Real Estate Expert Council

Rebekah is founder of Independence Ventures, a consulting firm specialising in real estate advisory for prominent family offices investing in the US and Europe.

She was formerly Managing Director at single family office, Marcol, focused on new strategies in real estate and private equity.

She is an advocate for diversity (DEI), an Angel investor, and Venture Partner in First Look, a fund investing in women and minority-led early-stage tech companies in finance, health, future of work and real estate.

Prior to working with family offices, Rebekah was Divisional Director at pan European fund manager M7 Real Estate now owned by Oxford Properties.

Previously, she held various senior roles at CBRE in New York and London and was a Partner at Cushman & Wakefield in the cross-border capital markets team advising North American private equity and pension funds investing in European real estate, including asset-backed operating businesses and single asset deals across a variety of sectors. Rebekah has over 20 years of real estate and investment experience.

She holds a BA in English from San Diego State University, during which time she completed a special study in English Literature at the University of Cambridge, and Real Estate MSc from Kingston University London. Rebekah is a certified real estate appraiser in New York and Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS). She currently lives in London with her husband and their two children.

Emma is a legal director in the commercial real estate team at BDB Pitmans. She is a ranked lawyer in London in the Legal 500 UK Solicitors, the leading guide to law firms and solicitors in the Uk.

She specialises in providing real estate advice to UK and off-shore private wealth sector clients. She regularly acts for high net-worth individuals, family offices, trust funds and investors.

Her private wealth sector expertise covers all elements of real estate investment from acquisition, through to portfolio management, refinancing, and disposal.

Emma also has a great deal of experience advising both landlords and corporate occupiers on complex leasehold structures. Having acted for a wide array of corporate occupier clients, from established multi-national healthcare providers to tech start-ups, she has an in-depth understanding of the commercial and legal issues faced by a corporate occupier client entering into a lease of new premises.

Emma invests in building long-term relationships with her clients and their other professional advisors, in order to ensure that her advice is tailored to her clients’ individual aims and objectives.

John is a Partner at BDB Pitmans and has specialised in very high value residential properties and in the residential landlord and tenant field for 30 years, and has a particularly strong reputation in the leasehold enfranchisement of houses and flats, and lease extensions for flats. He also advises many managing agents and tenant management companies on lease issues.

John is a leading practitioner for tenant clients in the specialist leasehold reform field and is a ‘go to’ adviser for properties on the Prime Central London estates.

Jonathan is Chairman of The Private Office at Savills. 

Jonathan started his estate agency career in London in 1986, joining Savills eight years later in 1994.

Since that time, he’s seen the city transform from a national capital into a global giant and been a key player in many of prime central London’s record-breaking transactions.

He credits seven years working in the world of theatre and TV with teaching him two skills that have been fundamental to his successful career: remaining calm under pressure and being comfortable talking to anybody, no matter how famous or wealthy they might be.

With an unmatched knowledge of the capital’s market and counting many of its most prestigious owners as personal friends, Jonathan is expanding on a previous legacy as Chairman of the Private Office. His longevity in the business means he is regularly called upon to provide up-to-date analysis, valuations and market insights.

While his primary focus is on London property, for clients of The Private Office Jonathan uses his extensive network to secure sales and manage transactions across the UK and overseas.

Charlie Wells is Managing Director of Savills UK buying arm Prime Purchase.

With a degree in rural estate management and a property career starting in 1993, Charlie is their go-to expert on everything from manor houses to farms and estates.

Before joining Prime Purchase, he ran the country property team for an independent firm, and also worked as a buying and selling agent specialising in sporting and agricultural properties.

Having worked in the country property market since 1993, he has built a reputation for making difficult deals happen, hard work and professionalism.

He has been listed in the Spear’s Wealth ‘Top 50 property experts in Britain’ since 2015 and in Chambers High Net Worth guide, an annual directory of the best operators in the private wealth market.

He is also a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Charlie lives in Hampshire with his wife and three young daughters.

Irene has been with Savills since 2011 and became a co-managing partner in 2012.

A lawyer by training, having read law at Oxford University, Irene has practiced in both London and Monaco, working first as a commercial property lawyer, then in the private client field.

Tempted by the challenge of a career change and raising the Savills profile in Monaco, Irene joined the Savills Monaco team in 2011, bringing her legal skills to the real estate world, playing an advisorial role alongside a commercial one when negotiating sales, purchases and rentals for her clients.

Familiar in dealing with UHNWIs, Irene is seen as a safe pair of hands when high value deals are on the table.

Married with three daughters, Irene has lived in Monaco since 1990, and believes that a combination of life in Monaco and frequent trips to London is as good as it gets.

Simon has been at Savills since 2007 and specialises in valuations of residential properties for tax driven purposes.

Expertise in particular on Inheritance Tax (including Decennial Charge), Capital Gains Tax (both non-resident CGT and UK resident, 1982 valuations), and ATED matters.

He works for a number of private banks and trust companies.

He advises on the obligations arising under The Charities Act 2011, S119.

He also advises solicitors and accountants advising on residential matters including contentious probates, expert witness matters and HMRC/District Valuer negotiations.