New expert trustees for London Historic Buildings Trust help expand horizons

London Historic Buildings Trust (LHBT) has appointed five new trustees and created two Vice Chairs to its board to help it achieve its ambitious new strategy, which focuses on social impact in its delivery of a larger number of sustainable, heritage-led regeneration projects.

Diana Beattie OBE, Chair, said: “We are very pleased to welcome our new trustees, who come from a variety of backgrounds. They bring a wealth of new knowledge and skills that complement the substantial expertise in heritage and building regeneration that we already have on the board. The enlarged team marks an important step in our new strategy and in our work as a catalyst to help London’s communities by unlocking the wider value of our historic buildings.”

LHBT, formerly known as Heritage of London Trust Operations (HOLTOPs), aims to deliver high quality, sustainable heritage-led regeneration projects. It has a 28-year track record of re-using historic buildings throughout Greater London for the benefit of local communities.

Rosie Fraser and Alice Yates become Vice Chairs and the five new appointees are Paul Atkinson, Lili Long, Jean-Philippe Randisi, Philip Smith and Alice Yates. Their expertise spans marketing, investment, journalism, stakeholder engagement and heritage building conservation.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

LHBT is a London-wide building preservation trust. It delivers successful, high quality heritage-led projects, re-using historic architecture throughout Greater London to create sustainable projects, innovative social solutions and cultural benefits for future generations. It was set up in 1992 as the Heritage of London Trust Operations Ltd (HOLTOP) and was rebranded in 2019.

LHBT works closely with Historic England to remove problem or difficult buildings from the Heritage at Risk register and develops strong partnerships with local authorities, housing associations, NHS Trusts, community groups and other building preservation trusts.

LHBT also works with key stakeholders to ensure that its projects are informed by the needs of the local community and result in positive social change and sensitive regeneration, as well as training, learning, volunteering and employment opportunities. It also works to support local communities in their aspirations to safeguard local buildings, offering professional guidance through training and consultancy services.

LHBT’s six strategic delivery objectives for the next five years are to:

• Engage with volunteer-led groups to help save their local buildings;
• Deliver high quality heritage-led regeneration projects;
• Ensure the Trust achieves long-term sustainability;
• Share its skills and knowledge with others;
• Ensure its projects embrace groups (and people) that might not otherwise engage or associate with heritage assets;
• Undertake projects that support the Trust’s three social impact objectives.

For more information, please contact Celia Mead, Interim Director on 07778 666177 or director@londonhistoricbuildings.org.uk

To find out more about LHBT’s past projects see www.londonhistoricbuildings.org.uk.

More information on the new trustees:

Paul Atkinson is an experienced corporate and marketing communications person. He has held a number of senior roles with Nationwide Building Society, RSA Insurance and Aon and has more recently worked as an independent consultant with a range of financial services firms, membership organisations and regulatory bodies. In addition to his practical communications expertise, Paul provides us with a strong corporate management perspective.

Lili Long has held a number of senior strategic and commercial roles in sectors ranging from capital markets to retail financial services and real estate. She also serves as a non-executive Director at Partnership Learning, an academy trust responsible for 12 schools in East London. She is an experienced angel investor and has a socially minded outlook, bringing us insight and energy to the delivery of our social impact goals.

Jean-Philippe Randisi is a senior executive with over 30 years' experience in entertainment and brand development. Before co-founding bRAND-WARD Services, the children IP consultancy firm, he was CEO of Zodiak Kids. Before this, he headed International Digital, Home Entertainment and Consumer Products for ITV Studios, he was EVP of International Consumer Products at Viacom, European MD at Saban Consumer Products/Fox Kids, and VP of Walt Disney Records EMEA. He started his career marketing artists at Sony Music. He is also a non-executive director at Influence Network, a UK based start-up specialised in influencer marketing.

Philip Smith is an experienced stakeholder engagement and communications specialist with a strong track record of success as a negotiator, problem solver and engagement strategist. He has worked in roles across the public, private and third sectors, providing specialist support to lead projects that are politically sensitive, time-critical and requiring engagement with multiple stakeholders, with varying interests. He is also passionate about historic building conservation, holding an MSc in the subject. As a Trustee of LHBT, he is a member of the Buildings Committee and Marketing Committee.

Alice Yates, Vice Chair, has worked for a number of leading heritage charities: SAVE Britain's Heritage, WMF in Britain, the National Trust of Australia, and the Vivat Trust. A freelance heritage consultant since 2011, she was the HOLTOP Project Organiser for two years, before developing and leading the Resilient Heritage Project with Rosie Fraser. She teaches Architectural History on the Hollins Abroad London Program, and has been a regular Financial Times contributor. She is a SAVE committee member, and as a trustee of LHBT, is a member of the Strategic Review Committee and Buildings Committee. Alice brings wide sector connections, deep knowledge of successful project development and both vision and commitment for taking LHBT to the next level.