With areas of challenge remaining on inflation, costs and a change of guard in political terms during 2024 , what can we look forward to in 2025?
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 market, Big Box Leisure sector and the Investment Market.
This year we are hosted by our generous sponsors CBRE.
Our experts will review the big events of 2024 and look forward to how 2025 will shape up, tackling the economy, politics, the UK consumer and each key sector in our industry.
We will have presentations from the following:
Simon French, Chief Economist and Head of Research, Panmure Liberum
Simon returns as an LPF audience favourite – he is Chief Economist and Head of Research at Investment Bank, Panmure Liberum which was formed from the merger of Panmure Gordon and Liberum in May 2024. 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 last year, we are delighted that he joins us again this year.
Sammy Jones – Co-Founder, Starka
Sammy is the co-founder of Starka, a specialist boutique property consultancy, and has over 20 years industry experience and extensive UK & regional knowledge. Sammy specialises in the Leisure, Food & Beverage, and cinema sectors and has worked both in-house operator side, for Cote and The Restaurant Group, and across several agency roles.
Key clients include Cote Restaurants, Gusto, Bundobust, Blacklock, Everyman Cinemas, Oxygen Freejumping, Gravity, Bagatelle and Bean Coffee, together with Landlords such as Sunderland City Council, Urban Splash, Schroders, London Metric and Salboy.
Nigel Costain – Senior Director, Head of Restaurant and Leisure, CBRE
Nigel is an experienced expert in the Retail, Leisure and Restaurant sector, advising owners, purchasers and occupiers in relation to developments, acquisitions and disposals across Europe.
He specialises in major mixed-use schemes city centre schemes, focussing on how an innovative retail, leisure and restaurant strategy can create places people prefer. As head of the CBRE Restaurant & Leisure team, Nigel co-ordinates wider leisure and cinema advice in the investment and occupation markets, and has been responsible for the tenant mix strategy, marketing and leasing of major mixed use centres in UK.
Ed George – Partner, Head of Retail and Leisure Investment, Montagu Evans
Ed is a specialist in investment and development, and advises numerous institutions and property companies on acquisitions and disposals, as well as providing ongoing advice on how to maximise and add value to their portfolios. Over a 25-year career he has developed a strong track record in successfully selling and buying properties on behalf of his clients, such as Legal & General Investment Management, acquiring Stevenage Leisure Park, The Light, Leeds and, more recently, disposing of Meridian Leisure Park, Leicester.
The Montagu Evans team advises on retail warehouse, leisure and food store markets throughout the UK, providing capital markets, agency and lease advisory services along with planning, valuation and rating advice. Ed’s presentation will be based on his in-depth knowledge and understanding of investor and occupier requirements in both retail warehousing and leisure markets.
The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion expanding on key trends and challenges in our sector over 2023 and into 2024, chaired by Alice Keown, Leasing Director – Hospitality and Leisure, at British Land.
With nearly 20 years of hospitality leasing experience, Alice leads the hospitality strategy and leasing for British Land. British Land is the largest retail park operator in the UK and manages and develops a large central London portfolio with 3 campuses; Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent’s Place. Alice leads the central London leasing and development leasing at Norton Folgate and Canada Water, a 53 acre master plan for a new town centre in SE London.
Alice has worked on many of the major UK developments including Heathrow T5, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford and has led the transformation of the hospitality line up for the likes of Meadowhall, Covent Garden, St James’s and Broadgate through her work at BAA and DCL. She is passionate about place making and champions a customer orientated partnership approach to create thriving and vibrant locations.
Networking, courtesy of CBRE and The Leisure Property Forum will follow after in our central London venue – there is a maximum venue capacity of 120 so please book early as we expect to sell out.
Head Sponsors:
*Please note – our panelists confirm their availability in advance. If any of our panelists cancel due to unforeseen circumstances, we will use our best efforts to replace them, but cannot guarantee that all advertised panelists will always be in attendance.