Speakers

Julian Worricker

Julian Worricker is a presenter for the BBC News Channel’s rolling news and the BBC World Service’s Weekend World Today programme. He has been a familiar voice on BBC radio since 1985 presenting on various programmes across BBC Radio 4, including Any Answers?, You & Yours and Last Word.   

Julian was entertainingly ‘photobombed’ by the Queen, live on BBC News, when she visited the BBC newsroom. Over the years he has won several broadcasting and journalism awards.

Mary Portas

Retail expert Mary Portas has advised government, transformed both luxury and high street stores, written books and produced a host of retail and business-themed TV programmes. The Chief Creative Officer of her own retail consultancy, and author of Work Like a Woman: A Manifesto For Change, she delivers an inspiring message of how businesses and individuals can adapt, transform and lead.

Nick Wheeler

Nick Wheeler is Founder and Managing Director of Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts, the leading mail order clothes company and number one online shirt retailer in the UK.

Nick founded Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts in 1986 while studying geography at Bristol University. After two years with Bain & Co, strategy consultants, he went "full time" in November 1989.

Charles Tyrwhitt sells shirts for men, women and children both on and offline. The company philosophy has always been to "surprise, delight and excite colleagues and customers" and to make it impossible to buy a better shirt.

Starting with just a few flyers and a word processor, Nick's story is one of determination to succeed alongside a true understanding of his customers.

Additionally, Nick Wheeler is a non-executive director and shareholder in The White Company, a leading mail order and retail company selling household goods. He also happens to be married to Chris Rucker, the White Company's founder. .

Robert Bolwell

Robert is Senior Partner and Head of Landlord and Tenant at Dutton Gregory solicitors where he’s been a partner since 1987 and founded the Landlord and Tenant department in 1993. His work includes more complicated dilapidations and possession cases as well as work for several clients with large block management portfolios.

Robert has a reputation as a dynamic speaker for the UK’s foremost professional bodies for letting agents, providing legal updates, and specialist lettings training. He has been seen on BBC’s Watchdog and is a regular contributor to industry publications.

Ben Beadle

Ben Beadle is the Chief Executive of the NRLA, the membership body that represents almost 95,000 landlords across England and Wales. A landlord for 15 years, Ben has had a lengthy career in housing holding senior roles at Places for People and TDS and is a familiar face in the sector and in the media.

The Association was founded in 2020 and helps landlords – big or small – navigate the many challenges of the private rented sector, providing first class support, advice, learning resources and services as well as a powerful research and campaigning.

Nicola Broomham

Nicola is the owner of Broomham Recruitment, a specialist property sector recruiter. She is also the presenter of the Broomham Podcast discussing various topics in the industry. Before working in recruitment Nicola worked for 12 years in estate agency as a lettings director and estate agency consultant. She is a mother of 3 and is passionate about campaigning for change in estate agency with better diversity, inclusion and gender equality. She is a mental health supporter and first aider and mentors several people across the industry.

Nicola is known for her straight talking approach, her big hair and as the owner of one of an award winning, fast growing recruitment agency that does things ‘the right way’.

Timothy Douglas

Timothy joined Propertymark in July 2015 having previously worked as a researcher for MEPs and for a Minister in the House of Commons. He leads on the organisation’s policy and campaign activity across Westminster, Whitehall, the devolved parliaments, and local authorities.

Timothy helps our members understand key policy issues and legislative changes as well as engaging with external stakeholders to ensure we maintain a coherent approach to policy and campaigns within the current political environment.

Nathan Emerson

As a longstanding member of Propertymark, Nathan has almost thirty years’ experience in the sector encompassing several disciplines including lettings, sales, commercial and auctioneering. He is a former Partner and Director at a successful independent estate agency and as a consultant, he has focused on supporting small and large agency owners with their growth strategies.

Nathan has been a Propertymark Board member since 2018 and became CEO in February 2021. He is also a facilitator and mentor of Propertymark Inspire, a highly successful development programme for small groups of independent agency leaders.

He has a keen interest in modernising the industry, has been involved with HM Land Registry’s Geovation Accelerator Programme, is a mentor to REACH UK’s Class of 2021 and has sat on the House Buying and Selling Working Group. Nathan is also a Main Board Director of Agent’s Giving.

Maxine Fothergill

Maxine is the Managing Director and founder of Amax Estates which has been successfully trading for over 19 years, specialising in lettings, sales and block management. She is very proud of the achievements her firm has obtained which is demonstrated by the 26 industry awards achieved.

In addition to running her business, Maxine is a trainer of landlords and agents having tendered and winning the contract for delivering landlord/agent training through Camden Council on behalf of the London Landlords Accreditation Scheme (ATLAS) and is personally responsible for successfully training over 5000 landlords and agents to date.

Jan Hÿtch

Jan is an Equity Partner with Norfolk-based Arnolds Keys LLP, and has responsibility for the firm’s residential strategy, recruitment, career development & training, IT and HR.

Passionate about education in the property sector, in particular creating entry-level access to the property industry for young people, Jan launched the first-ever taught full-time programme two year college course for 16-19 years olds to learn estate agency and lettings.

Launched at City College Norwich in 2015, it is now taught in FE colleges across the country. Jan was also part of the Trailblazer group for the first L2 Apprenticeship for Junior Estate Agency in 2018 and chairs the new Trailblazer group creating the L3 Apprenticeship, coming in 2022.

President of NAEA Propertymark in 2013/14 and former Propertymark Main Board Director, Jan is now Education Advisor to Propertymark and works with numerous educational institutions across the UK developing property courses.

Phil Keddie

During his presidency, Phil made it his mission to champion small independent agencies that he saw as the backbone of ARLA Propertymark. He helped to ensure they took full advantage of their membership by providing much needed support during monumental changes like the Tenant Fees Act and Electrical Safety Regulations.

Baroness Alicia Kennedy

Baroness Alicia Kennedy is currently the Director of Generation Rent. A leader in strategic planning and campaign organisation, Alicia has had a 25-year career operating at the highest level, working as a policy advisor in local government and in parliament. She was made a life peer in 2012.

Enna Khan

Enna Khan is Head of Customer Experience at Knight Frank, Residential.

Throughout her career Enna has ensured that customers are at the heart of the business. Having worked with customer-centric brands to live their brand promise, Enna focuses on creating differentiated experiences for both employees and customers.

Enna has worked with many highly regarded brands, across different sectors including John Lewis and Amazon, and at Knight Frank where she supported the firm to win eleven customer experience awards, including Best UK Brand at the prestigious UK Customer Experience Awards in 2021.

She is passionate and curious and believes that Customer Experience within property is hugely exciting and there is lots of unchartered territory to explore.

In addition to her role at Knight Frank, Enna is Co – Chair of the Race and Faith group and supports individuals with improving their public speaking confidence, with a particular focus on women from diverse communities..

David Votta

David started his career in 2009 as a trainee lettings negotiator for a large independent estate agency in Kent, moving onto a huge national agency several years later as a senior lettings branch manager.

He set up his own agency in 2018 and is a hands-on frontline agent that has covered all aspects of the lettings journey with ambitions to see the industry professionalised and regulated, creating a level playing field for all agents and landlords so that housing standards are raised and our private rented sector does not deteriorate further.

David has a very forward-thinking approach and a “just get it done” attitude which drives him to continuously step outside his comfort zone and cannot wait to take the position of ARLA Propertymark president in June 2022.

Melissa York

Melissa York is the assistant property editor of The Times and The Sunday Times. She works on both titles’ award-winning property sections, Bricks & Mortar and Home.

She writes news and features about the entire housing market, with a particular focus on affordable housing, leasehold and climate change issues.