People

Barry has over twenty five years development experience, working on some of the most notable projects in London and the South East.

Barry started his property career at Lendlease working on developments such as Bluewater, Chapelfield and Greenwich Peninsula. He then helped to establish First Base as a leading mixed use developer and became CEO in 2020.  Barry led the development and investment teams at First Base; securing and delivering nearly £1bn GDV of development. He played a pivotal role in a number of award winning developments including the ground breaking mixed use scheme in Hagerston; Adelaide Wharf, the transformation of an empty site in Stratford into East Village in the Olympic Park, the market leading Printworks development in Elephant and Castle and the partnership with Princes Trust to deliver Highbury Gardens in Islington.

In 2021, Barry founded Socius, a developer and investor focused on urban, mixed use regeneration with social impact at its core. Barry has grown the Socius team since inception with the company now delivering over £1.5bn of development in major cities including London, Brighton, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

The team at Socius are vastly experienced across a range of sectors including offices, life sciences, build to rent, student housing, retail and leisure. Barry is particularly passionate about asset management ensuring that we take a long term approach to everything we do, curating, managing and stewarding places for many years post completion.

Barry has been instrumental in setting new industry benchmarks and has consistently delivered value for investors who include Barings, Railpen, Patron Capital and Ares.

Track Record

Olaide is a strategic thinker and problem-solver with a 15-year record of successful delivery in public and private sector organisations. With a degree in Sociology, Olaide is fascinated by how people engage with one another, with physical spaces and society in general; and this curiosity drives her.

Olaide leads on external relationships, establishing and nurturing partnerships with key local, business, investor and stakeholder contacts as well as growing the company’s pipeline in new and existing locations across the country.

An experienced public speaker, Olaide is regularly asked to speak and participate in debates on a range of topics including public/private partnership, social impact, arts and culture, broadening engagement and future trends.

In 2022, Olaide was recognised by Estates Gazette as one of the 50 most influential people in the industry.

In 2023, Olaide was recognised as a Woman of Influence by the Planner Magazine.

Track Record

Prior to joining, Luke worked for JLL and has been involved in delivering commercial offices, industrial warehousing, hotels and estate regeneration schemes.

A Bristol resident, Luke is leading on the construction of the £215m redevelopment of Soapworks which will provide 180,000 sq ft of flexible workspace, 243 new Build-to-Rent homes and create space for independent retail and a vibrant food and drink offer, including Bristol’s first purpose-built food hall.

Track Record

Daniel is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects with 20 years of experience within the industry. He has worked across all stages of development and specialises in maximising the creation of value through his understanding of design, planning, engineering, financing and construction.

Daniel is currently utilising these skills to lead the new business and acquisition strategy for Socius, in both new and existing locations. He is exploring opportunities across a number of sectors including offices, life sciences, build to rent, student housing, retail and leisure.

Daniel is currently working across Socius’ portfolio of projects with a focus on championing the project vision and placemaking agenda. He also leads the company’s ‘People & Performance’ strategy.

Daniel has tutored architectural students at University of East London and has supported the RIBA in the development of their Client Services. He has also mentored emerging architectural practices to develop their business strategies.

Track Record

For two decades, Steve has been responsible for a number of high-profile schemes across London and the South-East, ranging from estate regeneration to large mixed-use town centre redevelopments.

All schemes have had a strong focus on placemaking, ensuring long-term success through seamless integration of development into an urban area. Steve’s particular focus is the impact of social value and how it should be fully considered in the development process.

Steve oversaw the development of the £110m Edward Street Quarter Development in Brighton and is currently leading the £190m scheme in Milton Keynes; both projects will deliver in excess of 400,000 sq ft of workspace and over 400 new homes.

Track Record

Mike brings over ten years’ development experience from Quintain where he was a Senior Development Manager and played a key role in the delivery of over one-thousand homes across Wembley Park, the 85-acre regeneration scheme in North-West London which is the UK’s largest single Build-to-Rent development.

Prior to this, Mike spent two years as Development Manager at Capital & Counties where he led a number of complex development projects within the Covent Garden estate and spent a further two years at developer Manhattan Loft Corporation, which is best-known for Chiltern Fire House and the revitalisation of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel at King’s Cross.

Mike oversees the delivery of Soapworks which will provide 180,000 sq ft of flexible workspace, 243 new Build-to-Rent homes and create space for independent retail and a vibrant food and drink offer, including Bristol’s first purpose-built food hall.

Track Record

Victoria plays a key role within Socius; focusing on supporting the Managing Director and Board.  

Victoria leads the corporate PR for Socius, ensuring brand consistency is maintained throughout all materials and is responsible for the website content.

She also manages the day-to-day HR within the company and works closely with the Socius Board to attract talent and retain staff.

Victoria is a member of the People & Culture Team, ensuring smooth day-to-day running of the business.

Nathalie has joined Socius with over 18 years sales experience in London & the South East and is adept at working both agency and developer side successfully and often brings these two skills together to deliver strong sales results.

Prior to joining Socius, Nathalie worked for notable developers including Ballymore and First Base spanning high end schemes to large multi tenure regeneration projects. She has spent the last 4 years at Pocket Living as part of their leadership team, heading up the affordable & open market sales teams and successfully accelerating their sales pipeline, working closely with the project teams through the lifecycle of the developments to ensure product market fit.

In addition to working with some of the leading developers, Nathalie has held sales and consultancy roles with Savills and Knight Frank.

Track Record

Prior to joining Socius,  Joel led a number of major developments consisting of commercial offices, industrial warehousing, hotels and estate regeneration schemes in London and the South-East.  

As Senior Project Manager, Joel oversaw the delivery of the £110m Edward Street Quarter development in Brighton which delivered 168 apartments, 110,000sq ft of offices, and 40,000sq ft of retail, leisure and restaurants. 

Joel is supporting the MK Gateway team as they prepare to construction plans and also works with the Devonshire Gardens team in Cambridge; a £180m project which will deliver Grade A workspace, homes and a new public park, minutes from the station. The project will set new standards for environmental sustainability; with a significant increase in biodiversity and a design that is enabled for net zero carbon in operation.

Track Record

Ray is a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) and has over 30 years’ experience working for various blue-chip UK organisations including INTU, M&G, Lendlease and Hammerson.

His roles have varied from asset management through to property and facilities management on numerous mixed-use schemes including The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol; Liverpool ONE and Meadowhall, Sheffield.

Ray has delivered hands-on and strategic advice on a number of existing and new complex mixed-use estates including the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham; Wembley Park and Greenwich Peninsula, London.

Ray provides strategic asset and property management support on all Socius projects.

Israel has joined Socius on a 6 month placement as part of the Emerging Talent Programme, run by Future of London. A programme designed to give exposure to the different professions within the built environment. Israel will be working closely with the Senior Project Managers to support our live projects in Milton Keynes and Cambridge. Israel will also be assisting with our social value monitoring, ensuring our partners are supported with their social impact commitments.

As Project Director, Doug leads the Botanic Place team as they prepare to deliver a new £500m office scheme. The vision for the 500,000 sq ft project is that it will become the most sustainable and intelligent workspace in Cambridge.

Doug also overseas the £180m Devonshire Gardens project in Cambridge which will deliver Grade A workspace, homes and a new public park, minutes from the station. The project will set new standards for environmental sustainability; with a significant increase in biodiversity and a design that is enabled for net zero carbon in operation.

Doug’s previous experience was at DTZ and London & Aberdeen Group, where he led and delivered major mixed use projects including the Landing in Maidenhead and Ryger House in St James’s, London.

Doug also leads on sustainability for Socius.

Track Record

Connie is a highly efficient administrator and works across the business offering comprehensive support to the Project & Finance teams.

Connie also ensures a smooth running of our working environment, liaising with building management and resolving day-to-day issues. Connie also manages complex diaries and coordinates events for the team.

Prior to joining Socius, Liam worked for an MP in Manchester, followed by senior policy roles at Sheffield, Brighton and Camden Councils. 

He leads on engagement and social value, ensuring that we reach communities and stakeholders in the towns and cities that we work and deliver on our commitment to bring long term positive impact. 

Liam’s role covers the direction and monitoring of social value programmes, political and stakeholder engagement, public consultation and communications across all projects. 

Track Record

Peter is an engineer and developer working with government and industry, to improve environmental and working practices in construction. He was awarded a CBE for Services to Construction in 2007, is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Arts, Honorary Fellow of the RIBA.   

Co-founder of Stanhope and Lipton Rogers, Peter has been responsible for the cost effective design and delivery of many of London’s landmark projects, from 1 Finsbury Avenue and Broadgate in the 1980s to 22 Bishopsgate in the 2020s.    

Peter was the Founder Chairman of the UK Green Building Council and member of various industry and Government bodies: The Strategic Forum, The 2012 Commitments Task Group, Constructing Excellence, The Code for Sustainable Buildings steering group and The Construction Act Review.    

Peter is a mentor and adviser to Socius challenging design and construction on all projects. 

Track Record

Prior to joining Socius, Ashley worked for 10 years in New York as a senior project manager and development manager where she delivered a range of projects including hotels, multi-family residentials, retail & commercial offices, including new builds and refurbishments.

Ashley has been involved on the first phase of Edward Street Quarter and worked closely with the Member's Hill team to prepare a planning application for a senior living development in Weybridge.

Ashley is also supporting the Botanic Place team as they prepare to deliver a new £500m office scheme. The vision for the 500,000 sq ft project is that it will become the most sustainable and intelligent workspace in Cambridge.

Track Record

For over 30 years, Phil has delivered some of the largest and most complex mixed use projects including Ebbsfleet, Chapelfield (Norwich) and TresAguas (Madrid). He has undertaken senior roles with Lend Lease, Mace and Taylor Woodrow and has led on all aspects from land assembly to site infrastructure, planning, design, project management and construction.

At First Base, Phil was responsible for leading the team who gained planning consent for Silvertown Quays, a 62 acre site in East London, with over 5m sqft of commercial buildings and 3,000 homes. He has been involved in major projects in London including Printworks, Highbury Gardens, Ashchurch Villas as well as major towns and cities including Brighton and Bristol.

As Non-Exec Director, Phil advises on development management and delivery.

Track Record

An experienced property finance professional, Andy leads the finance and payments functions for Socius.

Qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998, Andy has undertaken a number of varied roles with major residential and commercial property developers. He has worked on accounting for joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions.

Nicola is an experienced Housing Manager with a wide range of expertise across housing management and maintenance in local authorities, housing associations and the private sector. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

She has a strong track record in delivering and improving services and works collaboratively with the projects team on the management and handover of mixed tenure schemes.

Track Record

Rupert is an established real estate and corporate finance professional with a wide range of leadership experience. He has a track record of creating, developing and leading businesses and joint ventures and repositioning existing businesses.   

Rupert is the former CEO of Hermes Fund Managers and Hermes Real Estate, and a former President of the BPF. He is the former CEO of JLL Corporates Finance. In addition to the record-breaking funding of 22 Bishopsgate, Rupert's achievements include funding Liverpool One for Grosvenor and the 67 acre Kings Cross development, where Rupert was also a board member of Joint Venture Partner, Argent, plus funding MacArthur Glen's UK and European development and investment portfolio.    

Rupert has also been involved in numerous corporate M&A transactions in the UK and Europe, including the sale of Laing Properties, J Sainsbury Developments and Railtrack Developments as well as the financial and business restructure of MEPC, where he was chairman.   

Rupert is a mentor and adviser to Socius leading on the financial and investment strategy. 

Track Record

Andrew brings over 30 years experience from the construction and project delivery side. He started his career as a site manager and most recently worked for Muse as a Construction Project Director, where he was responsible for leading multiple regeneration and mixed-use schemes from feasibility through to completion.

Throughout Andrew's experience, he has managed the full construction process, inclusive of construction teams, ensuring they provide a quality product, safely and professionally, with the highest levels of customer satisfaction.

Andrew is adept at interacting with clients, partners, contractors and site teams. He is a natural project leader and always seeking for continuous improvement.

Andrew has been instrumental onsite at Edward Street Quarter to help the team through the stages of Practical Completion and final handover to residents. Andrew is currently working on Botanic Place in Cambridge which will bring forward a new £500m office scheme.

Track Record