MSc - Real Estate Management

Recognised in Insider Media’s ‘42 under 42’ list, and Property Week’s ‘Hot 50’ and ‘Who’s Who in Britain’, Neil has played an integral role shaping the skyline of Birmingham as part of the team behind such iconic developments as Fort Dunlop, The Mailbox and The Cube. He is also a Trustee for Birmingham Children’s Hospital and a guest speaker for the West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence (WMCCE).

Degree in Town Planning

A keen interest in property, the built environment and spatial planning – or how towns and cities work – led Neil to study Town Planning at what was then the University of Central England. Deciding his future lay in commercial property, he secured his first job with surveyors Silk & Frazier (now Faithful+Gould, part of the WS Atkins group of companies), but later returned to the University part-time to undertake a Master’s degree in Construction Project Management.

Mailbox Project

He was approached to work in-house for Birmingham Mailbox Limited in 2000, joining the board of directors in 2003. Neil then went on to lead the business’s joint venture with Urban Splash on the Fort Dunlop project, another city landmark which had been empty for more than 20 years and was subsequently redeveloped into offices, retail space and a hotel. In 2004 he was a founder, director and shareholder of Birmingham Development Company, the company behind The Cube, adjacent to The Mailbox in the city centre.
He went on to set up and subsequently lead the team’s in-house construction company in 2007, which at its peak employed over 500 people and turned over £1 million per week, to deliver the £86 million build for The Cube. Neil then started his own company, EDG Property – a development and consultancy firm – in 2010