The one who helps breakthroughs happen

My job is to invest Aviva's capital in projects that regenerate towns and cities. We’re improving places people care about and helping the UK get ready for the future.

I seek out property development projects that will generate a return on investment and boost local communities through innovation and regeneration.

One of the projects I’m working on is the London Cancer District in Sutton, a leading centre for cancer research and treatment.

My role is very much about building relationships, finding new sites and partners. I love all of that, but the best thing about real estate is its tangibility. You can go back to places you worked on and say, I helped make this place better.

On resilience-building geography teachers

I have a health condition, which meant I never thought I'd work in a city.

As a child, I would collapse and be violently sick and dizzy. I was rendered completely incapable of anything for a few days. It was down to an inner ear disorder, and we didn’t know how to make it stop.

There are a lot worse things that could happen. But at the time, it was physically and emotionally crippling. I never knew when I was going to be poorly or how long it would last.

I missed a lot of school and struggled to stay motivated. Some teachers thought I just needed to pull myself together, but others took a bit more interest.

I remember my A-level geography teacher saying, ‘You can do better and I’m going to make sure you do better.’

His belief helped me immensely. I feel very lucky to have had that support and to have found a way to manage my condition. I think those experiences made me resilient. I'm quite determined.

I’ve worked with some amazing people since who have encouraged and mentored me.

The other day, I cycled past the neurology hospital where I was treated as a teen. If you’d said to me back then that I’d be living this life, doing this job, I wouldn't have believed you.

On a million-square-foot ambition

The London Cancer District is a million-square-foot regeneration project.

We’re helping to develop the world’s leading centre for cancer research and treatment.

We got planning permission for it in February this year, which is really exciting.

We’ve worked closely with the London Borough of Sutton, our development partners, The Institute of Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden, and others to bring the project this far.

It's a good day when you get planning permission. It’s a little nerve wracking going to planning committee. You sit through the meeting knowing how much work has been done and hoping the committee says ‘yes’.

The London Cancer District will bring job opportunities for people in their local borough. Alongside science buildings, there’ll be coffee shops and a nursery – all the amenities that go with these big developments. 

We're creating a place where businesses can grow, bringing investment, jobs and opportunity to the area.

On an incredible pop-up pitch

We are investing in the development of a world-leading district focused on oncology.

Next to our site is the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research, who are world class in the research and treatment of cancer.  

What we’ll provide is space to innovate. For breakthroughs to happen. To bring commercial opportunities to help Sutton, London and the UK grow.

I went to London Life Science Week towards the end of last year. They have this pop-up pitch session. Scientists have three minutes to pitch what they do.

Lots of extraordinary people turned up and pitched their research into a variety of cancer treatments. 

One that really stood out for me was a group who talked about their research into treatment for a particularly aggressive kind of brain cancer, which doesn’t respond well to current treatments.

If successful, their research could mean patients have more time with friends and family, and possibly even go into remission. Incredibly, they had started to see real promise from early research.

On the benefits of co-locating

What you have now is life scientists doing early research, making astonishing discoveries.

The successful ones will need funding and space to take their research from university labs to innovation hubs to larger commercial accommodation.

The London Cancer District will create space where life science businesses can grow alongside researchers and clinicians. That connectivity and sharing of ideas aims to help accelerate treatments.

The quality of research in the UK is exceptional.

Aviva supports that innovation in more than one way. Our investment funds hold life science properties as long-term investments, while Aviva Ventures invests in start-up companies.

When businesses get funding from abroad and become successful, they often follow the funding. By helping them stay and grow here, we can support jobs, investment and economic growth in the UK.

Helping create a place where medical innovation can thrive feels like a meaningful way to invest.

On an oil painting of a horse

When I'm not working, you'll probably find me outdoors.

My family would unfairly say the most important thing to me is my horse, Sam. I turned 50 last year and my husband's present to me was an oil painting of Sam.

I’m blessed to have a home in the country and work I enjoy in London - and be able to balance the two.

I'm leading on some exciting projects, besides the London Cancer District. Delivering on those projects so we can reinvest in the future, that’s what’s next for me.

I hope that in 10 or 15 years, I’ll go back to Sutton. I’ll walk around and think, ‘Yes, we helped shape this and it’s been a success.’ Given where I started, that’s hugely motivating for me.  

_{1. The London Cancer District | London Borough of Sutton}