Introducing your Presenters
Sarah Jones
Sarah is a Partner who plays a lead role in Cushman & Wakefield’s student accommodation practice. Since originally joining Cushman and Wakefield in 2004, Sarah established the university/city market demand study and due diligence work for which the company is now renown; undertaking projects for universities, private providers and investors. In addition, she has written residential strategies for several universities, as well as providing advice on the size of new schemes at new campuses. Sarah works with Andrew TC Smith in advising universities on residential procurement strategies, and in re-joining the firm after 18 months as Director of Research and Development at Empiric Student Property plc, she will focus on advising universities on developing their estate and residential provision through a variety of methods. Sarah is an economist who has spent nearly her whole career in higher education, combining markets knowledge with analysis of student trends and international student mobility patterns.
Andrew Smith
Andrew is a Partner at Cushman & Wakefield, heading its Public Sector Advisory Team (PSAT) across the UK. Over the last 20 years Andrew has built a team which advises public bodies on the alignment of their property resources to meet their business needs. The PSAT team integrates Cushman & Wakefield’s market awareness and specialist skills to provide robust, evidence-based strategies and to deliver desired change. Andrew leads the development and implementation of strategies for central government departments, local authorities, universities and health trusts. He is an expert on innovative funding structures, including: PFI, PPP, PDS and traditional routes; also OJEU procurement and project delivery. Recent projects have included procurement of Demand Risk Partnerships for delivery of c. 3,400 student bed-spaces.
David Feeney
David Feeney is a Partner and Cushman & Wakefield’s lead for Student Accommodation Advisory demand and supply services across the UK, advising universities, developers, funders, investors and operators on student accommodation development and the sector as a whole. With over seven years’ experience in the sector, David has a comprehensive knowledge of the UK market, and is working on a number of high profile schemes and strategies across the UK. He is currently managing a Residences Strategy for Bristol (University of Bristol, University of the West of England and Bristol City Council) and is also working with a range of institutions and joint venture partners across the UK to assess demand for accommodation and deliver new bed spaces. As well as his work with universities, David leads on Cushman & Wakefield’s market targeting analysis, advising a range of high profile private sector clients on the health of locations across the UK.
George Dyer
George Dyer is a Partner in Cushman and Wakefield’s Student Accommodation Capital Markets team and has been involved in over £1.5bn of PBSA transactions as both advisor and principal. Prior to setting up the London-based C&W EMEA Student Accommodation team with two colleagues, he was previously Head of UK Investment Management for GSA. At C&W, his team have worked on a number of transactions across the UK, Ireland and Spain, with recent transactions including the acquisition of the £600m Vita Student portfolio and the €170m Point Campus building in Dublin.
Paddy Allen
Paddy provides a broad range of strategic advisory and transactional services within the European student accommodation, residential and co-living sector. He has vast experience in transacting complex acquisitions, joint ventures, debt raising and strategic asset management of bed focused investments. Paddy joined Cushman & Wakefield from GSA Group, the global student accommodation investor, developer and operator. Prior to GSA Group, Paddy co-founded a residential business in London and Australia, and the proptech app, Acasa.
