Our presenters

Lord Soley is a Labour Life peer sitting in the House of Lords since 29 June 2005. He is sitting on the EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee. He previously sat in the House Of Commons as MP for Ealing Acton and Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Hammersmith North.

Lord Soley was Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1997 to 2001 and Campaign Director of Future Heathrow from 2005 to 2010, an organisation dedicated to the expansion of Heathrow. From 2004 to 2016 he was chair of the trustees of Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, now renamed the Mary Seacole Trust.

Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE, DL is the founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer Partnership Limited and of Molson Coors Cobra India. He is the Founding Chairman of the UK India Business Council, a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, a former Chancellor of Thames Valley University (now the University of West London); he was the youngest University Chancellor in the UK when appointed. 

In 2014, he was appointed as the 7th Chancellor of the University of Birmingham and was the first Indian born Chancellor of a Russell Group University in Great Britain. Karan was Senior Non-Executive Director of the Booker Group PLC, the FTSE 250 Company of Booker Prize fame from 2007 – 2016; he is one of the first two visiting entrepreneurs at the University of Cambridge; he is a founding member of the Prime Minister of India’s Global Advisory Council. In 2006, Karan Bilimoria was appointed the Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, making him the first ever Zoroastrian Parsi to sit in the House of Lords. In 2008 he was awarded the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman by the President of India.

He is an honorary fellow of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and graduated in law from the University of Cambridge. He is also an alumnus of the Cranfield School of Management, the London Business School and the Harvard Business School.  In 2015, Karan Bilimoria was appointed President of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).

Luke Davies is a top UK award-winning Sandler Trainer and coach that brings over twenty years experience in sales and sales management development. In 2006 Luke set up the Sandler London City office and has worked with a vast array of different businesses. And in 2008 he was awarded the UK Franchisee of the year award by Sandler head office.

In 2001 he co-founded the international software company Workshare and helped to grow the company from zero to annual revenues of £12 million and 3,500 blue chip customers. In 2006 Workshare was awarded the Microsoft Global Independent Software Vendor of the Year award, customers include 85% of the largest law firms worldwide, numerous FTSE 100 companies and Fortune 1000 companies.

In 2010 Luke co-founded the software company SkyDox and raised two rounds of equity funding and exited at SkyDox in March 2011 with a personal ROI of 400%.

His passion revolves around helping people who do not necessarily feel comfortable in the selling role become effective in both sales, sales management and client development. Over the years he has helped many leading companies including Experian, Travelzoo, Encyclopaedia Britannica, UKN Group, Cision, Informa, Trustpilot …the list goes on.

Mara Cummings is Senior Vice President of Global Real Estate Planning & Development at Discovery Communications.  Leading a global team across the US, UK and Asia, Mara is responsible for the strategic design, development, procurement and utilization of Discovery’s $60M real estate portfolio of 75+ offices across 36 countries worldwide.  Prior to leading the global function, Mara held multiple leadership and program management positions across facilities, real estate and information technology during her nearly 12-year tenure at Discovery and 8-year tenure at Verizon Business (formerly MCI/Worldcom).  With a diverse background in real estate, technology, construction, strategic planning and property mergers & acquisitions, she's led projects equally as diverse – from leased portfolio strategies to the construction of onsite wellness and childcare centers, live broadcast sets to multi-building restacks and Agile workplace strategies, she's cultivated a global team that adapts quickly to the dynamically changing needs of a global, multiplatform media business.  Based within the company's London office, Mara is an active member of both the Corenet Global UK and US-MidAtlantic chapters and former chairperson and co-founder of both the Women’s Leadership Group and Toastmasters chapter at Discovery.  She graduated with honors from Virginia Tech with a degree in Biochemistry, to which she credits her passion for molecular gastronomy.  Mara has been featured in Property Week – Annual Occupiers magazine and can be contacted at www.linkedin.com/in/maracummings<http://www.linkedin.com/in/maracummings .

Marcus is Managing Partner of JTP, an award-winning international placemaking practice of architects and masterplanners.

Marcus is an architect and urban designer with substantial experience leading the design and delivery of major new mixed-use neighbourhoods, large scale regeneration, and strategic placemaking projects.

Marcus is a passionate believer in environmental and social sustainability and brings this experience to projects. He is a committed placemaker and drives design excellence and innovation throughout JTP.

Margaret Mountford went to Girton College, Cambridge University, where she read law. She then became a city solicitor rising to partner at Herbert Smith, where she had first encountered Sir Alan Sugar when she was the senior assistant for Amstrad's flotation on the Stock Exchange. Together with Nick Hewer, she later advised Lord Sugar on The Apprentice. 

The Times ran a feature on Margaret Mountford which revealed how after she retired in 1999, she decided to resume her studies, including a full-time degree in ancient world studies at University College London, a part-time MA in classics and a PhD in papyrology. She is a trustee of Corda, a charity dedicated to the early detection and eradication of cardiovascular disease.

Marina Forsythe is a seasoned entertainment and media veteran working for companies such as BBC, Sky UK, MOBO Awards and Sony Music. Marina is the founder of Boutique PR, Events and Sponsorship consultancy M2elevate. Her expertise spans publicity, Events management, sponsorship and crisis communications.

At the BBC Marina worked across the full spectrum of services as a marketing communications professional for BBC Two, Three and Four before moving across to BBC World Service to launch 23 global services including International Emmy nominated Investigative strand "Africa Eye" and 2022 Podcast of the Year "Dear Daughter". She finished off her career with managing the publicity for BBC Sport at Wimbledon.

At Sky UK she managed the communications for the UK's premier documentary channels Sky Documentaries, Crime and Nature where she worked on groundbreaking BAFTA nominated documentaries Lockerbie, David Holmes: The Boy who Lived, Otto Baxter, Dublin Narcos and many others.

Mark is a qualified town planner and urban designer and has 28 years of experience working both as a Planning Consultant and more recently as a development manager as a client in the Leisure and Residential sectors. He is currently the Sub Board Director of Planning at Fairview, managing an in-house team of planners, architects and affordable housing specialists. Mark is currently working on a range of large residential led projects in West London including at Park Royal (OPDC) and within the Hayes Town Centre (LB Hillingdon).  

Martyn leads Avison Young's regeneration projects across London and the South East. His insightful, commercially-oriented advice has helped to deliver some of the UK's highest profile - and complex - development projects.

Martyn's keen awareness of the key issues facing regeneration delivery is woven into his advice. That includes a detailed understanding of workspace delivery, infrastructure-led growth, placemaking, and the trends shaping the future of town centres across the UK.

Mary Macleod served as the Member of Parliament for the Brentford and Isleworth constituency in West London from 2010-2015. She represented approximately half of the Hounslow Borough, covering Chiswick, Brentford, Syon, Osterley, Isleworth, Hounslow Central, Hounslow South and Hounslow Heath. During her time in Parliament she was also Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the former Culture Secretary, Rt Hon. Maria Miller MP, as well as to the former Policing Minister, Rt Hon. Nick Herbert MP and for the former Northern Ireland Secretary, Rt Hon. Theresa Villiers MP.

In addition, Mary held a number of other roles, including Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Women in Parliament and Vice-President of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Programme.