Emily meets Roger Orf, Vice-Chairman of Apollo Global’s European Principal Finance and Real Estate businesses, to learn of his rise through the real estate world and being one of the first American pioneers to venture into Europe.
Welcome to Bohill Partners’ industry podcast, where we speak to industry leaders in the real assets space to learn about the risks and rewards behind their success.
Emily revisits her conversation with Richard Croft, Executive Chairman and founder of M7 Real Estate, three years’ on from their original conversation over Zoom, during the Covid pandemic. This time, we hear from Richard about M7’s recent deal with Oxford Properties and discuss his departure from the business’ executive leadership team.
Emily meets Joanne McNamara, Head of Europe at Oxford Properties. Having joined Oxford in 2010 as an Investment Analyst, Jo rose through the ranks as Oxford grew its AUM to $10bn and its headcount to 40 people. She played a central role in Oxford’s merger with M7 Real Estate in 2021 and was awarded PERE industry figure of the year in the aftermath.
Emily talks to James Thornton, former CEO and current Non-Executive Chairman of Mayfair Capital. After 20 years working on the advisory side, James took the leap in setting up Mayfair Capital in 2002. Since then, he has helped the business to invest hundreds of millions of pounds of capital, culminating in the sale of Mayfair to Swiss Life in 2016.
"When it comes to risk, the thing I remember was when Roger and I were in Saint Moritz and he said we should go up and do the Cresta Run, the skeleton run which is 3/4 of a mile pretty much straight down on a weighted sled… I think you make the whole trip in 20 seconds. Roger does that every time he’s there…”
— Joe Azrack on Roger Orf
Emily meets Mark Robinson, co-founder of Ellandi, the UK’s leading owner-operator of retail and town centre spaces. He is an award-winning entrepreneur and one of the market’s leading advocates for placemaking and community creation. Mark recounts how he set up his business in the wake of the financial crisis and how they built a successful company with diversity, inclusion, community and sustainability at its forefront.
Emily meet Jos Short, Co-Founder of Internos (now part of Principal Global Investors) and an active board member of firms including Big Yellow, Great Portland Estates and Annington. Having set up his business in the wake of the GFC, Jos shares his insights on taking responsibility as an executive, adapting your business to the times and finding the best way to futureproof your company against a changing and challenging market.
Emily meets Helen Gordon, CEO of Grainger, the largest listed residential landlord in the UK. No stranger to adversity, Helen has navigated some of the toughest crises to hit the real estate industry to date, including running RBS’ Global Asset Management team in the wake of the global financial crisis and managing the sale of Railtrack’s real estate assets following the collapse and government takeover of the British Railway system in 2001.
Emily talks to Ian Marcus, powerhouse of the advisory world and arguably one of real estate’s best-connected individuals. Ian has spent almost 40 years working across banking and real estate, redefining the value of independent advisors in the industry.
During the 2020 Covid lockdown, Emily speaks over video call to Richard Croft, founder and Executive Chairman of M7 Real Estate, to hear the story behind the making of arguably one of the most successful pan-European players in the market today, formed in the midst of the financial crisis.
Emily meets Keith Breslauer, founder and Managing Partner of Patron Capital. Born and bred in New York, Keith left a Partner role at Lehman Brothers to set up Patron 21 years ago, one of the few independent platforms remaining in Europe.
Ric Lewis is the Founder, Executive Chair, and CIO of Tristan Capital Partners. In this interview with Emily, Ric tells the story of his move to Europe, a good friend who took a chance on him when he was a teenager, those famous Tristan parties, his many philanthropic ventures including his own charity, The Black Heart Foundation, and much much more… We also hear from Ric’s contemporaries, investors, and World Cup winning England Rugby player, Matt Dawson. For more information on The Black Heart Foundation, please visit: https://blackheartfoundation.org