Sarah is a member of the corporate team at Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council and leads on the investment and sustainable growth agenda for the borough, oversees a large commercial investment portfolio and is responsible for the delivery of major projects.

Experienced in place making and regeneration underpinned by a solid foundation of land and property skills gained over 25+ years of working in a Local Authority environment, Sarah’s work focuses on enabling delivery, working closely with public and private sector partners. Sarah is experienced in setting up and operating joint ventures and commercial trading entities.

Sarah remains committed to raising the profile, maximising opportunities and driving forward the Council’s ambition for regeneration across the borough.

Brian is the Chair of Solent Freeport.

He has recently retired from BAE Systems Maritime, where he was Business Development Director.

He brings a wealth of private sector experience to his role, with over 30 years’ in the Marine and Maritime sector at organisations such as Thales, Marconi and the aforementioned BAE Systems. Brian is on the Board of the Society of Maritime Industries and Maritime UK and previously chair of the Solent LEP.

Chris is Chief Executive of Kingsbridge, a privately owned property company developing exceptional spaces for work, life and leisure across the South.

The experienced, award-winning team collaborates with like-minded partners to create outstanding schemes with a focus on responsibility, sustainability and community.

Chris has almost 30 years’ experience in commercial property. He has been leading Kingsbridge for the last 8 years, prior to which he was a fund manager at LaSalle Investment Management, responsible for over £3bn of assets across sectors and throughout the UK.

Gavin has worked at Savills since 2003, moving across from Southampton City Council, where he had worked in the Regeneration and Design team after graduating from Cardiff University in 1999.  At Southampton City Council, Gavin worked in an inward investment team assisting deliver regeneration schemes for the city.

Gavin specialises in complex mixed-use regeneration across the country, especially waterfront and infrastructure projects for both public and private sector clients and is driven to enable deliverable and viable consents that add value to the built environment and to people’s own surroundings.

As well as his roles at Savills, Gavin was elected to Chair of the Planning and Transport Committee of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce in summer 2022, is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Business South and chairs their Regenerate South Action Group and sits on the Southampton Renaissance Board.

Gavin was elected a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute in 2002, has been an RTPI APC Assessor and is the outgoing national RTPI Graduate Pathway Leader for Savills overseeing recruitment and  career progression for Savills planning graduates across the country.

Laura is an experienced planning communications and public affairs specialist having worked in the built environment industry for over 15 years’. Leading our team across the South, Laura has experience across numerous sectors including infrastructure, retail, retirement and property working with clients such as McDonald’s, Southampton Airport, AGS Group, McCarthy & Stone and Lovell.

John McConnell is a Chartered Surveyor with over 25 years of experience in airport real estate development and management. He began his career at Glasgow Airport before moving to Edinburgh Airport, where he played a key role in supporting its expansion plans and was instrumental in the development of the iconic control tower.

Following this, John spent two years with BAA Property as the Scottish lead for the creation of the Airport Property Fund, driving strategic property initiatives across the region.

Since 2014, John has led the Property function at AGS Airports, overseeing the real estate strategy and development across the group’s airport portfolio. His extensive expertise has been pivotal in delivering sustainable growth and unlocking commercial opportunities within the aviation sector and diversifying operational land into commercial developments