RICS Board

The main purpose of The Board is to direct RICS affairs under delegated authority from Governing Council. The Board is comprised of non-members (independent), members of RICS, and RICS Executives.

Chair

Martin has experience in real estate and the built environment spanning nearly 40 years, working in the UK and in broad international roles, leading cultural change and successful business transformations.

Martin has worked at the highest levels across all real estate sectors with developers, investors and occupiers, and has leadership and management experience of both the markets side of the industry and the professional and advisory side – this including Valuations, Property Management, Facilities Management and Construction. This experience has covered the running of large multifaceted organisations through to specialist start-ups.

He has a passion for attracting new and diverse talent into the profession, as well as promoting leadership that supports progression for everyone within the industry, and sat on the advisory council for Real Estate Balance Limited (REBL), the real estate member body campaigning for diversity and inclusion.

Martin started his real estate career at CBRE as a graduate and assistant surveyor in Investment, before qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor. While working at CBRE until 2020, Martin held positions including Head of Investment and Managing Director of Commercial Markets, Managing Director of the UK business, and CEO and then Chairman of CBRE’s Advisory Business across APAC and EMEA.

Following his retirement from CBRE at the end of 2020, Martin has taken up a small number of Chair and NED roles in Proptech, Exec Search, and property investment and development companies.

Martin Samworth

Meet The Board

Justin Young

Chief Executive Officer

As CEO, Justin is leading the transformation of RICS into an experience-led organisation that puts members, colleagues and other stakeholders at the centre of everything that it does. His background is in business transformation, particularly in the areas of growth and customer experience. His career has been primarily in professional services, including real estate, where he was the Chief Operating Officer at Knight Frank for five years. He has lived and worked in the UK, Europe and Asia, including six years in Singapore with the law firm Clifford Chance where he built successful partnerships and alliances between firms in global networks, and established operations in new locations. Prior to that, Justin was in the technology industry with Hewlett Packard (HP) and the military.

Dr Louise Brooke-Smith FRICS MRTPI OBE

Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Louise has 40 years experience across the land, property and construction sectors, within the UK and overseas. She has worked within two City Councils, a national property agency, a major housebuilder, and the UN. She established a national, award-winning planning consultancy in 1994 and on selling that consultancy to Arcadis, became a Partner and UK Head of Development & Strategic Planning. She stepped down from the Arcadis Partnership in 2019 to take up various Non-Executive Directorships and international advisory positions, relating to the built environment, property and infrastructure. Her portfolio includes FTSE companies, UK Government Departments and land regeneration organisations. Her commercial clients include major landowners and developers, global property investors and sovereign wealth funds. She has been an advisor to UN Habitat and Chair of an International Aid Agency. Louise is a Freeman of the City of London; was named as National Construction Achiever (2015) and holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Wolverhampton, Sheffield Hallam and Birmingham City. As the first female Global President of the RICS (2014-15), Louise led a series of ground-breaking construction and property related initiatives, championing diversity in the UK and across Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In June 2019 Louise was awarded an OBE for services to the built environment and to diversity and inclusion. She continues this work as a current member of the RICS Board, and as lead for DEI matters.

Mike Driver

Chair of Audit, Risk Assurance and Finance Committee*

* Although the Bichard RICS Review recommended that the Chair of Audit, Risk Assurance and Finance Committee should be a member of the RICS Board, the RICS Bye-Laws need to be amended to allow this. Mike attends the RICS Board however, as he is not yet an RICS Board member, he does not participate in decision-making. A recommendation to amend the Bye-Laws to enable this role to be a member of the RICS Board will be included when changes to the Bye-Laws are next proposed.

Frank Hovorka MRICS

RICS Board member, Sustainability Chair

Frank has built a distinguished career spanning over three decades in the construction and real estate sectors, marked by pioneering achievements in sustainable development. His roles have included significant contributions to green building certifications, strategic leadership in real estate sustainability policies, and innovative initiatives as the Technical and Innovation Director of the French Real Estate Developer Federation.

Harriet Kemp

Chair of Nominations and Remuneration Committee

Harriet is a senior human resources professional with a deep specialism in remuneration. Her experience has been gained across a number of different sectors and she has worked extensively internationally, as well as living in both the US and Switzerland. She has held a number of Reward Director roles for FTSE companies, advised Boards and Remuneration Committees and lead large-scale reward and change projects. For the last few years, Harriet has been building a portfolio of roles. She sits on the School Teachers’ Review Body, an independent body which makes recommendations to the Government on teachers’ pay, provides consultancy advice on reward to both private companies and plcs and is a Trustee of a charity which works with victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Simon Rawlinson

Chair of Knowledge and Practice Committee

Simon has a strong background in research, knowledge and collaborative innovation focused mainly on the construction sector. Simon is a Senior Leader in Arcadis, a leading multi-disciplinary design, engineering and consulting practice in the built and natural environment. He heads Strategic Research and Insight, with global and UK-focused accountabilities. Simon has over 25 years’ experience in construction and built environment research and innovation with a particular focus is on construction markets, pricing behaviour and risk. He believes that knowledge and data are a major differentiator for the surveying profession and brings this passion to KPC. Simon has worked with a large portfolio of national and international clients in property and infrastructure. As part of his commitment to performance improvement and innovation, Simon has been closely involved in many successful pan-industry initiatives including the UK Government BIM Task Group and the Construction Leadership Council. Simon is a well-established commentator to the construction and property industry, having regularly to industry journals and research publications since 1995.

Liz Peace CBE

Senior Independent Governor

A distinguished career spanning public and private sectors, Liz has held notable roles in government and private organisations. Currently, her non-executive portfolio includes NED roles at Howard de Walden Estates, Greencore Homes, AEW UK REIT and the Connected Places Catapult. She is also the Chair of the GLA’s Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation and of the University of Cambridge Property Board.

Douglas McCormick FRICS

Chair of Global Members Committee

Douglas is the CEO of Pegasus Group, a multidisciplinary design, planning and development consultancy. He is a Fellow of RICS, RICS Board Member and a Fellow and Non-Executive Director of the Institute of Collaborative Working. Douglas brings a wealth of experience in construction and infrastructure sectors. His leadership roles in global consultancies and commitment to fostering opportunities for the next generation of leaders as a previous Commissioner for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, highlight his dedication to the industry's growth.

Kelly Olsen

Independent RICS Board Member (Digital & Technology)

With over 35 years in technology and transformation, Kelly has served as Chief Information Officer for several companies as well as Chief Operating Officer. Her executive experience encompasses technology, business transformation, operational excellence, mergers and acquisitions, and program management.