Residential, which is one of London’s leading residential lettings and management agencies which was recently sold to estate agency Dexters.

City & Docklands are currently focusing on the regeneration of West London with the delivery of 1,150 new homes across three sites in North Acton and Scrubs Lane, located within the OPDC, the UK’s largest regeneration area. One West Point in North Acton has delivered 701 new homes across four buildings and is the tallest residential development in West London. 

Mitre Yard and North Kensington Gate lie at the gateway to the OPDC on Scrubs Lane, and together, these developments will deliver a further 455 new homes. City & Docklands is a fully integrated Build to Rent operator.

Nicola Mathers

Chief Executive Officer
Future of London

Nicola is CEO of Future of London, an independent network supporting housing, planning and regeneration professionals through leadership, research and networks. She leads on strategy, business development and partnerships.

Nicola is passionate about the role of the built environment to improve lives and address inequality. Previously at Design Council and CABE she led national programmes to support the public and private sectors to plan and deliver well designed buildings and spaces.

Amanda Decker

Senior Programme Manager
GLA

Amanda has led a career dedicated to supporting the cultural and creative landscape of London. In 2011, Amanda joined the GLA to shape and deliver an innovative consortium-led apprenticeship programme as part of the Cultural Olympiad for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. She was part of the team behind Hatwalk, a project that paired London’s top milliners with statues across the city, including giving Lord Nelson's statue in Trafalgar Square a new bicorn hat featuring the Olympic Torch to celebrate the Games.

As a key figure in the Culture, Creative Industries, and 24-Hour London Unit, she has advocated for pro-culture policies in areas like immigration, skills development, and the Mayor’s Creative Industries Investment Programme, which spans film, fashion, design, and gaming.

In 2016, Amanda led the development of the Mayor’s Culture Strategy: Culture for All Londoners, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Cultural Leadership Board. In 2019, she took up her current role as Senior Programme Manager for the Creative Enterprise Zones, which aims to secure affordable, permanent workspaces for artists, ensuring they can thrive and contribute to the city’s creative economy. Amanda also leads the London Made Me programme, helping empower London’s artists and makers to harness retail opportunities for business growth.

Louise Sherwin

Director, Real Estate Development
Deloitte Real Assets

Louise is a real estate development consultant with over 18 years’ experience, focusing on some of the UK's most exciting and transformative real estate development projects. Her career highlights include advising on Old Oak, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Nine Elms, Earls Court, the Biscuit Factory and Qatar 2022 and working with fantastic clients in the public and private sector; including OPDC, LLDC, TfL and Grosvenor. She started her career journey working clientside with Urban Catalyst and then qualified as a Chartered Surveyor at Drivers Jonas. Alongside her role at Deloitte, she is an Associate Trustee at Great Ormond Hospital on the Planning and Development Committee, Hon. Careers Officer for the Cambridge University Land Society (CULS) and a committee member of the Cambridge Land Economy Advisory Board (CLEAB).

Mike Holmes

Chief Executive Officer
Scale Space

Mike Holmes - Mike is CEO of Scale Space, the JV between Imperial College London and Blenheim Chalcot, the UK’s leading digital venture builder. Scale Space is a community of over 100 scale ups across digital tech, AI and life sciences. Mike previously had roles at PwC and IWG plc, and has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Gareth Blacker

Executive Director of Delivery
OPDC

Gareth Blacker – Executive Director of Delivery

“Gareth leads and oversees OPDC’s delivery team, responsible for bringing forward thousands of new affordable homes and jobs. Gareth joined OPDC from Homes England, where he was Director of Strategic Development & Infrastructure working across major UK regeneration schemes including Bristol Temple Meads and Silvertown Quays.”