Team

Chris joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2009 as Chief Executive.

With over 30 years experience in the UK marketplace, Chris has originated and overseen many major transactions in this time, including the corporate acquisition and integration of Centros into the Sovereign business as well as two of the largest acquisitions in the UK, Glasgow St Enoch Shopping Centre and Elephant & Castle in central London, which will become one of the largest and most significant regeneration projects in the capital.

Since 2010 Chris has implemented ambitious development and asset management strategies which have delivered significant rental and capital value growth for Sovereign’s partners in the portfolio under management.

Previously Head of Retail Capital Markets and Senior Equity Partner of Strutt & Parker, Chris has built a nationwide reputation as a market leader in the investment and development sectors with a particular expertise in shopping centres and retail parks.

Chris has a huge network of contacts and a very wide and varied investor base, including some of the most prominent UK institutions and property companies as well as major US investors and other public and private sector groups.

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Jane joined the Sovereign Centros group in 1999 and is responsible for all financial aspects of the Sovereign Centros group.

Following Lionsgate’s purchase by Sovereign Land later that year, Jane became Financial Controller and was promoted to Finance Director in 2009. In addition to providing strategic and financial direction for the group, she is responsible for overseeing the finance role on all projects.

She started her career at ICL in 1989 while studying for her accountancy qualification. Post qualifying, she worked at La Porte plc and Wickes plc where she was an integral part of the negotiations for the sale of the European business.

Jane has more than 30 years’ experience in the industry.

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Guy joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2010 and is Director of Development.

He currently oversees major development projects. His experience has included Metrocentre, The Telford Centre, St Enoch Centre in Glasgow and Trinity Walk Shopping Centre in Wakefield. He has also worked on the asset management of Mermaid Quay in Cardiff, the asset management and refurbishment of Ayr Central and the asset management of Trinity Walk.

After graduating in 2004, he worked at Sanderson Weatherall (Valuation), DTZ (Professional & Development) and Montagu Evans (General Practice).

Guy has more than 18 years experience in the property industry.

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Luke joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2014 to work on new business and transactional activity in addition to a business planning and financial analysis role across the portfolio.

He has been heavily involved in Sovereign’s expanding asset management, investment and development programme including successful acquisitions such as Touchwood Shopping Centre, Solihull and One Stop Perry Barr along with several asset management appointments and transfers including Metrocentre, and Eastgate Shopping Centre, Basildon.

Extensive experience in the retail sector, working on both the agency and principal side of the market for nearly 15 years. Prior experience includes 6 years at Savills working as an Associate Director in a market leading
Shopping Centre Investment team which successfully transacted numerous shopping centres, including some of the UK’s largest.

Luke graduated from the University of Warwick with an Engineering degree in 2007 and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2010.

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Graeme joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2018 and is Director of Asset Management.

He is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with 25 years of post qualification experience across Asset Management & Development on both the agency and client side of the UK property industry.

He moved from Land Securities where he worked as a Portfolio Manager with the Shopping Centre team. Prior to this, Graeme was Head of Asset Management at Steamrock Capital and spent 7 years with Lend Lease as both an Asset & Development Manager working on various assets including Golden Square, Warrington Shopping Centre and The International Quarter in Stratford.

Graeme also worked as a Partner for Bidwells in Cambridge in the Fund Management team responsible for the property assets of a number of the Cambridge College portfolios and private individual clients.

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John joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2004 as Development Director.

With more than 30 years experience in retail property development, he has developed schemes across the UK.

John has built close working relationships with local authorities, the country’s leading retailers and has advised institutions, private equity and supermarkets on development schemes.

John previously held the post of Development Director at Chartwell Land and was a Director of the developer Southern & City Property Group.

John was a member of the AR committee for several years.

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Ben joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2020 from intu Properties PLC as a Senior Leasing, Asset & Development Manager for Metrocentre, one of the UK’s top shopping and leisure destinations.

Ben spent 6 years at intu, firstly as Senior Asset Manager for intu Eldon Square and subsequently Metrocentre from 2018. His role involves all aspects of leasing and asset management in addition to delivering development projects. Highlights have included the Grey’s Quarter scheme at Eldon Square.

Prior to intu, Ben was a Partner in Retail Agency at Sanderson Weatherall primarily responsible for leasing at Metrocentre and Elson Square whilst also acting for other clients including Greggs and Co-op.

Ben is a qualified Chartered Surveyor and has 14 years post qualification experience.

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Joseph joined Sovereign Centros in December 2022 as a Development Manager to work across a variety of the team’s development projects.

Prior to Sovereign Centros, Joseph worked at LCR Property in the Development and Asset Management teams, working primarily on complex development opportunities around transport hubs, in collaboration with public sector bodies.

Joseph studied Real Estate at the University of Reading and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2019.

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Mike joined Sovereign Centros in March 2022 as a Leasing and Asset Manager to work across a variety of the team’s projects.

Prior to Sovereign Centros, Mike worked at Hammerson Plc in the Restaurant and Leisure team advising on the leasing strategy across some of Hammerson’s core assets.

Mike studied Economics and Politics at Warwick university and worked at Standard Bank prior to joining Hammerson.

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Matt joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2018 and works as a Senior Asset Manager across many shopping centre assets within the Sovereign Centros portfolio.

Prior to Sovereign Centros, Matt worked in the Asset Management team at intu Properties PLC responsible for the leasing and asset management on intu Watford.

He also worked on intu Lakeside covering leasing, asset and property management duties.

Having studied at Manchester and Reading, Matt has 7 years experience in the property industry.

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Jack joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2016 and works as a Senior Asset Manager, having experience on many projects across the Sovereign Centros portfolio.

Prior to Sovereign Centros, Jack worked in Valuations at Allsop LLP across a broad range of commercial property and has experience in L&T and Receivership strategy.

Having studied at Exeter and Reading, Jack qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2014 and has over 9 years’ experience in the property industry.

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Noah joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2023 as an Asset Manager for the Metrocentre, one of the UK’s top shopping and leisure destinations.

Noah is a qualified Chartered Surveyor and has held a number of advisory and client side positions across the UK.

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Paul joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2018 as a Development & Planning Consultant.

Paul has worked within the retail and logistics sectors for over 30 years heading up a number of retail strategy, property development and construction teams. With careers at B&Q, BAA, Sainsbury’s and Netto, he has been accountable for the acquisition, development and construction of retail food and non-food stores, and distribution facilities throughout the UK. He has also worked in Taiwan studying building design in the Far East, and China, where he spent 2 years researching future international retail landscapes and development opportunities specifically for food store expansion.

Paul has worked for a number of FTSE 100 retail leaders and is passionate about retail operations, the future shopping environment and how bricks and mortar stores remain as important as ever within an evolving shopping climate.

During his time with Sovereign Centros, Paul has supported a number of our projects, specifically the £250m mixed-use redevelopment of Leisure World in Southampton, the letting and building refurbishment of a distribution unit for one of the UK’s growing meal kit technology providers, and the planning and delivery management for a new £23m supermarket and retail park refurbishment in Merseyside.

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Iain joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2022 as a Senior Asset & Development Manager.

He has 25 years experience across Asset Management, Development & Leasing on the client side of the UK property industry.

He joins after working for London & Cambridge Properties and M&M Asset Management where he was Director of Shopping Centres with responsibility for asset, leasing and development management of the Stamford Quarter, Altrincham, Stretford Mall and other mixed use assets across the UK.

Prior to this, Iain was a Retail Asset Manager for Capital & Regional’s Mall Fund responsible for assets such as Redditch Town Centre, The Mall Wood Green, The Mall Camberley and The Galleries Bristol.

During his early career, Iain worked as an associate Director at Allied London Properties on assets such as The Brunswick Centre, Bloomsbury, the redevelopment of Bracknell Town Centre and Spinningfields, Manchester.

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Tom joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2020 as an Asset Manager to work across a variety of the team projects.

Prior to Sovereign Centros, Tom worked at Grosvenor Fund Management in Paris and Workman LLP, advising clients on the management and strategy for a range of commercial property asset classes.

Tom studied at the University of Nottingham and Reading.

He is a qualified Chartered Surveyor and has 7 years experience in the property industry.

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Simon joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2015 as a Senior Leasing & Asset Manager.

Simon oversees Asset Management and Leasing strategies on key Sovereign Centros schemes.

Simon has also been involved in anchor retailer lettings due to his extensive experience.

He joined from M&G Real Estate where he was a Director within the Retail Asset Management team for over 7 years. Prior to that he was an Asset Manager at both Aviva (formerly Morley) and LaSalle Investment Management where he first developed his expertise in the retail property market.

Simon has over 15 years experience in the retail market place. His experience has included full asset management responsibilities for 8 shopping centres across the UK as well as retail warehouse parks and high street properties.

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Poppy joined Sovereign Centros in 2023 as an Asset Manager to work on a variety of the team’s projects with a particular emphasis on leasing.

Prior to Sovereign Centros, Poppy worked in the JLL Shopping Centre Leasing team where she worked on projects such as Trinity Leeds, White Rose Leeds and Grand Arcade Cambridge. She then moved to CBREIM where she was responsible for the asset management of Hammersmith and Fulham Broadway.

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Joseph joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2023 as an Investment Analyst. He assists the Investment team with business planning, acquisition review and ongoing financial analysis of assets.

He was previously a Fund Analyst with Centuria Capital in Australia, a listed fund manager with $21.2b AUD of assets under management. Prior to that Joseph worked as an Asset Manager for Centuria on a $300m retail portfolio and as a Leasing Executive for Coles Supermarkets Australia.

Joseph has a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and a Graduate Diploma of Property.

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David joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2021as a Senior Investment Manager.

Before joining, David was a Partner at Cushman & Wakefield in the Retail Capital Markets team. Prior to that he was a founder member and Director of Coady Supple Ltd, a real estate investment agency that, between 2011 and 2019, advised on the sale or purchase of 47 assets (including 39 shopping centres) with a capital value in excess of £1.6bn.

David has also worked as an Investment Analyst at Franc Warwick Chartered Surveyors (2006-20011) and as a Financial Accountant for the Burford Group PLC (1998-2005).

David qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1994 and has gained over 25 years of experience in the property industry since graduating from the University of Exeter with a degree in English Literature.

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Mark has joined from CBRE where he worked primarily with Shaftesbury PLC, managing a retail and mixed use estate in Covent Garden. This was alongside leading the asset management strategies for smaller family trust clients with retail led portfolios.

Having studied at Reading, Mark has 10 years experience in the property industry, qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 2015 before joining CBRE.

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Alistair joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2022 as Asset Manager for Merry Hill, with over 20 years experience in the Midlands property marketing having worked for a number of owners and occupiers associated with retail space.

He joins having worked in the asset management team for Ellandi and prior to this, 6 years at intu Properties PLC.

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Siva joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2003 as an Assistant Accountant and was promoted to Financial Controller in 2010. He currently looks after the project related accounting across the Sovereign Centros portfolio.

He was previously at Chartwell Land plc and has more than 20 years accounting experience within the property industry. His expertise covers development and investment finance.

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Jay joined the Sovereign Centos group in March 2023 as a Junior Management Accountant, working primarily on The Metrocentre and Merry Hill.

Jay graduated from the University of the West of England Bristol in 2022 with a MSc Finance and Investment Graduate (Distinction) and BA (Hons) Business Management with Accounting and Finance (First).

He is currently studying for the CFA and is interested in creating positive change through ESG analysis and sustainable finance.

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Lesya has joined the Sovereign Centros group in January 2022 as Management Accountant.

She will be responsible for the day-to-day financial aspects of Merry Hill Shopping Centre, one of the UK’s top shopping centres.

Lesya is a dedicated and detail-orientated accounting professional with over ten years of experience. Before this, she has worked at Ellandi LLP as a management accountant looking after different SPV’s.

In addition to the above, Lesya is actively volunteering at the Ukrainian Saturday School in London.

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Muhammad Khan joined the Sovereign Centros group in May 2023 as a Management Accountant.

He will be looking after the day-to-day financial aspects of Metrocentre, Gateshead which is one of the UK’s prime shopping centres.

His work experience comprises of working in five-star hotel chains in the hospitality sector and the last three years within Real Estate.

Muhammad’s qualifications include ACCA, MBA and a B.SC (Hons) in Applied Accounting.

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Ben joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2021 as Senior Management Accountant.

Amongst other projects he will have responsibility for the Metrocentre, one of the UK’s top shopping and leisure destinations.

Ben spent a number of years at intu Properties PLC, where he was the lead Commercial Accountant on 4 assets including intu Lakeside and Watford, as well as two joint ventures. Ben covered all aspects of commercial finance for the assets, including the opening of two major asset extension projects and the creation and structuring of joint ventures.

Prior to intu, Ben spent 10 years abroad where he had studied finance and worked for the New York Red Bulls.

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Laura joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2015 as a Personal Assistant and from 2018 also managing the social media profiles.

Laura is PA to John Marsh, Guy Beaumont and the wider team.

She has 10 years’ experience previously working in Recruitment and Facilities Management.

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Susannah joined the Sovereign Centros group in 2009 as a Personal Assistant.

Susannah is PA to Chris Geaves, Chief Executive and the wider team.

She was previously at Strutt and Parker and has worked in the property industry for over 15 years.

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