2012 Jury
Brian was responsible for establishing the Savills office in Poland in 2004 and in 2014 was appointed to expand the business across the CEE region. In addition to managing the business he is is active securing new clients for Savills in Poland as well as liaising with exiting worldwide clients, either directly or via the international network of the firm, having also personally lead the investment department until October 2010. He was involved in some of the earliest transactions in Warsaw including Wisniowy Business Park A and Renaissance Tower. Brian was previously engaged in consulting, including appointments with DTZ and EC Harris, and was Managing Director of CB Richard Ellis Polska (1996-2001) where he was responsible for setting up operations and growing the business of the company. Charles moved to Central Europe in 1998, residing initially in Budapest and then Warsaw. He is regarded as one of the region’s leading commercial real estate experts. As Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield in both Hungary and Poland, Charles was responsible for the substantial growth and financial success of these businesses including the successful merger of DTZ and C&W in Poland, creating a market leading real estate consultancy, employing over 440 people. Charles has been instrumental in developing the region’s investment markets since the first institutional capital was deployed back in the early 2000’s. Transacting in the core markets of CE plus Croatia and across all commercial sectors, he has worked with a broad spectrum of clients including DWS, Union Investment, Skanska, Ghelamco, Heitman, Invesco, CBRE IM, Griffin Capital Partners and Credit Suisse. He advised Wing on the successful acquisition of a majority stake in the leading Polish developer Echo Investment and Charles remains a key advocate for the region’s continued success, especially Poland. Recently, Charles has been advisor to the Board and Shareholder of iO Partners – a JLL Preferred Partner, with 250 people and offices in Czech, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Serbia. Through Bracken Consulting Ltd, Charles continues to work with select investors targeting Poland. Colin Waddell has been working for CBRE in CEE for over 12 years. Over the last six years Colin has been integral in setting-up and expanding CBRE’s platform in the region which has meant that CBRE now operate as a full-service entity in CEE. Colin’s geographical experience covers all of the principal regional markets and his professional career involves a range of investment consultancy, brokerage and valuation work (including development consultancy) over all sectors of the property industry, up and above his management duties. Before entering the Central & Eastern European market, prior to CBRE, Colin worked for King Sturge in Edinburgh and London for four years. Colin graduated from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh with an honours degree in Estate Management and is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Hadley has been successfully operating in Poland for over 20 years where he is recognised for growing businesses and consistently outperforming the market place. Before establishing MDC² he used to hold the role of the founding CEO of EPP – the largest owner of shopping centres in Poland (EUR 2.6bn of GAV). Prior to EPP he was a Managing Partner for Eastern Europe for Colliers International where he built the best logistics and industrial space agency business in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2021 Hadley was the recipient of the prestigious CEEQA Lifetime Achievement in Real Estate award. Richard is a Partner of Knight Frank with 12 years of transactional experience in cross-border European real estate investment, across the key markets. Richard has worked in Knight Frank’s London based European Investment Team since its inception over a decade ago. He has specific responsibility for leading Knight Frank’s Central European Investment business, working on daily basis with the local teams across the region. Adrian has 20 years’ experience in the real estate market and over 35 office buildings divested for EUR 1.6 bn with the Skanska team since joining the company in 2013. During this time he has brought several new investors to the CEE region. In 2018 Adrian led Skanska’s first divestment process of an office building to an Asian investor. The two buildings of the Silesia Business Park office complex in Katowice were sold to the ISOC Group, a diversified real estate and infrastructure investment group, based in Manila, the Philippines. This transaction was another proof of Adrian’s long-term strategy concerning diversification of capital flow across the region. Adrian is a devoted CEE commercial real estate ambassador, promoting the region among foreign investors all over the world. Being strongly focused on investor-oriented activities, he conducted numerous market tours to Germany, the UK, and Asia. As a renowned expert, Adrian is also being invited as a speaker to many market events, for example The CEE Summit or Property Technology Forum Europe, both held in 2018 in Warsaw. In addition, Adrian is the initiator of the CEE Investment Report; one of the most important publications promoting the CEE region among stakeholders, with its latest, well-received, 4th edition in 2018. Ben leads the team and company operations across Central & Eastern Europe for Prologis, the leading global owner, operator and developer of industrial real estate throughout Europe, Americas and Asia is responsible for all activities of Prologis in the CEE region (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia). He joined Prologis in 2008 from Jones Lang LaSalle where he was the Managing Director for Central Europe. In this role, he was responsible for Poland, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic, including the daily management of the Warsaw office and operations in Prague and Budapest. Ben has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, of which 15 years have been spent in Central Europe with Jones Lang LaSalle and Prologis. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in Land Economy. He is also a UK-trained chartered surveyor. David leads the Norton Rose Real Estate Team in Warsaw and his Europe-wide practice focuses on real estate, restructuring, banking and finance, corporate and securities transactions, telecommunications, and mergers and acquisitions. In his 30+ year legal career he has led teams advising on mergers and acquisitions of private and public companies, real estate transactions, debt and equity offerings and strategic investments, debt restructuring and restructurings of companies, telecommunications projects, privatization and financing transactions in both market and regulated economic environments. David has been listed annually in European Legal Business as a preferred legal provider for banking and finance since 2001 and intellectual property, IT and telecommunications since 2003. The Chambers Europe 2008 analysis of real estate lawyers in CEE stated: “David Dixon is the key partner for cross border work. His approach is described as pragmatic and realistic: when lawyers are at loggerheads he takes control of the situation.” The Chambers Europe 2009 analysis of real estate lawyers in Poland elaborates that “clients prize his international law knowledge and broad experience.” Legal 500 recognizes Mr Dixon as a leading lawyer in real estate and M&A practice in Poland. David received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Colgate University in 1977, where he became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1980 where he was a member of the Management Board of the Virginia Journal of International Law. He is a member of American Bar Association and is admitted to practice in Michigan, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Texas. Ian has been active in the CEE region, Russia and Ukraine since 1996 in a range of senior management roles. AECOM is a Fortune 500 company with in excess of 90,000 employees serving clients in more than 150 countries. Built to deliver a better world, AECOM provides a unique blend of global reach, with local knowledge. James is a founding partner of Stage Capital, a European mid-market private equity and real estate investment manager established in 2016. After qualifying as an accountant, James has spent the majority of his career investing in businesses and property in Central Europe. Stage Capital specialises in direct and complex secondary investments in the midmarket and real estate. James is also a trustee of The Elifar Foundation, a charity which helps severely disabled children by providing life enhancing specialist equipment. Jeroen began working for Ghelamco in 2003 as a Managing Director for Poland and 3 years later was appointed Managing Director for Central and Eastern Europe. The Belgian developer presence in the region has since grown several times, becoming the leading and well recognised provider of modern business space within the region. Prior to joining Ghelamco, he worked in the Unilever Moscow and DTZ. In 1997 he participated in a project implemented by Rabobank in Ukraine. Jeroen is currently responsible for all of Ghelamco’s Central and Eastern European operations which comprise a portfolio of over 1m sq m. Ghelamco’s flagship project under his management is the Warsaw Spire complex, opened in 2016 in Warsaw, which is currently the largest such investment in CEE region. He majored in Business Economics at the Vrije University in Amsterdam and is a member of the prestigious Young Presidents’ Organisation. Martin is managing director of Erste Group’s International Real Estate Clients department in Vienna. He is active in the CEE/SEE Real Estate markets for 17 years. The regional focus includes Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Croatia. Erste Group is one of the largest financial services providers in the eastern part of the EU in terms of clients and total assets. Its core activities – besides the traditional strength in serving private individuals and SMEs – include advisory services and support for corporate clients in financing, investment and access to international capital markets, public sector funding and interbank market operations. Robert founded Panattoni Europe in 2005. After 19 years of rapid growth, the company is the largest industrial developer in Poland, Germany and Europe overall. Additionally Robert is the Co-Owner and Founder of such businesses as Blue Assets, Harden Construction, Newport Logistics Fund, Panattoni Income Fund, Panattoni Investment Management and D&D Devco. To date, Panattoni has completed over 23 million sqm of space in Europe, including over 15 million in Poland. In 2023, the company sold 12 industrial parks for €500 million. In the first half of 2024, Panattoni also began constructing its first industrial park in India and a major investment in Swindon, UK, worth £900 million. The developer has also recently entered Saudi Arabia and the Baltic countries. In 2024, he launched the Robert Dobrzycki foundation, whose mission is social development and the promotion of Poland and Polish entrepreneurship in the international arena. Robert Dobrzycki graduated from the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw. His passions include golf and football, as well as literature. Roger joined Avestus Real Estate as CEO in April, 2006 bringing more than 20 years of experience in the real estate business. From its headquarters in Prague, Roger oversees the continued development of ARE’s portfolio of residential, office and retail properties, a number of large mixed-use developments, and the company’s ongoing expansion into new territories across CEE. Prior to his current position with ARE. Roger held Managing Director and CEO positions at leading real estate entities in the UK, including: 2002–2006, Divisional Managing Director of Gleeson Homes, a wholly owned subsidiary of MJ Gleeson Group; 1999–2001, residential Managing Director at Chelverton International; 1996–1999, Managing Director, South Thames division of Countryside Properties. Roger is a member of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Tomasz is responsible for the business activities of the world’s leading title insurers in Poland, Turkey, Romania and Hungary. TK was a pioneer in the Title Insurance sector in the region, introducing the product to the Polish market in 2002. Over the past ten years Stewart has issued in excess of 10 billion euros worth of cover, and over 7 billion within Poland alone. In addition to his role at Stewart, TK is an active developer in the boutique residential sector and his houses are featured in many design magazines, adverts and TV shoots. He has also worked as development partner at AIG/Lincoln, Marriott Hotels and Accenture (Andersen Consulting). He is a graduate of Cornell University.Agent & Industry Partners
Brian Burgess, Managing Director Central & Eastern Europe, Savills
Brian is a fellow of RICS, having served on the board of RICS Europe as Vice Chairman and Acting Chairman (2003-2004) and as Chairman of the Polish Association of Chartered Surveyors (now RICS Polska). He is British and a fluent Polish speaker.
Charles Taylor MRICS, Advisor to the Board & Shareholder, Bracken Consulting
Colin Waddell, Managing Director Poland, CBRE
Hadley Dean, Founder, MDC²
Patrick Delcol, Managing Director Poland, DTZ
Richard Laird, Head of Investment CEE, Knight Frank
Industry Operators
Adrian Karczewicz, Head of Divestments, Skanska Commerical Real Estate Europe
Anton Hoeller, Managing Director International Real Estate Finance, Unicredit
Ben Bannatyne, Managing Director Central & Eastern Europe, Prologis
David Dixon, Partner, Norton Rose
Ian Church, (MRICS) Managing Director of Buildings + Places Continental Europe & CIS, AECOM
James Huckle, Founding Partner, Stage Capital
Jeroen van der Toolen, Managing Director CEE, Ghelamco
Jolanta Nowakowska-Zimoch, Partner, Hogans Lovell
Martin Schlichting, Head of International Real Estate Clients, Erste Group Bank
Matthew Hunt, Director Real Estate, Infrared Capital Partners
Michael Kroeger, Head of International Real Estate Finance, Helaba
Paul Heller, Principal, Blackstone
Radoslaw Popko, Head of Real Estate Finance Poland, Berlin Hyp
Robert Dobrzycki FRICS, CEO & Co-Owner, Panattoni Europe, UK, Middle East & India
Roger Dunlop MRICS, Chief Executive Officer, Avestus Real Estate
Tomasz Klodowski, Managing Director CEE, Stewart Title
