Nigel Hugill

Chairman, Centre for Cities; Chief Executive, Urban&Civic plc

Nigel has been in the top tier of the UK property industry for the past three decades, after becoming one of the youngest ever chief executives of a FTSE 250 company when Chelsfield plc was listed in 1993.  He went on to chair the European operations of Australian giant, Lendlease, became Special Advisor to Sir Bob Kerslake at the Homes and Communities Agency in the immediate aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis that necessitated, inter alia, the recapitalisation of the domestic Housing Association sector, before founding Urban&Civic in 2010.

He is a Fellow of the London School of Economics and previous Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Urban&Civic has grown to become the leading Master Developer in the UK and was acquired via a recommended offer by The Wellcome Trust in January 2021.  Nigel remains Chief Executive.  Previously, Nigel is perhaps best known as instigator of the Stratford City project and for his early advocacy that derelict railway sidings in East London could prove a viable Olympic contender. Those development proposals formed the basis of the successful London 2012 bid and what became the largest regeneration project in Europe.