Plenary and Panel Speakers

Saurabh Bhandari

Director, Property Delivery & Transformation

Cabinet Office, Office of Government Property

Saurabh Bhandari was appointed Director, Property Delivery and Transformation, within the Office of Government Property (Cabinet Office), in May 2024.

Saurabh leads strategic initiatives to modernise and optimise the Government Property Portfolio, with a particular focus on transforming property investments and assets into catalysts for  innovation & growth, that create public value.

Saurabh leads the drive to improve the condition of the government estate. He is responsible for the ongoing improvement of facilities management in government buildings,  including modernising infrastructure to enhance safety, energy efficiency and operational effectiveness across the public sector.  As a precursor to transforming assets and investments, he will also provide leadership in using data and analytics to enable decisions across the government estate.

Having trained as a Chartered Architect  and a Programme manager he brings multi-sector experience across real estate, social and economic infrastructure. Saurabh has extensive experience at senior positions on high-profile, national and international property programmes in a career spanning across multiple market sectors and both public and private investment led development programmes.

He is a Fellow of the Association of Project Management and a graduate of the Major Project Leadership Academy at Oxford University.

A keen reader and amateur runner, Saurabh lives in Manchester with his wife and two children.

Mark Bourgeois

Chief Executive Officer

Government Property Agency

Mark was appointed CEO of the GPA in October 2024. He is an established corporate leader with over 30 years of strategic and operational real estate experience across asset management, investment, development and operations. Mark was previously Managing Director UK and Ireland at Hammerson plc, Executive Director at Capital & Regional plc and Interim Corporate Director City Development at Liverpool City Council. He studied Industrial Economics at Nottingham University and began his career in Audit at KPMG.

Mark Chivers

Government Chief Property Officer

Cabinet Office

Mark joined the Cabinet Office as Government Chief Property Officer in January 2022.

Mark is responsible for providing senior, strategic leadership for the whole cross-government property function. He works with a wide range of senior stakeholders within government and in the wider public sector promoting the intelligent use of property to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer.

Mark provides strategic leadership for the Government Property Function, and holds senior leaders accountable to the Government Functional Standard. He leads on major change programmes, supporting the delivery of better and more integrated public services, overseeing – among others – the Places for Growth programme and supporting the regional growth agenda.

Mark has 20 years experience at Board level in both the private and public sectors, most recently as Director of Estates Engineering and Energy at Boots UK, but has led teams across Property, Marketing, Procurement, Operations and Transformation in Walgreens Boots Alliance businesses.

He is also a Non-Executive Director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Lynda Rawsthorne

Government Head of Property Profession

Cabinet Office

Lynda Rawsthorne was appointed Government Head of Property Profession and Director, Property Capability, Sponsorship & Standards, in August 2023.

Lynda is head of the Government Property Profession, the community of property professionals across government. She provides professional leadership across a diverse range of government departments and arms-length bodies which deliver the government’s property ambitions.

Lynda is responsible for the Government Property Strategy and the Government Property Functional Standard. The strategy sets out the government’s plans for a public sector estate for public benefit, ensuring it enables the best possible public services, is efficient and sustainable and supports the government’s levelling up ambitions. The Functional Standard sets expectations for how government property is acquired, managed and disposed of.

Lynda has over 25 years’ professional experience across the property lifecycle including valuation, managing estates as well as delivering transformational and construction-based programmes. A Fellow of both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Association of Project Management, Lynda is a graduate of the Major Project Leadership Academy at the University of Oxford.

Lynda joined the Cabinet Office from the Department of Transport where she was Director of Programme Integration within High Speed Rail Group, leading the land and property interface. Her previous roles include Prison Infrastructure Director at Ministry of Justice, leading delivery of the 15,000 additional places construction and transformation programme, and Programme Director of the £4.4bn Priority School Building Programme at the Department for Education. Starting her career in Local Government, she then worked predominantly in the Valuation Office Agency which she joined on the graduate programme, serving as a Valuation Officer, Head of Customer Services and Chief of Staff.

Lynda grew up in Milton Keynes but as a military wife has travelled extensively, with married quarters in four countries. She juggled three children and a variety of working patterns while continuing her career.

Session Speakers

Robbie Turner

Principal Associate

Mills & Reeve LLP

Robbie Turner is a lead real estate lawyer in our government sector. Robbie has transactional experience in all aspects of commercial real estate including acquisitions and disposals, mergers, joint ventures, land assembly, landlord and tenant work, and development work. Robbie regularly advises clients in the public and private sector on such issues and has a deep understanding of the requirements of government occupiers and the challenges they face. He recognises the importance of building strong relationships with clients and completing matters within deadlines and budget.

Photo here soon…

Details coming soon….

Speakers, agenda and times may be subject to change