Team - Danescroft | Property & Assets

Charles Allen

Non-executive Director

Charles Allen is a non-executive director of Danescroft, as well as being Head of UK Real Estate of Fiera Real Estate.

He joined Fiera Real Estate in 2013 and was promoted to Head of UK Real Estate in July 2022. He is responsible for the management of the UK business and the successful execution of its business strategy.

Prior to joining Fiera Real Estate, Charles worked in the Corporate Finance team at Ernst & Young where he focused on capital raising, M&A and restructuring. Previously, Charles was at BNP Paribas Real Estate where he focused on buying and leasing Central London assets. Charles is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is a member of the Investment Committee.

Ray Palmer

Chairman

Ray Palmer has specialised in development and investment for over 40 years, starting his career at Lambert Smith & Partners, serving as its Chief Executive and guiding their sale to Abaco.

He stayed on as Chief Executive and masterminded a series of acquisitions, culminating in the creation of Lambert Smith Hampton, one of the UK’s top agencies. In 1991, he led a management buy-out before resigning in 1992 to establish Fiera Real Estate (formerly known as Palmer Capital).

Ray, through Fiera Real Estate, has a minority stake in Danescroft. This backing provides a range of support, non-executive guidance, operational assistance and direct access to the full range of Fiera Real Estate funds.

Emma Cullen

Legal Counsel

Emma trained at Frere Chomeley Bischoff and qualified into the commercial property department.

She held the role of Legal Counsel at Ascent Media Group Limited for seven years before joining Fiera Real Estate in 2007.

Emma provides Danescroft with valuable legal advice in both property and corporate matters.

Ellie Butler

Development Manager

ebutler@danescroft.co.uk

Ellie has a Masters Degree in Real Estate Finance from Cambridge University and prior to joining Danescroft, spent three years at Lendlease working on the £2.5 billion of regeneration of Elephant Park in Southwark,London. At Danescroft, Ellie is responsible for securing and optimising planning consents across a range of projects, as well as working on bids for both land and development management deals.

Will Crawford

Development Director

wcrawford@danescroft.co.uk

Will is a Chartered Surveyor with in excess of 25 years experience developing out numerous asset classes within the UK property Industry.

Will’s career started with Whitbread and since then he has worked with various operators and private developers, latterly with Retirement Villages Group as Group Development Director in the healthcare and later living sector.

Dan Hansel

Land Buyer

dhansel@danescroft.co.uk

Dan joined Danescroft as a graduate in MSc Real Estate from Henley Business School, specialising in the development pathway. He is responsible for speculatively sourcing and analysing sites which adds a new element to Danescroft’s land acquisition. Dan also assists the land team in their purchase of other sites.

Joshua Austin

Development Manager

jaustin @danescroft.co.uk

Joshua is a registered Architect and a chartered member of the RIBA with over 6 years experience across a number of sectors. He is responsible for managing the design and delivery of a range of developments across the Danescroft portfolio. Prior to joining Danescroft, he was employed by St William Homes (Berkeley Group), where he was responsible for managing numerous design and technical aspects of a large scale multi-phase residential project in East London. He is currently undertaking the RICS assessment of professional competence, aspiring to become a Chartered Planning & Development surveyor.

Paul Kucewicz

Head of Development Management

pkucewicz@danescroft.co.uk

Paul is a Chartered Surveyor with over 10 years’ experience in property development in the UK and Australia.

He started his career with Stockland, Australia’s largest diversified property group, in acquisitions before moving into development management.

Previously, Paul was an integral part of the Knight Dragon development team, where he was responsible for managing residential and mixed-use developments on the Greenwich Peninsula regeneration project.

Sam Pheasant

Associate Director

spheasant@danescroft.co.uk

Sam has an honours degree in Real Estate and is an integral part of the Danescroft land team, responsible for site acquisition through to planning and optimisation.

Having previously spent 3 years with the Berkeley Group, he has considerable experience in acquiring and realising complex residential led opportunities.

Catherine Clarke

Admin Assistant

cclarke@danescroft.co.uk

Catherine is responsible for the running of the Danescroft offices, providing admin support to the land team and the running of the Danescroft Social Media platforms.

Prior to joining Danescroft, Catherine studied History at Bournemouth University. Upon graduation she worked as an admin assistant within the serviced office industry.

Natalie Swinnerton

Project Assistant

nswinnerton@danescroft.co.uk

Natalie is our project assistant, providing support to the Development Management team.

She has 4 years of admin and PA experience, having previously worked for Fiera Real Estate.

Becky Blazeby

Financial Controller

bblazeby@danescroft.co.uk

Becky is responsible for managing both the company and individual project finances. Working alongside the Fiera accounts team she ensures that the company maintains rigid financial controls. She is responsible for creating and maintaining project cashflows for both in-house and joint venture companies and for providing rigorous reporting against financial targets.

Prior to joining Danescroft she gained several years in-house accounting experience with a range of businesses.

Alexandra Holburt

Development Manager

aholburt@danescroft.co.uk

Having obtained a Masters Degree in Real Estate from Oxford Brookes University Alexandra is a student member of the RICS.

Prior to joining Danescroft, she spent 3 years with the Berkeley Group where she made a significant contribution to the successful planning and development of two very large and complex residential led mixed-use developments in South London.

As part of the in-house development management team, she is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the development process, with a particular focus on planning and design optimisation.

Aidan Robson

Associate Director – Planning

arobson@danescroft.co.uk

Aidan is an experienced Planning Manager with over 8 years’ experience in the industry, previously with Linden Homes in their South East Office and more recently, with CALA Homes (Thames).

He has managed the planning process on a range of residential sites of between 30 up to 770 units. He has experience in liaising with local authorities and residents’ s73, s96a and s106 negotiations and submissions; site analysis prior to land acquisition and budget management.

James Trelfa

Director

jtrelfa@danescroft.co.uk

James has over 10 years’ experience and has oversight and responsibility for the companies acquisitions & disposals.

Prior to joining Danescroft in 2015, he worked for Shanly Homes, acquiring and managing residential development sites across The Thames Valley and West London.

Since joining the company, he has successfully overseen the execution of multiple business plans and brings considerable experience in identifying profitable land and development opportunities, along with the expertise and hard work required to see them through to a successful conclusion.

Dominic Fryer

Director

dfryer@danescroft.co.uk

Dominic is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with over 20 years’ experience in UK property and development.

Having started his career working in construction, he moved into consultancy and then to Bass in 1996, where he spent over 9 years working in property acquisitions and development.

He has particular expertise in development management and in the coordination of complex planning negotiations for residential and mixed-use development.

Dominic is a visiting Fellow of Nottingham Trent University.

David Civil

Managing Director

dcivil@danescroft.co.uk

David Civil is a Surveyor with over 30 years’ experience in the UK property development industry.

Since forming Danescroft in 1997, he has successfully overseen the company’s continued growth. In particular, he has been responsible for establishing and maintaining important relationships with joint venture partners, landowners and occupiers.

Prior to this, he worked as a development surveyor with Speyhawk PLC, London & Edinburgh Trust, and Canary Wharf Limited, where he was responsible for the delivery of a number of major and diverse development projects.

Meet Our Team

Dominic Fryer

James Trelfa

Ray Palmer

Charles Allen

Patrick Freestone

Emma Cullen

Sam Pheasant

Alexandra Holburt

Joshua Austin