Will Hean MRICS advises boards and leads delivery teams across commercial, industrial, build to rent and mixed-use real estate projects combining non-executive governance with hands-on, fractional and interim development leadership.
A chartered surveyor and development director building a portfolio career combining board-level governance with the delivery discipline of a full-time executive.
Will is an MRICS qualified development and investment director with over 20 years of client-side development experience originating, funding, developing and delivering residential, commercial, BTR and mixed-use schemes across the UK and the Middle East.
Most recently Head of Property Development at Lloyds Banking Group, where he directed the £200m forward-funded refurbishment of the Scottish Widows HQ in Edinburgh, held concurrently with a Non-Executive Directorship at Potter Group Ltd and, prior to that, a standing fractional consultancy advising overseas investors in Edinburgh. That pattern of running board, advisory and delivery mandates in parallel, to a consistently high standard, is the basis on which Hean Real Estate Advisory now offers Non-Executive, Fractional and Interim engagements.
His work sits at the intersection of development funding, delivery and strategic planning: negotiating directly with councils, public bodies and institutional investors including Lloyds Banking Group and JP Morgan Chase, and researching how blended public and private capital, such as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority's Good Growth Fund, The English Cities Fund and the National Wealth Fund can de-risk and accelerate regeneration at scale.
Hean Real Estate Advisory is structured for organisations that need senior development expertise without, or alongside a full-time hire.
Independent board-level challenge on strategy, development and asset management assumptions, risk and portfolio performance. Governance experience gained overseeing major capital projects and advising a family board on long-term value creation.
Hands-on leadership of planning and design process for an 80 acre residential master planned site for 750 houses run alongside other board and advisory commitments. Proven capacity to lead a major development programme independently while part of a wider portfolio of work.
Full-time executive capability to step into a live capital programme, from stakeholder and Board reporting to design team leadership with immediate credibility from comparable, larger-scale schemes.
Seven schemes spanning residential-led master planning, build-to-rent, industrial-to-mixed-use conversion, institutional office delivery, listed building refurbishment and major commercial refurbishment.
Acting on the bank's behalf to oversee the commercial and contractual agreements to protect the bank's interests and manage the design process up to stage 4 for the combined Cat A and Cat B integrated development and report to the board on progress and risk.
Advised the owners on planning and design development of an 80-acre residential site to the South of Edinburgh City centre, managing the design team and planner negotiations independently while running concurrent engagements.
Originally bought as a car park with no planning consent for circa £2.0m with a joint venture partner. Achieved outline planning for 730 BTR units on a 4-acre site next to the Clyde, subsequently secured a subject-to-planning sale to a BTR Operator for £10.5m.
Bidding in open tender, conditionally secured the purchase of a 16-acre industrial site in joint venture with a major build to rent operator, master-planning a mixed-use scheme of circa 1300 residential units together with a hotel and retail. Structured the subject-to-planning purchase and JV agreements, led a local community and council consultation exercise and negotiated a new station access with Network Rail.
Purchased a 2-acre city-centre site next to Central Station in Glasgow and achieved planning for a substantial new office building. Raised European Investment Bank (SPRUCE) funding for demolition and enabling works, and secured JP Morgan Chase as owner-occupier and funder. Oversaw full design and delivery of the Cat A and Cat B turnkey project, handed over in April 2024.
Negotiated the purchase of this listed 1960s former college building and led the design team to secure detailed planning and listed building consent for an office refurbishment and a new hotel on the site to the rear then negotiated the sale, with planning, to Bruntwood SciTech at a substantial profit.
Advising Santander Bank, led a stage 1 and 2 design exercise and achieved detailed planning for a major refurbishment including a new façade to create one of the most carbon efficient refurbishment projects in Scotland.
Since July 2024, Will has advised the board of Potter Group, a family-owned industrial property company based in Leeds, on a five-year strategy to redevelop and actively asset-manage its portfolio.
The role is providing independent commercial oversight: reviewing valuation and development assumptions and investment cases for purchases, disposals and redevelopments, and challenging yield, rental growth and exit value assumptions before they reach shareholders, held concurrently with a full-time executive role, demonstrating genuine capacity for portfolio working at board level.
Author of independent research into the Greater Manchester Combined Authority's Good Growth Fund and its interface with the National Wealth Fund, examining how blended public/private capital stacks and mission-led investment can de-risk and accelerate regeneration at scale, informing a replication playbook for other UK city regions and funding bodies.
