Voices shaping where we stay, live and work

Benjamin Albrecht is Head of Space Conversion at Aroundtown SA, where he leads the repositioning and conversion of existing real estate into residential, hospitality and other living concepts. His work combines investment analysis, technical feasibility, planning and operator strategy, with a strong focus on turning complex office assets into scalable and economically viable products.

Yolande Barnes is an emeritus professor and real estate consultant, strategist and advisor with over 40 years' experience in the property industry. She was Head of World Research at Savills before joining UCL as Chair of the Bartlett Real Estate Institute from 2018 to 2025. She takes a global, cross-sector view of long-run trends and future influences affecting the entire real estate industry and markets. She believes that a new, more accurate understanding of all elements of real estate is essential for the effective application of AI and machine learning and an integral component of a successful, future-proofed built environment. Her work looks at the combination and interaction of disruptive trends in demographics, finance, technology, society, the environment and government in changing global real estate. She believes that real estate - land and everything attached to it - is at the heart of sustainability, and that understanding real estate value in all its forms is essential to solving the wicked problems and grand challenges of the 21st century. Yolande is an Emeritus Professor at UCL, President of the Society of Property Researchers, Honorary Fellow of RIBA, Academician at the Academy of Urbanism, Design Council Ambassador and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Hector Fernandez is SVP of Development at UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle. Further speaker biography details will be added when available.

Pawel Gawor is CEO of City Pop, the Swiss flex living operator running over 3,000 apartments across 26 hubs in six European countries. A serial entrepreneur with 15+ years in European hospitality and real estate, he also co-founded the student-housing platform Pepe Housing.

Eloise Hanson is Editor of Boutique Hotel News, covering trends, openings and investment activity across the boutique and lifestyle hotel sector. She regularly chairs panels and leads editorial content across the IHM portfolio of events and publications.

Ryan Haynes hosts the Hoteliers’ Voice podcast, a series of podcasts and events exploring developments in technology, digitalisation, and strategic hotel and hospitality development. With over 25 years in broadcasting and PR - including early career work with BBC Radio 1 and LBC - Ryan specialises in hospitality technology, digitalisation, and strategic development. A seasoned event host and panel moderator, he regularly leads sessions at major industry conferences, including the International Hotel Technology Forum, Independent Hotel Show, and HOSPACE. Over his career, Ryan has worked with leading sector companies such as Cendyn, Access, Focus Group, HotelREZ, IDeaS RMS, and Vrbo.

Ufi Ibrahim is Founder and Chief Executive of the Energy & Environment Alliance (EEA), a global coalition of hospitality investors, owners, operators and asset managers representing more than €400 billion in assets and over 60,000 hotels worldwide. Her work focuses on the intersection of capital, sustainability and the built environment, bringing together investors, lenders, insurers, hotel owners and operators, regulators and technical experts to address the factors increasingly shaping investment performance and long-term asset value.

David Kaiser is CEO of Oneder. Further speaker biography details will be added when available.

Priya Khaira is Editor of Short Term Rentalz and host of the STRz Summit. She has established herself as a leading editorial voice in the short-term rental industry, facilitating discussions on regulation, technology, investment and the future of alternative accommodation.

Shiv Malik is an author, broadcaster, entrepreneur and former investigative journalist now working on building Britain’s first City in over 50 years. He began his career in 2004 reporting from the Af-Pak border and went on to work for the Guardian for six years breaking front page stories on everything from the UK government’s austerity programme, to secret ISIS documents. He's the author and editor of several books including the 2010 cult economics book, Jilted Generation, which first highlighted how Millennials would be priced out of the housing and rental market. He is also the co-founder of the think-tank, the Intergenerational Foundation, a former board member of Generation Rent, and former advisor to the Yimby Alliance. Deeply passionate about repairing the UK’s social contract, especially around housing, Malik co-founded the Forest City project in late 2025. The project’s latest 300 page report details how to build a new city of 1 million people on the Cambridgeshire/ Suffolk border, situated within what would be England’s largest land based nature reserve, while also ensuring genuinely affordable housing for everyone.

Grace Morgan is an experienced Director in Operational Real Estate specialising in optimising Net Operating Income (NOI) for institutional real estate investors across a range of alternative residential asset classes, including Build-to-Rent, Purpose-Built Student Accommodation, Co-Living, Single-Family Housing and Senior Living. Grace joined AREA as a Director in 2025 to lead the Strategic Procurement and Asset Mobilisation Services Line within the Operational Real Estate part of the business headed up by Matthew Neal. Before joining AREA, Grace served as Director of Operations at Compass Rock International, overseeing the UK and Ireland BTR portfolios, and as Director at Global Apartment Advisors (GAA), where she contributed to planning strategy and design review for a variety of asset classes. Earlier in her career, Grace held senior roles at Fjeld Consulting, JLL Integral UK Ltd, Greystar and iQ Student Accommodation, where she led complex procurement programmes, mobilised large-scale residential assets and implemented scalable operational frameworks. Grace is also a Committee Member of the ARL Ops Director Group at the Association for Rental Living, contributing to sector-wide best practices and innovation. With a strategic focus on operational excellence, procurement, compliance and facilities management, Grace delivers enhanced portfolio performance through data-driven decision-making and rigorous cost control. Her expertise lies in aligning operational frameworks with investor objectives, ensuring long-term value creation and sustainable income growth.

Paul Oberschneider is Chairman of Hilltop Capital Partners. Further speaker biography details will be added when available.

Ben Painter is Founder of Nomad Students. Further speaker biography details will be added when available.

Bart is a creative strategist and experienced real estate entrepreneur on a mission to build future-proof and sustainable business solutions, with more than 10 years' track record in the shared living scene. His expertise lies in creating new and revitalising existing spaces, envisioning their potential beyond ordinary functionalities. As Founder and CEO of Spatial Experience, he has brought key developments into the student housing / PBSA and coliving / PBSL scene. Through Spatial Experience, a founding partner of Coliving Ventures, he co-founded Coliving Ventures, the venture behind Coliving Insights, Coliving Conference and Coliving Awards.

George Sell is Editor in Chief of International Hospitality Media, overseeing editorial across Boutique Hotel News, Serviced Apartment News, Urban Living News and Short Term Rentalz. He brings deep expertise in hospitality, real estate and urban living sectors and has moderated industry panels and conferences for more than a decade.

Andy Thomson is Head of Property Development, Living Sector and Regions at United Trust Bank (UTB). He joined UTB in January 2025 with over 30 years of banking experience gained from senior roles with a variety of lenders including RBS and Bank of Scotland. Previous roles have included Head of Real Estate Finance, Head of Real Estate Investment and Head of Private Banking. At UTB his role is focused on delivering loans to developers and investors operating in the Build to Rent sector (multi-family and single-family), Co-living, Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) and Hotels.

Janet Uttley is CEO of STAA. Further speaker biography details will be added when available.

Guy Westlake is CEO of Lavanda. Further speaker biography details will be added when available.

Nathan holds over 15 years hands-on experience in property management both in his native USA and the UK as Quintain Living’s Leasing Director. He has enjoyed past roles at the Irvine Company Apartment Communities, Sares-Regis Group and real estate investment trust company, Essex Property Trust, in California before relocating to the UK to join Quintain Living where he oversees the rental of over 3,500 Build to Rent homes at Wembley Park. In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree in international business and a master’s in applied leadership and management, Nathan is a talented dancer who earned a “Ducktorate degree” in Theme Park management from Walt Disney University, Florida while working at Walt Disney World as a student. He is passionate about planning for the future, developing the team, evaluating processes, and focusing on improving the customer and associate experience.