Our leadership team

Phil is Chairman of the BRE Trust Board and interim Chairman of the BRE Group Board.  Phil has spent 40 years working in the construction industry and is currently a Non-Executive Director of Keltbray, Wilson James and the Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, and Chair of Trustees of the BAA Pension Scheme.

Previously he worked at Heathrow and became Expansion Programme Director in 2017, accountable for delivering Heathrow’s third runway along with the infrastructure to support it.  Before Expansion he was accountable for all the capital works at Heathrow, the Terminal 2 Programme and the completion of the construction of Terminal 5.  Prior to this he worked at Carillion, DHV and Mott MacDonald.

Paul has worked in the construction industry for the last three decades in MD and CEO roles with building materials manufacturers, Alumasc and Marshall Tufflex. He also spent six years as Non-Executive Director for the Builders Merchant Federal Board. Paul now enjoys a portfolio career as Non-Executive Director, Trustee, Advisor, Investor and Vistage Peer Group Chair. He is a Fellow at the Institute of Directors, Sussex Vice Chair and Manufacturing and Engineering Ambassador, and is on the UK Government’s Industrial Development Advisory Board. He is a keynote speaker and social media influencer, with nearly 12,000 followers on LinkedIn. Paul was ahead of his time when, in 2000, he wrote about the impact of the internet on housebuilding as part of his MBA, well before broadband was commonplace. Paul already has a significant understanding of BRE, having been a BRE Trustee for the last four years.

As BRE Group’s Chief Executive, Gillian is responsible for the organisation’s strategy and performance. She works closely with BRE Trustees and the Group Board to define our purpose, vision and long-term goals.

Before joining BRE Group, Gillian was an Executive Director at RICS, where she held a number of roles covering assurance and enforcement of standards, global brand growth and thought leadership. She is passionate about the importance and potential of the built environment in creating sustainable, vibrant and productive life on the planet.

In her earlier career Gillian worked in the UK Civil service and with several professions and industries as a regulator and advocate. She promotes responsible leadership and one of her career highlights was being included in Women of the Future’s inaugural top 50 list of Kind Leaders in 2018.

Vin Wijeratne is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, with previous finance executive and board leadership experience he has a strong professional background in profit-for-purpose and public interest organisations including The Royal Mint, the Gambling Commission and the University of South Wales, as well public sector experience working for NHS Trusts earlier in his career. Vin also brings strategic and commercial experience gained during his time at EE, Orange and private equity owned business.