We’re delighted to be returning to SPYSCAPE in Covent Garden for our next event – with a chance to experience the games and challenges at this fantastic leisure concept after the session, courtesy of our generous sponsors Greenwoods.
The Leisure Property Forum Annual Review is one of our flagship events and a must-attend event, providing attendees the opportunity to hear from our panel – major industry experts who will cover the Economy, F&B sector, Hotels, Restaurants & Pub sector, Big Box Leisure sector and the Investment Market.
With areas of challenge on inflation, costs and the general running of event & hospitality venues, what can we look forward to in 2026?
Our experts will review the big events of 2025 and look forward to how 2026 will shape up, tackling the economy, politics, the UK consumer and each key sector in our industry.
Registration from 4.30pm
Presentations from 5pm
We are delighted to welcome our Chair – Rachel Belam, Head of Food & Beverage and Leisure Leasing at Unibail Rodamco Westfield.
Rachel has led Food and Beverage leasing at URW UK since 2006. Having joined Westfield with a background in leisure, restaurants and 5 star hotels, Rachel established a new approach to F&B in a shopping destination environment. She has delivered F&B leasing strategy for major developments in the UK; London and Stratford, and in the US; Westfield World Trade Centre. As the desire for customer experience and engagement grew, Rachel’s role expanded to encompass leisure leasing including competitive socialising, family entertainment and immersive experiences.
We will have presentations from the following:
Simon French, Chief Economist and Head of Research at Panmure Liberum
Simon returns as our economic expert – he is Chief Economist and Head of Research at Investment Bank, Panmure Liberum. It is the largest adviser to UK-quoted companies with market-leading teams in Investment Banking, Research, Sales and Execution.
Simon leads the bank’s research in Economics and Equity Strategy and has previously held a series of high-profile roles within the U.K. Civil Service – initially at the Department for Work and Pensions and subsequently at the Cabinet Office. His background is in Applied Microeconomics and he is a full member of the Government Economic Service specialising in microeconomic analysis and its application within public policy development.
He is a frequent guest on BBC, Sky and Bloomberg business and economics programs, as well as a regular contributor to the Times newspaper. After Simon’s well-received summary and review of the economic outlook in previous years, we are delighted that he joins us again this year.
David Bannister, Central London Retail Restaurant & Leisure Advisor at Savills
David is a Director at Savills in the Central London Retail, Restaurant & Leisure team and specialises in agency and development advice in areas across London such as King’s Cross, The City, Chelsea and West End.
Paul Hardwick, Leisure Property Specialist – Hotels, Restaurants & Pubs at Fleurets
Employed in the licensed, leisure and hospitality property sectors for over 20 years, both client side and private practice, Paul’s experience spans hotels, restaurant, public houses and wider leisure assets. His expertise extends across rent reviews, lease renewals, negotiations and restructuring and he is an arbitration and independent expert witness.
David Bell, Co-Founder at Starka
David is a founding partner at Starka, a specialist leasing, development, and asset management consultancy in the leisure sectors. Starka covers markets globally advising investors and operators in the sector, including market leading brands such as Gravity, Oxygen Activeplay, Swim and Padel Social Club.
Starka are currently advising on various high-profile mixed-use schemes across the UK, on behalf of various institutional landlords and developers, including Landsec, London Metric, DTZIM, Schroders, Salboy and Renaker.
Marcus Wood, Head of Retail and Leisure Investment at Cushman & Wakefield
Marcus leads a team at Cushman & Wakefield specialising in providing advice to property investor and developer clients on a range of retail, leisure and mixed use property across the UK. He returned to Cushman & Wakefield in 2021 from JLL, where he spent four years as a Director leading the Out of Town Retail team, and its Capital Markets Asset Repositioning team. Before that he worked in Cushman & Wakefield’s Retail & Leisure team for 25 years, specialising in out-of-town retail, leisure and grocery.
Networking, courtesy of Greenwoods and The Leisure Property Forum will follow after in our central London venue – there is a maximum venue capacity of 140 so please book early as we expect to sell out.
Head Sponsors:
*Please note – our panellists confirm their availability in advance. If any of our panellists cancel due to unforeseen circumstances, we will use our best efforts to replace them, but cannot guarantee that all advertised panellists will always be in attendance.