Meet the team

Ed is responsible for leading Octopus Real Estate and sits on the Investment Committee. Ed joined Octopus in 2017 and previously led our Care Homes and Corporate Development teams. For the latter role, Ed led Octopus Real Estate’s growth into new sectors and developed our existing businesses. Prior to joining Octopus, Ed was a lawyer with international law firm Allen & Overy. He has a BA in Economics from Durham University and an MBA from the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.

Kevin has over 25 years’ real estate experience. He joined Octopus Real Estate in 2018 and heads up the team for raising funds and investing to facilitate the development of retirement communities. Kevin sits on the Investment Committee and has a Masters from Oxford Brookes School of the Built Environment.

Michael joined Octopus Real Estate in March 2021. Previously, Michael was a Founding Director and Board Member of Lothbury Investment Management. Michael has been a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors since 2005 and holds a BLE (Hons) in Land Economy from the University of Aberdeen.

Ludo established the commercial real estate debt platform in 2013 and is the manager of Octopus Commercial Real Estate Debt Funds I, II & III; he also sits on the Investment Committee. Ludo has a background in real estate fund and investment management, including with Jones Lang LaSalle and Henderson Global.

Steve joined Octopus in 2018 and is responsible for Buy to Let, Regulated and Unregulated Bridging loans. With close to 20 years in financial services, Steve has a wealth of experience in the intermediary and lending market.

Andy joined Octopus in 2021.  His team provides bespoke funding solutions to property developers to enable them to deliver ‘living’ assets, from residential through to student accommodation schemes and care homes. In a career spanning just under 20 years, Andy has gained significant experience including working for Lloyds Banking Group, Santander and most recently Secure Trust Bank.

Jack joined Octopus in 2022, having spent over 15 years in real estate, specialising in affordable housing. Jack was previously Executive Director for Growth and Investment at one of the country’s fastest growing affordable housing providers, and previously lead partnerships divisions for several large housebuilders. He is a member of the CISI and is an RICS Registered Valuer.

Chris joined Octopus in 2009 and is a qualified accountant (CIMA). He has held various financial controlling roles across the Octopus business. He has a strong background in accounting and financial reporting and currently runs the part of Octopus’ Commercial Finance function which focuses on the performance of the fund management group, including Octopus Real Estate and Octopus Ventures.

Richard joined Octopus in June 2017 and has over 35 years’ financial services experience. He is responsible for protecting our customers and the business by ensuring we maintain rigorous governance around our products and services.

Hollie joined Octopus Real Estate in August 2023 to lead the central operations and corporate development team. Prior to this, she spent 16 years at Lloyds Banking Group working across various roles, most recently in the Corporate & Institutional division where she was responsible for debt structuring across the real estate and housing sectors. Hollie’s experience spans all parts of real estate lending, from listed to private clients, investment and development facilities and both performing and distressed loans. She has a BSc in Maths from the University of Leeds and holds a CISI charter.

Steve joined Octopus in 2018 and is responsible for Buy to Let, Regulated and Unregulated Bridging loans. With close to 20 years in financial services, Steve has a wealth of experience in the intermediary and lending market.

Alex joined Octopus Real Estate in 2016 and heads up our residential sales team. Focusing primarily on our residential product set, which includes Buy-to-Let, Refurbishment, Regulated and Unregulated Bridging loans. Having built up his experience previously by working in both the financial and property sectors.

Stephen covers the Southeast region supporting brokers with Residential, Commercial and Development Finance. Previously he worked in residential real estate helping clients find their dream home, before joining Octopus in 2017.

Alex started working at Octopus in November 2022, supporting brokers with residential, commercial and development finance across the Midlands and Southwest of England. Previously, Alex worked as a BDM within the bridging industry for over 11 years.

Becky is an Internal BDM who supports the External BDMs in the North of England. She joined us in 2021.

Samantha is a Senior Internal BDM who supports the External BDMs in the South of England. She joined us in 2018.

Kayley is an Internal BDM who supports the External BDMs in the North of England. She joined us in 2020.

Lotty joined Octopus in October 2022 as an Internal BDM in the Residential Lending team. She previously worked at United Trust Bank, working both in their Asset Finance team and Property Development team.

Suparn joined Octopus in 2014. He has been working within the credit function for over 8 years and is responsible for bridging credit within the Residential Lending team. Suparn has a MEng in Computer Science from the University of Bristol.

Chris has over 23 years of mortgage underwriting experience. He joined Octopus in 2017 and heads up the Buy-to-Let Credit team, managing the team across both the London and Manchester offices. Prior to Octopus, Chris worked with companies including Harrods Bank, Metro Bank, Co-Op Bank and Platform Home Loans, focussing on customer service.

Linda heads up our residential portfolio team, managing loans from completion through to redemption. Prior to joining Octopus in 2015, Linda started her career at a retail bank and has since gained over 15 years’ experience in the financial services industry.

Dan is an Internal BDM who supports the External BDMs across the country. His experience lies within broking and compliance. Dan joined us in 2023.

Ludo established the commercial real estate debt platform in 2013 and is the manager of Octopus Commercial Real Estate Debt Funds I, II & III; he also sits on the Investment Committee. Ludo has a background in real estate fund and investment management, including with Jones Lang LaSalle and Henderson Global.

Dominic joined in 2014 and is the Manager of Octopus Commercial Real Estate Debt Syndication Funds, focusing on our commercial property lending and fund management activities. He is a qualified chartered surveyor and previously worked for Standard Life and Jones Lang LaSalle. He has  a BSc in Economics from the University of Exeter and an MSc in Estate Management from London South Bank University.

Nick leads the commercial term product; he sources new debt investment opportunities on commercial property throughout the UK. A qualified chartered surveyor, Nick joined the team in 2017

James is focused on commercial bridging and leads our lending into the Republic of Ireland. He is a qualified chartered surveyor and has been part of the team since 2017.

Stuart is the main point of contact for commercial servicing and redemptions. He has been part of the Octopus Real Estate team since 2018.

Lisa has over 13 years of experience holding multiple roles across Commercial Real Estate and Debt Servicing platforms based in Ireland and London. Lisa joined Octopus Real Estate in 2022 and oversees the Commercial Portfolio Management team. Prior to joining Octopus Real Estate, Lisa worked in Loan Asset Management overseeing a £2.2bn loan portfolio of Development, CMBS, Agency, Syndicated and Bi-Lateral CRE transactions.

Peter is focused on the residential lending activities and manages a team of credit managers across the London and Manchester offices. He has oversight of credit risk and is responsible for setting lending strategy. Peter joined us in 2013.

Andy joined Octopus in 2021.  His team provides bespoke funding solutions to property developers to enable them to deliver ‘living’ assets, from residential through to student accommodation schemes and care homes. In a career spanning just under 20 years, Andy has gained significant experience including working for Lloyds Banking Group, Santander and most recently Secure Trust Bank.

Nick oversees origination of new development lending across the ‘living’ sector, including residential, student, care and retirement. His previous experience includes roles at the Housing Growth Partnership and Fortwell Capital, where he focused on bespoke lending opportunities in the development sector, before joining Octopus in 2022. Nick also holds a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and is a CFA charterholder.

Sam joined Octopus in 2015 and has managed relationships in our residential team before moving to the development team as an originator. He is focused on residential and PBSA development business across the UK. Sam joined after graduating in economics from the University of Bristol.

Jenna works as an originator in the Development team, building relationships with developers and structuring deals that meet their needs.

Sam is the Head of Credit within the Development Lending team and joined Octopus in 2021. Sam’s background is in banking, covering a variety of roles including relationship management, debt structuring and recovery.

Anmol joined Octopus in 2022 as a Senior Credit Manager within the Development Lending team having previously worked at worked at OakNorth Bank. Anmol’s prior experience includes investment banking, SME lending, residential lending and commercial lending.

Dean joined in 2018. He originally started in the Residential Credit team and now specialises in Development. Prior to this he worked at Shawbrook Bank.

Laurence is a Senior Credit Manager within the Development Lending team and joined Octopus in early 2022. Laurence has over 10 years of experience in finance across a variety of roles, including structured finance, insolvency workout, consumer debt and CRE debt.

Nora heads up Portfolio Management. Prior to joining, Nora spent 5 years at Zorin Finance where she headed the Monitoring and Construction team. She holds a Building Engineering degree from the University of Navarre as well as a MSc in Construction Project Management by the University of Westminster. She is also a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Amy joined in 2018.  She manages the residential development portfolio from loan completion through to redemption including the monitoring of development sites and managing relationships post completion.

Lauren joined in 2021 and manages the residential development portfolio from day one through to redemption, including monitoring development of sites, restructuring facilities as well as originating business through repeat business. Lauren has previously worked in residential development, and previously worked at Close Brothers.

Reits joined Octopus Real Estate in 2021 and was part of the Credit team until mid-2022. He later moved to the Portfolio team where he is responsible for monitoring the residential development loans from day one through to redemption. Reits holds BSc in Management Accounting.

Kevin has over 25 years’ real estate experience. He joined Octopus Real Estate in 2018 and heads up the team for raising funds and investing to facilitate the development of retirement communities. Kevin sits on the Investment Committee and has a Masters from Oxford Brookes School of the Built Environment.

Marcus underwrites and provides oversight in the delivery of the schemes with our joint venture partners as well as reporting to the funds on ESG. He joined Octopus in 2020 and was previously responsible for delivering projects in both the PRS and PBSA sectors in the UK and Europe. He is also Fellow of the CIOB and has over 25 years’ experience in the Construction industry.

Domas joined Octopus in 2016. He focuses on growing Octopus’s retirement living strategy, with time split between fundraising, origination and execution. Domas previously worked at Henley Investments and EY. He has an MSc and BSc in Economics from the University of Sheffield, and is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst.

Mathilde has over 10-years of experience in real estate, across three continents (Europe, US and Asia), specialising in alternative real estate (PBSA, residential and senior living). Her role at Octopus started in 2022 where she leads the senior living rental strategy and the real estate transactions for the retirement team. Mathilde holds a Msc in Political Science & Finance from SciencePo Grenoble.

Jack joined Octopus in 2021, originally working within the funds finance team, before moving over to Octopus Real Estate in 2023. He focuses on the underwriting and execution of new transactions and ongoing asset management. Jack has a BSc in Economics from the University of Birmingham and is a Chartered Accountant.

Michael joined Octopus Real Estate in March 2021. Previously, Michael was a Founding Director and Board Member of Lothbury Investment Management. Michael has been a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors since 2005 and holds a BLE (Hons) in Land Economy from the University of Aberdeen.

Chris heads up origination of new investment opportunities for our care homes team, working closely with operators and developers. Chris has over 25 years’ experience in healthcare real estate. Prior to joining Octopus he worked at Knight Frank and Savills specialising in the acquisition and sale of healthcare assets on behalf of investors and operators.

Max joined Octopus in 2018. He focusses on sourcing and progressing new care home acquisitions as well as portfolio management.

Stavros joined in 2015. He is responsible for sourcing and executing transactions and portfolio management. Stavros has been a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors since 2019 and holds an MSc in Real Estate from Bayes Business School.

Ashley sources and develops new care home development schemes across the Midlands and North. He has been part of our investing team for over 10 years.

Stephanie joined Octopus in 2019. She is  responsible for executing transactions and portfolio management. Stephanie holds a BSc in Real Estate Management from Oxford Brookes University and a MSc in Financial Analysis and Fund Management from the University of Exeter.

Jack joined Octopus in 2022, having spent over 15 years in real estate, specialising in affordable housing. Jack was previously Executive Director for Growth and Investment at one of the country’s fastest growing affordable housing providers, and previously lead partnerships divisions for several large housebuilders. He is a member of the CISI and is an RICS Registered Valuer.

Peter joined Octopus Real Estate in August 2021 having spent the previous four years with a joint venture partner of Octopus. Peter is responsible for originating and executing affordable housing developments and has over 20 years’ affordable housing experience. He is also an independent non-executive director for a small housing association, Buckinghamshire Housing Association.

Elizabeth is Chair of NewArch Homes (Octopus Affordable Housing’s for-profit Registered Provider) and is a Non-Executive director at NHBC. Prior to this, she worked as the CEO of Moat Housing, a major housing association covering London and the South East, and as a Board Member of the National Housing Federation. Elizabeth has a wealth of experience from across the affordable housing sector as well as from various senior roles across real estate banking and finance.

Catherine is an Investment Manager in the Affordable Housing team after previously spending five years in our Development Lending team as a Senior Credit Manager. Prior to joining Octopus in 2018, she worked in Islamic finance at BLME and with real estate clients at PwC. Catherine also has a Master’s degree from the University of Leeds and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAEW).

Hollie joined Octopus Real Estate in August 2023 to lead the central operations and corporate development team. Prior to this, she spent 16 years at Lloyds Banking Group working across various roles, most recently in the Corporate & Institutional division where she was responsible for debt structuring across the real estate and housing sectors. Hollie’s experience spans all parts of real estate lending, from listed to private clients, investment and development facilities and both performing and distressed loans. She has a BSc in Maths from the University of Leeds and holds a CISI charter.

Ellis joined the team in 2017 and manages customer experience across Octopus Real Estate. This involves building processes and continuously improving the customer journey to ensure our clients have a seamless experience.

Lauren focussed on new investment opportunities and funding lines for Octopus Real Estate, including their delivery. She has worked at Octopus since 2013, originally with Octopus Investments before moving to Real Estate in 2016, working within real estate debt, and managing teams. She moved into her current role in 2020.

Benjamin joined in January 2022. He works on new investment opportunities and fund strategies. Previously he worked on the investment side of a number of asset managers and developers, and in the Capital Advisors team at CBRE.

Carrie helps to promote a culture of best practice in clinical assurance. She is a registered nurse with over 20 years’ experience across the NHS and private sector. Carrie joined us in 2018.