STRATA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Management Team
Chris was born in London but was raised and schooled in the Caribbean on the island of St. Kitts. Chris attended the University of the West Indies at campuses in Barbados and the Bahamas and graduated with a BSs (Hons) in Management. On leaving university Chris worked for the Tourism Office of St Kitts and Nevis locally and then in senior marketing roles in New York and in London.
Chris joined Davon Ltd in 1997 where his initial role was in providing marketing consultancy to Davon's developer clients. This role has expanded over the years to reflect the changing nature of the Davon business. His role now involves financial management for the company, sourcing opportunities for Strata, preparing credit papers, liaising with lawyers and monitoring loans from drawdown to redemption.
Chris is also involved with creating and executing marketing plans for the company and liaising with clients and banks, negotiating loan facilities with debt funders, mezzanine providers and joint venture partners.
Chris is married and his many interests include cycling, running and most forms of motorsports.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Founding Director
- Member of the Management Team
- Principal
David was born in 1966 and after his education spent a short period of time working in his family's business. The core of this business was the provision of raw materials to the food manufacturing industry but with a small property investment division that had been built from trading profits. It was this part of the business that David became involved with and developed before leaving at the end of 1987 to establish his own business.
From that time David has worked within the property industry focused on the structuring of finance for all types of projects including residential, commercial, leisure and tourism related schemes; primarily within the UK although with some limited international activities in the West Indies.
David is founding director and principal shareholder of Davon Limited which structures and provides funding for property projects, operating as both a broker and a principal. With the confidence that it would be providing a valuable addition to the development funding market, and with known demand from a number of prospective borrowers from the outset, David, and his colleague, Chris, presented the concept of a ‘mezz fund' to evolve in 2006.
He is a member of the Association of Property Lenders and is well known to many active lenders within the property finance industry.
David has three adult children and a wide range of interests outside of work that include travelling with his partner Janet, music, sailing, power boating and motorsports. In 2016, he qualified for his private Pilot's licence.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director
- Member of the Management Team
Elizabeth Birchley BBus, DipSurv, MRICS joined evolve Fund Services Ltd in August 2007, shortly after the foundation of Strata. Born and educated in Australia, Elizabeth moved to the United Kingdom after gaining her Business degree and fell into property.
Working initially at Chesterfield Properties Limited, she began a Diploma in Surveying, before joining Jones Lang LaSalle where she subsequently qualified as a Chartered Surveyor.
Specialising in Asset Management, Elizabeth has worked with a number of clients throughout her career including The Drapers Company, Standard Life, Taylor Woodrow and a number of high net worth individuals, gaining experience of all asset classes throughout the UK. Whilst at Millar Kitching, evolve Fund Services Ltd became one of her clients.
An Associate Director of Strata, Elizabeth is actively involved in the day to day running of the company and undertaking site inspections.
Elizabeth loves cricket, residential projects, travelling, her husband and her dog - not necessarily in that order.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Management Team
- Associate of the Johnson Beharry Victoria Cross Foundation
Hugh Colville BA (Hons), DipSurv joined the surveying practice Savills in 1989 and was made a Director of the Commercial Investment Department in 1998. He was responsible for advising a combination of institutional, property company, corporate and developer clients - including Simon Hawley, his future business partner. Hugh gave advice on the acquisition and disposal of income producing investments and development opportunities (both speculative and pre-let) totalling over £500 million.
On 1st January 2000 Hugh and his wife both resigned from their jobs in order to have an extended (15 month) honeymoon, before trying for a family. They began in Islamabad and then hiked across Kashmir for 3 months, in both Pakistan and India. Although not mountaineers, their love of the mountains took them from the Karakorams to the Himalayas and then to New Zealand, Chile and the European Alps; finishing with a hike from Chamonix to (nearly) Nice.
Upon his return to London in late 2001, Hugh co-founded evolve with Simon Hawley. The business plan was to give private investors syndicated access to the sorts of real estate and real estate related investments they liked as chartered surveyors - not for tax or ‘trophy property' reasons. Between 2002-2006 evolve completed a range of commercial investments, typically in the budget hotel, retail warehouse and trade counter sectors.
2007 saw UK commercial real estate become too expensive, so evolve looked at other opportunities. The idea for Strata was presented to evolve by David and Chris at Davon in 2006. Together the two companies launched Strata in April 2007. Hugh sits on the Board of Strata and is also responsible for shareholder relations and capital raising.
Outside of work Hugh and Valerie survived the extended honeymoon and now have two teenage sons. Hugh is an Associate of the Johnson Beharry Victoria Cross Foundation, a charity aiming to break the cycle of gang membership and repeat offending in London. His other passions include lepidoptery, fly fishing, ornithology, trees and most sports that include a ball.
Katie has worked with the directors of Gallium since joining in May 2010
Katie deals with the application process for Strata and deals with most of the day to day queries from Strata shareholders.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Administrator - Gallium
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Administrator - Gallium
Matt has worked with the founding directors of Gallium Fund Solutions Limited since 2006. He is studying towards the CIMA qualification and works on a large portfolio of funds at Gallium.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Business Support Executive - Davon
Michelle has over 14 years administration and office management experience for a variety of small businesses including an American imports company and an Australian logistic products company.
Michelle worked for Davon Ltd initially from 2008 until 2010 when she left to have her family. She returned to Davon Ltd in 2014 as Business Support Executive. Michelle has experience with all aspects of admin including payroll, HR functions, business relationships, logistics and sales.
In her role at Davon she also provides accounts and loan management support to the directors. Michelle and her partner James have three children and in her spare time she enjoys reading, horse riding and Zumba.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Management Team
Simon Hawley BSc (Hons) was an Investment Director at Hill Samuel Asset Management and Scottish Widows (up to 2000) running the Lloyds TSB Property Pension Funds (circa £800m) and the HSAM London and South East Portfolio (circa £1.2 billion).
Prior to this Simon was a Senior Fund Manager in charge of the London and South East Property Portfolio for the Abbey Life Property Fund (circa £475m having grown from circa £200 million over 3 years) as well as working on a variety of external client mandates.
Simon has been a Chartered Surveyor since 1986 and a Fund Manager since 1989. Simon left Scottish Widows in 2000 and joined Matthews and Goodman as a salaried Partner whilst he managed the property acquisition programme for a £100m investment trust and strategised over the evolve concept. Following a meeting with Hugh Colville in 2001 the evolve concept took root.
Within Strata Simon chairs board meetings and Annual General Meetings as well as managing most aspects of the corporate business.
Away from the office Simon lives with his wife Amanda and the youngest of his four children in Berkshire, very near to the Strata office. He is the Treasurer for the Samuel Pepys Club (once, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the most exclusive club in the world - but no more!) and he is passionate about Pepys, Nelson, classic cars and West Ham United FC.