Toby Courtauld, CEO of Great Portland Estates

Toby Courtauld joined Great Portland Estates plc in April 2002 as Chief Executive. Following a period of restructuring, Toby came to the company with a mandate to reposition the group for growth, building on the foundations already laid. Since then, in addition to repositioning the investment portfolio, the strengthened management team has built a meaningful central London development business, the first phase of which will deliver almost 600,000 sq ft by mid 2008, timed to coincide with an impending supply shortage of Grade A office space in the Capital.

After graduating from Cambridge University, Toby joined property company MEPC plc in 1991. During the ensuing 11 years he served in a variety of positions within the group including as a Director of MEPC UK from 1996 and a member of the MEPC plc Executive Committee from 1999 as Director of Corporate Development. He was a member of the management team that took the group private in June 2000. He left MEPC in April 2002 to join Great Portland Estates.