About This Webinar
A slowdown in the development pipeline could threaten a dangerous undersupply of office space ahead in the UK’s largest regional cities.

Kato co-founder Leon Ballard and Avison Young’s Managing Director of Transactions, Chris Cheap, explore the real factors behind this pivotal moment for the UK office market, and when we should expect the next positive development cycle.

From construction costs and the expense of borrowing, to planning delays, the current state of yield profiles and city centre urbanisation trends, tuning in to this webinar is essential for anyone needing an expert, macro-view on the near future of office leasing in the UK.
Agenda
  • Pipeline pinch: Why UK prime office supply is stuck and how to unlock it
  • Flip the script: Turning UK office development barriers into opportunities
  • Avoiding the crunch: What stakeholders can do now for the future for prime office space
1743442273-b52905e6ab1b0962
Leon Ballard
Co-Founder @ Kato
Leon Ballard is a Co-Founder of Kato, the SaaS platform revolutionising how commercial property professionals search, market, and close deals. Leon has been pivotal in driving Kato's mission to become the global platform for transacting commercial property and the daily dashboard for agents, landlords, and occupiers. His leadership has helped Kato scale rapidly, enhancing productivity across the industry.

Leon brings over two decades of global real estate experience. Before Kato, he spent nearly a decade at JLL in Warsaw, where he worked on over €2.6 billion in real estate transactions across Poland, working with major developers and investors such as Ghelamco, Union Investment, and GLL.

His career started in London at Cushman & Wakefield, where he specialised in West End office leasing and tenant representation, advising major corporates, financial institutions, and retailers. Leon also gained valuable experience in Canada at Royal LePage, focusing on real estate advisory, and in New Zealand at DTZ (now Cushman & Wakefield), working in valuation—broadening his expertise across international property markets.

Beyond real estate, Leon is an angel investor in early-stage PropTech, FinTech, and ConsumerTech startups, fuelling innovation in the sector. He also took a year-long sabbatical to travel across South America and write a novel.

Leon graduated with an undergraduate degree from Reading University (BSc) and a postgraduate degree from Kingston University (MSc).
1743442244-5100e22e3c30b70a
Chris Cheap
Managing Director of Transactions @ Avison Young
Chris is Managing Director of the Transactions business at Avison Young and has over 20 years' experience advising on all aspects of office occupation in central Manchester and the wider city region. He has been at the forefront of some of the city's most important developments placing him centrally within the market as one of the key 'go to' advisors and market commentators.

Chris is an office advisor at heart with a deep understanding of all things related to office space. Whether leasing, acquiring, developing or investing in office space he has a proven track record of delivering tangible outputs on behalf of clients.

Chris has acted for landlords, developers, public sector bodies and occupiers from a wide range of sectors which gives him a rounded market view and positions him perfectly to deliver results. Through his work with British Council for Offices, Forum for the Built Environment and Green Building Council he keenly reflects market, tech and occupational trends to ensure his clients position is future proofed.
Powered by BigMarker