Earls Court Project Team
Gary Yardley
Investment Director
EC Properties Ltd
Gary gained extensive experience in large, mixed-use developments and investments in his role as Managing Director of King Sturge Financial Services before joining EC Properties Ltd as Chief Investment Officer in June 2007. He was appointed Investment Director in May 2010 and was responsible for the initial acquisition of Earls Court & Olympia.
In his spare time Gary enjoys spending time with his family, struggling round various golf courses across Europe and collecting 1960s Triumph sports cars.
Richard Powell
Director of Planning and Development
EC Properties Ltd
Richard joined EC Properties Ltd as Director of Planning and Development in September 2010. A chartered surveyor, he trained at DTZ and KPMG and was a founding member of HM Treasury Taskforce, leading the teams in the development of the Home Office’s new HQ in Westminster as well as the refurbishment of the Treasury building. He joined Lend Lease in 2002 and was involved in major projects in London including Stratford City and the Olympic Village, Elephant and Castle, and the creation of First Base, an innovative affordable housing company.
Happily married with two boys and a dog, Richard also loves sailing, coaches rugby and participates in triathlons.
Anette Simpson
Head of Planning
EC Properties Ltd
Anette has worked in the development industry for over 10 years and has a breadth of experience in managing large, complex residential-led regeneration projects through the planning and development process. Anette has a particular interest in design and delivering sustainable developments and has been involved in numerous high-profile projects across London, including Highbury Gardens in Islington and the Heart of East Greenwich.
Bill Black
Director, Earls Court & Olympia
EC Properties Ltd
Bill has been a chartered surveyor for 36 years and joined the company in 1984 after working in private practice for over a decade. In 1994 he was made a Director and was given responsibility over all property investments. He also became a Director of the Earls Court & Olympia Group in 2007 and his responsibilities include EC Properties Ltd’s operational property strategy and the refurbishment and redevelopment of the Olympia Exhibition Centre.
Outside of work, Bill spends time with his family and two dogs and is a devoted fan of West Ham United Football Club and Surrey Cricket Club.
Beverley Churchill
Brand Director
EC Properties Ltd
Beverley joined the company in May 2007 to lead the creative, leasing and brand development of the Covent Garden estate. She is also responsible for building the vision behind the Earls Court Project. In her 15-year retail career Beverley has held senior creative and marketing roles for Tesco and Bhs and was part of the team at Selfridges which reinvigorated the once-ailing department store, turning it into one of the most respected retail flagships in the world.
Gavin Mitchell
Director of Project Management
EC Properties Ltd
Gavin is a chartered surveyor with over 20 years experience. He has worked for a contractor, private consultancies and property developers on a wide range of projects including commercial, residential, retail and large, mixed-use schemes. He has been working on the Earls Court Project and the enhancement of Olympia since early 2009.
Married with 3 (young!) children, Gavin has little spare time! But he loves his travel and sport when time permits.
Libbe Raggett
Project Manager
EC Properties Ltd
Originally from New Zealand, Libbe joined the company as a Project Manager in 2006, overseeing major projects. She has worked on a wide range of developments for over 10 years and is particularly interested in the environment and sustainable construction.
Outside of work, Libbe loves to travel whenever possible and enjoys running, supporting the All Blacks, reading classic novels and watching films.
Anthony Bickmore
Head of Corporate Finance Property Development, Transport for London
Anthony heads up the Corporate Finance Property Development team at Transport for London. This team is responsible for making the most of its extensive property portfolio and, where possible, raising funds for reinvestment in London’s transport infrastructure. Anthony is a chartered surveyor with over 35 years experience and has specialised in urban renewal projects over the last 20 years. Whilst working for The Crown Estate he was responsible for starting work on the hugely successful renewal of Regent Street and although he has extensive commercial property experience he was also involved in managing the Crown’s social housing stock. Anthony also chairs the Earls Court Project Landowners Board.
Anthony is a keen beekeeper and plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this summer.
Jonathan Cornelius
Corporate Finance Property Development,
Transport for London
Jonathan is a chartered surveyor with 20 years experience in regeneration and development across the UK. He has delivered a number of large, mixed-use urban renewal projects, including the successful regeneration of Cardiff Bay’s inner harbour, which created a vibrant, residential, retail and leisure destination. As a Senior Manager in the Corporate Finance Property Development Team, his experience is crucial for TfL’s urban regeneration schemes including the Earls Court Project.
Outside of work Jonathan enjoys time with his family, is a keen cyclist and rugby supporter.
Sir Terry Farrell
Terry Farrell and Partners
Terry is an internationally recognized masterplanner, urban designer and architect who set up his practice over 40 years ago. He was awarded an OBE in 1978, a CBE for services to architecture in 1996 and was knighted in 2001 for services to urban design. In 2009 he published ‘Shaping London: The patterns and forms that make the metropolis’ which demonstrates his knowledge of how the city has evolved over the centuries. Past London projects include the Greenwich Peninsula, Regents Place and Nine Elms. Through his many roles and affiliations he has played a leading role in shaping the debate about the transformation of neglected urban spaces into vibrant new neighbourhoods.
When he’s not working (which is rare), Terry enjoys reading, travelling and refurbishing his house in Kent designed by his favourite architect Edwin Lutyens.
Mike Stowell
Managing Partner, Terry Farrell and Partners
Mike is one of Farrells’ most experienced project directors and has worked on many of the company’s high profile masterplans and building projects in the UK, Hong Kong and Korea. He plays a central role within the practice’s design group, which is responsible for complex urban development projects. During his 22 years at the practice, Mike has designed and delivered numerous masterplans and complex buildings in sensitive sites, negotiated with planners, interest groups, English Heritage and CABE, and directed the consultant teams.
Mike enjoys spending his spare time with his family and seeing as much of the world as possible.
John Letherland
Partner, Terry Farrell and Partners
John joined the practice in 1980 and has worked on a variety of high profile residential, retail, cultural and arts-related projects, plus masterplans in London, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Coventry, Edinburgh and Glasgow. His recent work includes the development of design frameworks for the Marylebone-Euston Road, Euston Circus, St Giles Circus, the Isle of Dogs, the Greenwich Peninsula, Nine Elms, Bishopsgate and the new eco-based urban extension at Bicester.
John has completely rebuilt his house in North London several times over and describes his life-long devotion to Sheffield Wednesday, the football club of his home town, as ‘character building’.
Malcolm Kerr
Partner, DP9
Malcolm is a Chartered Surveyor with over 25 years experience within the development industry. He formed DP9 in 2004 after working at Montagu Evans for over 21 years. Malcolm has specialised in all aspects of planning and development work, with particular emphasis on negotiating and coordinating major development projects in and around the capital. Collectively these comprise tens of millions of square feet of floor space and include some of the London’s better known projects such as Canary Wharf, Broadgate, Greenwich Millennium Village, Swiss Re Tower, The London Eye, Tate Modern and The Heron Tower.
In his spare time, Malcolm enjoys spending time with his family, walking, cycling and is a keen follower of Charlton Athletic.
Chris Rumfitt
Director of Communications, Edelman
Chris advises EC Properties Ltd on the communications for the Earls Court Project, focusing the team on building strong and constructive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including the local community, political leaders and the media. He is a Director of Edelman, which is the world’s largest, independent, full-service public relations agency with over 50 offices worldwide. He was formerly the Head of External Communications for Network Rail.
Outside work, Chris is focusing on refurbishing his new home in South West London and attending far more football and cricket matches than his partner is happy with.
George Cochrane
Community Engagement Manager
During his long career in community regeneration and community engagement, George has worked on a wide range of projects, including Paddington Basin, White City and Tate Modern Bankside. He also has extensive experience in education and was involved in developing Westminster Academy. He is currently education advisor for a new, all-age Academy in Stratford and is a member of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) Schools Design Review Panel. In September 2005, he set up his own consultancy and has since worked on many of London’s largest regeneration schemes, including Stratford City and Brent Cross Cricklewood.
Ciarán Quigley
Community Engagement Manager
Ciarán has worked in the fields of community development, regeneration and engagement for over 16 years in both the public and private sectors. He has worked on some of the largest regeneration projects in London, including Brent Cross Cricklewood, Olympic/Athletes Village, Elephant and Castle and the Heart of East Greenwich. He has also initiated and devised innovative community projects, including the Amelia Street public realm design competition in Southwark and the Chaplins London Schools Art Project.
Ciarán has a passion for street art and spends his spare time DJing and adding to his collection of 3,000 records.
Jonathan Smales
Executive Chairman, Beyond Green
Jonathan is an expert in creating strategies for authentically sustainable places, spaces and lifestyles and specialises in low-carbon planning for complex, multi-stakeholder developments. He was a director and international trustee of Greenpeace from 1986-90 and advised the Mayor of Hanover on the World Expo 2000. He also sat on the Mayor’s Advisory Board of Design for London and is currently a member of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment’s (CABE) national design review panel focusing on national infrastructure projects. Beyond Green was sustainability advisor to the Olympic Legacy Masterplan Framework and ran the public consultation programme for the Olympic Park and Legacy. They are advising EC Properties Ltd on all aspects of the social, economic and environmental sustainability agenda for Earls Court.
Jonathan lives with his partner Joanna in an ancient woodland in East Sussex from where they sell forestry products, as well as running educational programmes in sustainable lifestyles and woodland management.
Professor Pankaj Patel, MBE
Co-founder, Patel Taylor Architects
Pankaj’s expertise lies within the integration of architecture, urban design and landscape. He founded Patel Taylor Architects with his business partner Andrew Taylor over 20 years ago and their practice’s reputation has been built on a deep understanding of the environment we inhabit and the integration of the built form in its various guises. Past masterplanning, architecture and landscape projects include Greenwich Peninsula, Canary Wharf, The Thames Barrier Park, Putney Wharf Riverside and the Athletes Village in Stratford. Pankaj sits on the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) Design Review Panel, has advised the Government Office for London, Greater London Authority and Arts Lottery Design Panel and acted as an Awards Assessor for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
In his spare time Pankaj enjoys rambling and one of his favourite walks is along the white cliffs of Dover.
Ian Liddell
Head of Development Planning, WSP
Ian is a chartered engineer with over 25 years’ experience in transport planning both in the UK and abroad. He thrives on the technical challenges of complex and innovative projects which have included Greenwich Peninsula, The Shard at London Bridge, Paddington Basin and CrossRail’s Bond Street station. As WSP’s national Head of Development Planning, Ian is responsible for developing transport-related sustainability services and technical excellence.
Ian enjoys spending time with his four daughters, playing and watching sport and going to concerts.
Jeroen Bergmans
Web Editor
Jeroen was a travel journalist for over a decade before being approached to edit myearlscourt.com. He was Travel Editor at international design, architecture and lifestyle magazine Wallpaper* for 5 years, launched the Wallpaper* City Guides and wrote freelance features for The Financial Times, The Guardian and TIME magazine before moving online as Editorial Director of travelintelligence.com. Instead of writing about destinations, he is enjoying the opportunity to help create one in London, his favourite city where he has lived for 15 years.
In his spare time Jeroen enjoys photography, arthouse cinema, street art, interior design and travelling to unusual places.