Place: The sky’s the limit Peter Freeman, Feargal Sharkey, Emma Squire, Karen Stafeckis and Stephanie Flanders (chair)

After qualifying as a lawyer, Peter Freeman formed the Argent Group of property companies with his brother in 1981. Argent is particularly known for major mixed-use projects like Brindleyplace in Birmingham, and King’s Cross and Brent Cross Town in London. Peter has also been a non-executive director on several other property companies and a trustee of a number of charities connected with education, combating intolerance and public performance art. He was shortlisted for the Wolfson Economic Prize on delivering garden cities in 2014 and was until October 2020 Chair of Mayfield Market Towns Ltd. Peter was the principal author of the 2020 Housing Sprint Report and was Chair of Homes England from 2020 to 2025. He is currently chair of the Cambridge Growth Company, aiming to make Cambridge one of the most liveable cities in Europe.

Seán Feargal Sharkey is an Irish singer and a prominent environmental campaigner.  He was the lead vocalist of the punk band The Undertones, later becoming a solo artist. In 2019, he received an OBE for services to music. Feargal is a keen fly fisherman and has appeared in several episodes of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. He has campaigned against the pollution of British rivers and often speaks on radio and TV programmes on the topic.

Emma Squire CBE became co-CEO of Historic England in a job-share with Claudia Kenyatta in November 2025. Emma joined Historic England in December 2023 as Director of Regions in a job-share with Claudia. Previously, Emma worked for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), where she spent over five years as Director of Arts Heritage and Tourism. Emma oversaw 28 public bodies while at DCMS, including not only Historic England but also the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Churches Conservation Trust, Arts Council England, and the national museums and galleries. Emma is also Chair of the Bridport Museum Trust on the Jurassic Coast in West Dorset and member of the Mayor of London’s Cultural Leadership Board.

Karen Stafeckis is York Central’s Director of Development and is responsible for delivering a highly sustainable place and community. Together with York Central colleagues, Karen is helping to drive the transformation of one of the largest brownfield sites in England, working with Homes England and Network Rail, as well as key partners including the City of York Council and the National Railway Museum. Previously she was Head of Development (North) at CEG where she was responsible for significant regeneration projects and partnerships across brownfield land in the north including working to bring forward a new space for the British Library in Leeds. She has also been involved in the climate agenda throughout her career in projects with the UK Green Building Council, Innovate UK and on the steering group of the Leeds Climate Commission.

Stephanie Flanders is head of Economics and Government at Bloomberg News, overseeing the research and journalism of 250 economists and reporters worldwide and hosting the weekly podcast, Trumponomics. She was previously Chief Market Strategist for Europe at J P Morgan Asset Management in London (2013-17) and BBC Economics Editor (2002-2013). She was Senior Advisor and speech writer to US Treasury Secretary Lawrence H Summers (1997-2001). She has also been a reporter at the New York Times, the Principal Editor of the 2002 Human Development Report, an editorial-writer and economics columnist at the Financial Times, and an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and London Business School. In 2016-17 Stephanie chaired the Inclusive Growth Commission for the Royal Society of Arts. She is the Chair of the non-profit arts company, Artichoke, an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists.