Pocket
team
Paul Harbard
Founder and Finance DirectorPaul is a Chartered Accountant and was Finance Director of Peabody Trust for twelve years.
Paul has a wealth of experience in public sector housing and brings a strong operational and practical construction perspective to Pocket.
Marc Vlessing
Founder and CEOMarc has a background in City corporate finance, company management and venture capital.
Marc brings management, marketing and strategic direction to Pocket. Marc is also chairman of ProVen Growth & Income VCT Plc.
Irene Gorobet
Senior AccountantIrene has several years of finance experience, in both FX trading and retail businesses, in the UK and across continental Europe.
At Pocket she works in the Finance team as a Senior Accountant, having completed her ACCA studies in 2016.
Lucian Smithers
Sales & Marketing DirectorLucian’s background covers advertising, marketing, brand & sales and he joined Pocket after a long stint at Sky where he was Marketing Director for Content.
At Pocket, Lucian looks after the Sales & Marketing team and all areas of the customer relationship.
Nick Williams
Senior Operations DirectorNick is an experienced Chartered Surveyor who has previously held positions at Candy & Candy as Development Director for One Hyde Park and at Berkeley Group as Construction Director.
At Pocket he is responsible for the development and delivery of our projects.
Kate Amin
Head of Marketing & CommsKate has worked in brand development and marketing for 20 years, most recently in the property sector (Urban Splash and Skanska).
At Pocket, Kate is responsible for the Pocket brand, and developing smart marketing for both business and consumer audiences.
Nick Cuff
Land DirectorNick trained at CB Richard Ellis. He previously worked at Essential Living across acquisitions and delivery. He is a chartered town planner and land surveyor.
At Pocket he is responsible for land acquisition.
Russ Edwards
Head of DesignRuss is a qualified architect with over 15 years’ experience in award winning architectural practices.
Russ is responsible for the design quality of all Pocket homes, including the commissioning of and ongoing liaison with Pocket’s architects.
Hannah Godwin
Marketing ManagerHannah joined Pocket in early 2015 managing all consumer touch points: project marketing collateral, PR, events, social media as well as corporate communications.
Her previous role at luxury property company YOO and her international background have helped form her innovative and design-led approach.
Will Cox
Land ManagerWill is a Chartered Surveyor who joined Pocket in 2013 from West End agency Calton and Co. where he gathered experience in acquiring and disposing a range of assets across London.
Michelle Cooke
AdministratorMichelle has worked in business administration in a wide variety of retail and service sectors and is Pocket's office administrator.
Matt Woolgar
Development Manager
Matt joined Pocket in 2014 bringing his experience in Project Management and Quantity Surveying. Matt previously held positions at Westrock Ltd and DBK LLP.
At Pocket, Matt is responsible for the successful planning and delivery of a number of projects, currently focusing on the boroughs of Hackney and Ealing.
Patrice Cowans
Sales AdministratorPatrice joined Pocket in early 2015 and brings 5 years’ experience in housing supporting Development, Construction and Acquisitions teams. She’s also assisted purchasers with government buying initiatives such as Help to Buy and HomeBuy Direct.
At Pocket, Patrice provides a front of house service for the sales team, helping purchasers through the entire process of buying a home, providing customer care once they’ve moved in and helping with resale and staircasing enquiries.
Tori Drew
Office ManagerTori joined the Pocket team as Office Manager in 2015, and has worked in corporate management and administrative fields since graduating from Leeds Metropolitan University over five years ago.
She has been involved in complex project management which has included a vast amount of organisation and interaction with international as well as UK based clients.
Victor Chamberlain
Communications ManagerVictor joined Pocket in 2015 and brought a wealth of experience in local politics, communications and community engagement.
A former City Councillor in Manchester, Victor was Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee. He worked for a national campaigning organisation and for a major political party in Parliament and in their party HQ.
At Pocket as Communications Executive, Victor is responsible for public engagement particularly helping to develop relationships with policy makers and communities.
Sarah Davies
Head of Project ManagementSarah joined Pocket in late 2015 and specialises in residential refurbishment & development. With 9 years’ experience in the private rented sector, her previous roles include Project Manager for Grainger PLC and Head of Construction UK for Akelius Residential.
At Pocket, Sarah is the Head of Project Management and responsible for the delivery of Pocket Schemes.
James Trott
Land buyerJames is a trainee surveyor who joined Pocket in 2015 from Dexters Land and New Homes (formerly Thamesview Land and New Homes), where he was involved in acquiring and disposing a range of assets across London. He is responsible for land acquisition.
Angelo Corbo
Head of ITAngelo has worked with Pocket since its inception in 2004. He has a background in R&D and Marketing in Telecom and IT.
He designs and manages Pocket’s IT, web and cloud architecture.
Ruman Miah
Sales Consultant
Ruman joined Pocket Living in early 2016, bringing with him 5 years sales experience from previous roles in both the private and public sectors.
At Pocket Living, Ruman guides buyers through the process of buying their first home, and identifies key geographical areas for new affordable Pocket homes.
Jenny Hicks
Sales ConsultantJenny joined Pocket in early 2016 bringing her sales experience from her previous roles at Notting Hill Housing.
At Pocket Jenny guides buyers through the process of buying their first home, from their first viewing through to completion, as well as assisting current leaseholders with selling their homes when the time comes for them to move on.
Paul Jess
Development ManagerPaul joined Pocket in 2016 bringing his experience in housing and mixed-use developments. Paul previously held positions at CBRE and L&Q working on large mixed-use projects with both public and private developers. At Pocket, Paul is responsible for the delivery of successful planning permission on new sites.
Michelle Williams
Project ManagerMichelle joined Pocket in 2016. She is architecturally trained and a recently qualified chartered RICS surveyor. Michelle has 8 years experience working for central London property developers focusing on PRS. At Pocket she is responsible for the successful delivery of projects after planning permission.
Chris Middleton
Head of FinanceChris is a Chartered Accountant, having previously held positions at PwC, Land Securities and Rowan Asset Management. At Pocket Chris is responsible for all financial and management reporting as well as finance business partnering with the development and project teams.
Terry Raymond
Customer Experience Executive
Terry joined Pocket in the summer of 2016, bringing his 10 years of Sales & Aftersales experience from his previous roles at Notting Hill Housing.
At Pocket Terry looks after our leaseholders during their completion stage, from walking them through their new home, showing different benefits of living in a Pocket development, as well as assisting them if they have any difficulty in the first year of living in their new home.
Sameer Hussain
Assistant AccountantSameer joined Pocket in August 2016, having previously worked at Capita, a small investment bank and accountancy firm. He has an accounting and management degree and is studying for his ACCA qualification.
At Pocket Sameer is shadowing Senior Accountant Irene Gorobet and assisting the finance team with both internal and external reporting.
Angharad Palmer
Design ManagerAngharad is a qualified architect with experience across new build residential projects as well as refurbishment projects for award winning practices.
Having joined Pocket in 2016, Angharad is responsible for the overall design coordination of Pocket projects providing support for Project Managers and Development Managers as well as liaising with Pocket’s architects.
Nathalie Cochran
Head of Sales
James Kidson
Land BuyerJames is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor who joined Pocket Living in early 2017. Having graduated from the University of Reading in 2012, he then spent 4 years working in the land team at Berkeley Homes on numerous projects across London.
At Pocket Living, James is responsible for sourcing new land opportunities.
Romy Levin
Marketing Executive
Georgia Brooks
Operations Team Coordinator
Demos Ioannou
Design CoordinatorWith 8 years’ experience working in architectural practices, for private clients and developers, Demos brings a diverse level of experience as a qualified architect specializing in the design and delivery of residential refurbishment projects across the UK.
Having joined Pocket Living in 2017, Demos is responsible for the overall design coordination of Pocket projects, collaborating with external design consultants and providing support for the development team.
Our board
Nick Raynsford
Board memberNick is a former Housing Minister and Minister for London
Clive Fenton
Board memberClive
is Chief Executive of McCarthy and Stone. He was previously CEO of Mount
Anvil and main board director of Barratt Developments
Kenneth P. Wong
Board MemberKenneth is Chief Operating Officer and Director of International Development of Related Companies. He has over thirty years of diverse experience having overseen the development of a broad range of real estate assets both in the U.S. and international markets.
David Partridge
Board MemberDavid Partridge is Managing Partner of Argent and Joint CEO of Argent Related. David joined Argent 26 years ago and is responsible for all Argent and Argent Related business.