Development Diaries

John Guest
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  • CAREERS

Development Diaries is where real estate development's most influential leaders share their unfiltered career stories. Hosted by John Guest, founder of Henry James Search and the Rebels Community, each episode takes you behind the scenes with the innovators, change-makers, and visionaries shaping our built environment. From career-defining moments and sliding doors decisions to hard-won lessons and advice for the next generation, our guests reveal what really drives success in real estate development. We explore the challenges, celebrate the wins, and dig into what excites leaders most about the future of our industry. Subscribe to hear from managing directors, board members, and development leaders as they share their journeys from early career to industry leadership - and discover what makes exceptional development professionals tick. New episodes released regularly.

Episodes

  1. 6. Jonathan Smales, Executive Chairman at Human Nature

    28 APR

    6. Jonathan Smales, Executive Chairman at Human Nature

    In this episode of Development Diaries, John is joined by Jonathan Smales, founder and CEO of Human Nature - the sustainable, community-focused developer behind Phoenix, a 685-home neighbourhood in Lewes, and one of the most unconventional figures in UK real estate. Jonathan's route into the built environment began not in a surveyor's office or a lecture theatre, but at Greenpeace, where as Managing Director in the late 1980s he oversaw membership growth from 40,000 to nearly 400,000 - and, almost by accident, commissioned one of the UK's first green commercial buildings. That act of making, rather than campaigning, changed everything. What followed was a decade leading the Earth Centre, reclaiming two South Yorkshire coal mines as a world centre for sustainability, before founding Beyond Green — a consultancy advising government, pension funds, the Olympics, and major new communities across the UK. The frustration of watching vision erode between the drawing board and the ground eventually led him to become the principal himself. Human Nature was the answer. The conversation covers Jonathan's circuitous but coherent path from the civil service to Greenpeace to brownfield regeneration; why real estate has both an ambition crisis and an identity crisis; what it really takes to push genuinely innovative placemaking through a system that wasn't built for it; and why the industry's greatest challenges - climate, nature, social division - are also its greatest opportunity. Jonathan also answers Chris Fleetwood's question from last episode on how the industry attracts the next generation of talent, and leaves a question of his own for the next guest.

    1hr 3min
  2. 5. Chris Fleetwood, Chief Operating & Sustainability Officer at Redevco.

    14 APR

    5. Chris Fleetwood, Chief Operating & Sustainability Officer at Redevco.

    In this episode of Development Diaries, John is joined by Chris Fleetwood, a man whose route into real estate began not in a lecture theatre but at a careers fair, in a 45-minute conversation with a chartered surveyor whose name he never caught - yet who changed the course of his life. Chris takes us back to his Birmingham roots and a moment of genuine inspiration that set him on the path to a real estate degree and his first job navigating a deeply hostile early-90s market. What followed was a career that took him through Jones Lang Wootton, J. Sainsbury Developments, Parkridge, and ultimately twelve years at Landsec - where he served as Development Director across a portfolio that included landmark mixed-use regeneration, retail, PBSA, and the long-haul decontamination of a 30-acre brownfield battery site in his hometown of Birmingham. Now at Redevco, Chris operates at a genuinely pan-European level across urban regeneration, logistics, retail warehousing, and a growing debt platform. The conversation covers the leap from agency to development, what it really takes to absorb complex deals fast, the realities of cross-border working, and why the UK real estate industry needs to do a far better job of showing young people - from all parts of society - what a career in the built environment can actually look like.

    52 min
  3. 4. Sunny Johal, Development Director at Glenbrook: From Building Sites to Boardrooms

    31 MAR

    4. Sunny Johal, Development Director at Glenbrook: From Building Sites to Boardrooms

    In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest is joined by Sunny Johal, Development Director at Glenbrook and fellow podcast host - a man whose route into real estate is about as far from the traditional graduate scheme as it gets, making his story all the more compelling for anyone who has ever felt like they don't quite fit the conventional mould. Sunny takes us back to his Birmingham roots, a grammar school he didn't want to attend, A-levels he freely admits he bombed, and a decision at 16 to start sweeping floors on a building site rather than heading to university. What followed was a decade of hard graft in trade and construction - labouring, ground works, site management - before a Taylor Woodrow apprenticeship opened the door to main contracting at scale with Vinci and Long Cross. Curiosity did the rest: a part-time degree, a Masters in real estate investment, and eventually a chance approach from a recruiter led him to Argent and the world of front-end development at King's Cross. Now at Glenbrook, Sonny brings that rare combination of construction depth and development breadth to some genuinely complex mixed-use schemes. The conversation covers the practicalities of viability, the frustrations of the UK planning system, and why the country needs clearer rules of the game to attract competitive international capital.

    52 min
  4. 3. Simon Harding-Roots: Regional MD at Muse: Brownfield Opportunity & Public-Private Partnership

    17 MAR

    3. Simon Harding-Roots: Regional MD at Muse: Brownfield Opportunity & Public-Private Partnership

    In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest is joined by Simon Harding-Roots, Regional Managing Director for the South at Muse, and formerly Managing Director of London at the Crown Estate and Executive Director for Major Projects at Grosvenor - a career built on navigating complex urban regeneration, placemaking, and public-private partnership across some of the UK's most significant real estate organisations. Simon traces his path from a teenage temping stint in the planning department of Elmbridge Borough Council - a genuine sliding doors moment - through a geography degree, an RICS qualification at Drivers Jonas, and into the highest levels of estate management and strategic development. He reflects on the contrast between working within long-term custodial organisations like the Crown Estate and Grosvenor versus the sharper commercial pace of private development, and what each taught him about patience, partnership, and getting the most out of complex urban land. The conversation explores Simon's deep belief in brownfield-first development, the transformative potential of infrastructure investment like the Elizabeth line, and why - despite the very real viability challenges facing the sector - he remains a committed optimist.

    50 min
  5. 2. Harry Knibb, VP of Development at Oxford Properties: Decarbonisation and the Case for Optimism

    2 MAR

    2. Harry Knibb, VP of Development at Oxford Properties: Decarbonisation and the Case for Optimism

    In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest sits down with Harry Knibb, Vice President of Development at Oxford Properties and Non- Executive Director at the Academy of Urbanism, whose career spans project management, Residential led mixed-use development, and high-quality London office across some of the world's most ambitious real estate portfolios. Harry shares his journey from a philosophy degree to a graduate role at M3 Consulting, through an MSc at Reading, and into the upper echelons of international real estate investment and development. He reflects on the blurred lines between project management and development management, the value of being a sponge early in your career, and the importance of putting your hand up for new challenges before you feel fully ready. Beyond his own trajectory, Harry explores Oxford Properties' current European strategy - from landmark London offices to logistics and life sciences - and his conviction that high-quality core London real estate remains one of the most resilient asset classes through any cycle. The conversation tackles the industry's biggest challenge: decarbonising the built environment whilst delivering more homes and workspace, and why moving fast and breaking things simply doesn't work in real estate. We wrap up the conversation with the optimism question and challenge the industry to keep the narrative upbeat to enable us to attract capital and the workforce of the future.

    52 min
  6. 1. David Partridge, Founder of Senze: King's Cross, Placemaking and Future of Sustainable Housing

    17 FEB

    1. David Partridge, Founder of Senze: King's Cross, Placemaking and Future of Sustainable Housing

    In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest sits down with industry legend David Partridge, former senior partner and chairman of Argent and Related Argent, whose 35-year career has shaped some of the UK's most iconic developments including King's Cross, Brindley Place, and Manchester Piccadilly - spanning over 21 million square feet of transformative real estate. David shares his journey from qualified architect to development leader, offering candid insights into his early days at Cambridge, co-founding Gebler Tooth Partridge in the 1980s, and joining Argent in 1990. He reflects on navigating multiple recessions, pioneering mixed-use developments, and the evolution of placemaking from a theoretical concept to industry standard practice. Beyond his development legacy, David discusses his current mission driving the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard and founding Senze, a data-driven business helping social housing providers retrofit homes efficiently and affordably. Using smart monitoring technology, Senze is tackling one of the sector's biggest challenges: decarbonising 29 million UK homes. The conversation explores the importance of staying curious, finding creative solutions to industry challenges.

    1hr 2min
  • 6 Episodes

About

Development Diaries is where real estate development's most influential leaders share their unfiltered career stories. Hosted by John Guest, founder of Henry James Search and the Rebels Community, each episode takes you behind the scenes with the innovators, change-makers, and visionaries shaping our built environment. From career-defining moments and sliding doors decisions to hard-won lessons and advice for the next generation, our guests reveal what really drives success in real estate development. We explore the challenges, celebrate the wins, and dig into what excites leaders most about the future of our industry. Subscribe to hear from managing directors, board members, and development leaders as they share their journeys from early career to industry leadership - and discover what makes exceptional development professionals tick. New episodes released regularly.

Information

  • Creator
    John Guest
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 John Guest
  • Show Website
    Development Diaries

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