Our leadership

Appointed to the Board

1 September 2020 and appointed as Chair on 7 September 2020

Committee Membership

Chair of the Nomination & Governance Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Robert Noel brings extensive property industry knowledge and experience to the Board having built a long and successful career spanning over 30 years in the real estate sector, including other listed companies. Most notably, Robert was Chief Executive Officer at Land Securities Group Plc (Landsec) from 2012 until March 2020. Prior to joining Landsec in 2010, Robert was Property Director at Great Portland Estates Plc from 2002 to 2009 and from 1992 to 2002 he was a Director of Nelson Bakewell, the property services group. Robert is a past president of the British Property Federation. 

External Appointments

Robert is Chair of Taylor Wimpey Plc and a Non-Executive Director of GMS Estates Limited. 

Appointed to the Board

15 December 2025

Relevant skills and experience

Rob Wilkinson is Chief Executive Officer of Hammerson plc. Prior to joining Hammerson, Rob served as the Chief Executive Officer of AEW Europe for over 11 years. He joined AEW in 2009, serving as Chief Investment Officer in Europe until 2014 when he was appointed CEO. As CEO of AEW Europe, Rob was responsible for €38 billion of real estate assets across Europe and oversaw over €20 billion of transactions. He was a Non-Executive Director at Grainger plc from 2015 to 2023 and has been a Non-Executive Director of Derwent London plc since 2024. Rob brings 30 years of experience in real estate and financial services markets having also previously worked at Goodman Group, Eurohypo and UBS. A qualified chartered accountant, Rob holds a degree in law from the University of Cambridge.

External appointments

Rob is a Non-executive Director of Derwent London plc

Appointed to the Board

26 April 2021

Relevant skills and experience

Himanshu Raja has served as a public company CFO for 15 years in  FTSE 250, Small Cap and FTSE 100 companies across a diverse range of sector including real estate, estate agency and financial services across branch networks, security and IT services and has also worked in private markets as a private equity CFO.  He brings extensive experience of business transformation and value creation including capital markets, M&A, cost take-out and working capital improvements, as well as financial oversight of  treasury, tax, investor relations and procurement.  Between 2011 and 2021, Himanshu was previously Chief Financial Officer of Countrywide plc, G4S plc, Misys plc and Logica plc. Himanshu is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a degree in law.

Appointed to the Board

5 May 2021

Committee membership

Audit Committee; Nomination & Governance Committee and Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

Relevant skills and experience

Habib brings 30 years’ experience in investment management across a range of sectors. Most recently, he was a partner at Capital Group, an active investment management business with assets under management of over $2 trillion, from 2002 to 2020, where he was responsible for the European Real Estate sector as well as a number of other industries. He started his career as an equity analyst in 1988 with responsibility for UK Real Estate. He became a Fund Manager in 1989 at Lazard Investors and then moved to Barclays Global Investors and subsequently to Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. Habib is a former advisor to the Investor Forum.

Appointed to the Board

1 January 2021 and appointed as Senior Independent Director on 29 April 2022

Committee membership

Chair of the Audit Committee; Nomination & Governance Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Mike is a Chartered Accountant and brings 30 years’ experience in senior finance roles in FTSE 250, Small Cap and AIM businesses across a broad range of sectors including manufacturing, technology, communications, healthcare and beverages. Mike was previously Chief Financial Officer of Incepta Group plc, prior to its acquisition by Huntsworth plc in 2005, and Chief Financial Officer of Cookson Group plc until its demerger in 2012. Mike was also Group Financial Controller at BBA Group plc. A graduate of Oxford University, Mike started his early career with Arthur Andersen.

Mike also has extensive Board experience and his previous Non-Executive roles have included Senior Independent Director and the Chair of the Audit Committee at Johnston Press plc and at Kin and Carta Group plc, and Chair of the Audit Committee at Cambian Group plc and Stock Spirits plc.

External appointments

Mike is a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Chesterfield Special Cylinders Holdings plc and Focusrite plc.

Appointed to the Board

9 March 2026

Relevant skills and experience

Michelle brings extensive experience across both property and capital markets. Most recently, she served as an Executive Director at Shaftesbury Capital plc, responsible for the group’s property portfolio, including, investment, asset management, leasing and marketing. Prior to its merger with Shaftesbury plc in March 2023, Michelle was a director of Capital & Counties Properties plc, responsible for its property portfolio. She is an experienced corporate financier, with a background across corporate broking, equity capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions within the UK listed real estate sector at UBS Investment Bank.

Appointed to the Board

22 July 2019

Committee membership

Audit Committee; Nomination & Governance Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Adam Metz has built a very successful career in the US over 30 years and brings to the Board wide-ranging experience in retail and commercial real estate, as both an executive and non-executive director. He served as CEO of General Growth Properties and President of Urban Shopping Centres, Inc., two US REITs focused on the retail sector. He also has extensive investment experience gained at Blackstone Group, TPG Capital and most recently the Carlyle Group. At the Carlyle Group, he was a Managing Director and Head of International Real Estate and also served on Carlyle’s Management Committee until 2018. Adam has considerable board experience, previously serving on the Boards of Forest City Realty, Parkway Properties and AMLI Realty in the US and Aliansce, a public company focused on shopping malls in Brazil. His comprehensive experience in real estate investment and strategy in the US, Europe and Asia, through listed companies and private equity, enables him to make a valuable contribution to our Board.

External appointments

Adam is CEO and President of Seritage Growth Properties, and currently Seritage's Board Chairman, and also sits on the boards of a number of Morgan Stanley fund entities. He is also Vice-Chair of the Advisory Board for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. 

Appointed to the Board

1 March 2019

Committee membership

Nomination & Governance Committee; Remuneration Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Carol Welch has extensive experience in leading business transformation and executing customer led strategy in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors at board level. Carol is currently Group CEO of A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd, where she leads the SPAR retail stores division and a wholesale business that serves major retail and leisure brands. This allows her to bring to the Board extensive knowledge of delivering improved business and organisational performance in the retail sector, including a deep understanding of the changing behaviours of the omnichannel consumer, asset, property and supply chain development, alongside operations and people leadership. Carol also brings insightful European consumer, operations and tenant experience from her time at ODEON Cinemas Group, where she led the transformation of their estate and guest experience, alongside their commercial and digital strategy across Europe. 

Carol is Hammerson’s Nominated Non-Executive Director for Colleague Engagement.

External appointments

Carol is CEO of A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd.