Propertyshe Podcast

Anette Simpson is Director of Developments and Partnerships at L&G's Affordable Homes Division one of the UK’s leading registered providers, delivering high-quality, tenure-diverse communities at scale through long-term institutional investment.

She leads the development and delivery of L&G's growing national portfolio, overseeing developments from concept to completion, and plays a key role in shaping places that support thriving communities.

Anette also leads on sustainability, driving L&G's ambition to deliver net zero carbon homes in operation by 2030. A chartered urban planner with extensive experience in complex residential developments, Anette is passionate about creating well-designed, sustainable homes that leave a lasting positive impact

Faisal Butt is the Founder & Managing Partner of Pi Labs, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms focused on AI and technology transforming real estate and the built world. Since founding the firm in 2014, he has led investments in ~100 companies across 17+ countries, achieving 20+ exits, and backing founders redefining how real estate and real assets are designed, built and operated.
He is also the Founder of Spire Ventures, his principal investment platform focused on scaling and aggregating real asset–backed operating businesses across sectors including property services, infrastructure and asset management.
With a background spanning venture capital, private equity and entrepreneurship, Faisal has built, scaled and exited businesses while investing across both high-growth technology and traditional real assets. His work sits at the intersection of AI, infrastructure and real estate, with a focus on backing category-defining companies and platforms globally.
He holds an MBA with Distinction from the University of Oxford and a degree in Business Economics and Computer Science from UCLA.

James is the Group Director of Strategy and Planning at leading Master Developer, Urban & Civic.  
The company was specifically created 15 years ago to disrupt the established approach to the promotion and delivery of large scale residential led Strategic Sites. 
James qualified as a barrister before advising the Government on planning issues and cross-qualifying as a solicitor.  
Prior to being one of the founder members of Urban&Civic, James was part of the senior executive team of Lend Lease Europe with responsibility for town planning and risk management.  
Within Urban&Civic, James heads up strategy, planning and communications.  
Having previously served as a non-executive director of East Thames Housing association and sat on the Development Committee of L&Q, James is currently a senior advisor to Dorrington PLC and a non-executive of Natural England.

Jessica has worked in real estate investment for over 20 years – starting out her career at BNP Paribas, before joining Deutsche Bank’s real estate funds business in 2004. She enjoyed a successful, varied career with Deutsche Bank and DWS; first leading transaction teams culminating in €12bn of transactions, and subsequently running European fund management for international investors.
Jessica was a pioneer and trusted portfolio manager for the wave of inward capital flows from Asian institutional clients from 2011. She built a multi-billion assets under management (AuM) business for Deutsche Bank, utilising her skills in business building, leadership and investment solutions. In 2023, she became the CEO of DWS UK, overseeing 500 staff and over €200bn AuM across Global Alternatives and Passive public market strategies.
As CEO and Co-Founder of Aboria Capital, her ambition is to create an innovative, leading vertically integrated partner for investors in the European Living sector market. In July 2024, Jessica became the President of the British Property Federation (BPF) and joined the board of INREV.

Marc is co-founder of Pocket Living, where he was CEO for 20 years and is now Chair.  
In 2017 Marc was awarded an OBE for services to housing delivery.  
Pocket was London’s first private developer of affordable starter homes. The company has delivered some 2000 homes with another 1000+ in the pipeline. Pocket’s innovation lies in combining purposeful and affordable high-quality design for single and couple households with a policy and brand approach that allows it to tap into both public and private finance.  
In 2016 the US real estate major Related Companies became its major shareholder. 
Prior to Pocket, Marc worked in the media and entertainment sectors as CEO of Crescent Entertainment, owners of theatres and cinemas. He also produced and wrote a number of award-winning feature films.  
He started his career at County NatWest, where he became an assistant director in corporate finance with responsibility for corporate work in the Benelux and in the media sectors. 
Marc also chairs ProVen Growth & Income VCT, one of the UK’s largest VCTs and is Senior Partner at Namier Capital, a London-based advisory firm that leverages its investment and corporate finance expertise across businesses in Energy Transition, Healthcare and the Creative Industries. 
Marc maintains his sanity by playing the saxophone (jazz).