Episode #26
“Risk is money, and time is money. Our mandate is to reduce both by providing predictability” - Tom Sleigh - Executive Series #10
Recorded in July 2026, while the Government's direction on City Plan 2040 was still in force. On 24 September 2026, independent inspectors backed the City Corporation's approach to tall buildings around the Tower of London, and the Government withdrew the direction. The Plan is on track for adoption by the end of the year. In the feature episode of the PropTech Talks Summer '26 Series, I spoke with Tom Sleigh, Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee for the City of London Corporation. Tom spent two decades navigating highly regulated corporate environments, serving as Chief of Staff at Lloyds Banking Group and Chief Adviser to the COO at the BBC, and driving expansion at Amazon Business UK and fintech unicorn Raisin, before dedicating his focus to civic governance. He bridges private sector commercial execution with public sector policy as an independent Common Councillor of the City of London Corporation, Co-Chair of the Mayor of London's Cultural Leadership Board, and former Chairman of the Barbican Centre. Now leading the Square Mile's statutory planning authority, Tom helps command one of the most dynamic and densely developed planning jurisdictions in the world. The Corporation acts as a strategic intermediary, connecting global real estate institutional investors and developers with a predictable framework for growth. In his role, Tom convenes major property players and world-class architects to deploy high-performance spatial and structural solutions across London's financial engine. The City of London stands as a global powerhouse, contributing £109B annually to the UK economy and generating roughly 12% of national taxes. Having cleared c.£3B in new developments during his first year as Chair, the Corporation's forward-thinking governance recently contributed to London's designation as the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Laureate, where its Destination City strategy was cited in the jury's assessment, while advancing a construction pipeline of at least 1.2 million square metres of new office stock by 2040. Tune in to this session to gain insights on: - The structural shift from speculative building to premium asset optimisation directly impacting NOI. - Why public authorities and corporate tenants must prioritise systemic data and cyber resilience over pure aesthetics. - The commercial opportunity inside City Plan 2040's “retrofit-first” framework. - The death of the traditional “slow public sector” myth for modern real estate developers and tech entrepreneurs. Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-maltzoff/
