Key personnel

REAL was formed in 2002 by Ian Dowson and Alan Bate, members of the former executive Board of Directors of Royal & SunAlliance Property Investments Ltd.  REAL’s heritage is based on achieving superior performance from pro-active fund and asset management, within an environment where our clients expect the highest standards of service and fiduciary responsibility.  The team was strengthened in 2003 with the appointment of Richard Wojtowicz, former Global Property Manager for Standard Chartered Bank's 2,000 worldwide properties, who brings a wealth of experience for the benefit of our Corporate Real Estate clients; and again in 2007 when MBA-graduate Anne Gibb was appointed Finance & Administration Manager.
 

Ian Dowson FCA, Managing Director, takes special responsibility for property and corporate accounting, compliance, tax, insurance and operations.

He is a Chartered Accountant with a broad background in property investment, management and development.  Before founding REAL his experience at Royal & Sun Alliance Property Investments Ltd spanned responsibilities in finance, personnel, insurance, IT, management of group-occupied property, property operations and European property investment, culminating in his appointment as Managing Director in 1999 when he introduced a culture focused on achieving superior investment performance.  Since then the funds consistently outperformed the market average while his team also met or exceeded peer-group indicators relating to speed and efficiency of rent collection.

In the field of operational property, he led the accounting team handling 300 UK locations and advised French and Scandinavian operations on property strategy.

His prior employment included John Laing Construction plc, Laing Properties plc and The London Underwriting Centre Ltd.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.
 

Alan Bate BSc DipPropInv FRICS, Director, takes special responsibility for product development, performance modelling, property acquisition and management, marketing and investor relations.

Before establishing REAL, he joined Royal & SunAlliance Property Investments' property development and investment team from private practice at J P Sturge & Sons and Richard Ellis.  After managing a development programme comprising more than 1m sq ft in a range of UK sectors and locations, in 1994 he moved to Toronto for Royal & SunAlliance to run their Yonge Wellington Property Ltd subsidiary as Director and Senior VP, where his team won BOMA’s 1996 Pinnacle Award for Customer Service and the 1997 Canadian Office Building of the Year Award.

Returning to the UK he project-managed a £400m structured finance disposal for Royal & SunAlliance.  He was appointed Director in 1999, responsible for fund management of pension, unitised and general funds, and property management of the entire £2.5bn portfolio.  At the same time he became property adviser to Sal Pensions Ltd in respect of their £200m property portfolio.

Operational property experience prior to REAL includes his time in Canada, where he was responsible for devising the strategy to dispose of some 500,000 sq ft of surplus offices.  At Royal & SunAlliance he was responsible for annual appraisals of approx 100 operational properties in eighteen countries outside the UK, and for management of capital expenditure on all UK operational assets.

He was a member of the British Property Federation's Policy Committee from 1999 to 2002, and from 2002 to 2008 a member of the Advisory Board for the College of Estate Management’s RICS Postgraduate Programme in Property Investment.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Investment Property Forum.
 

Richard Wojtowicz BSc Est Man, MRICS, MBIWFM, Consultant, is the key client contact with responsibility for REAL's Corporate Real Estate (CRE) activities, specializing in operational property management and strategy, including service charge management and consultancy.

From private practice at J P Sturge & Sons (becoming King Sturge and now Jones Lang LaSalle) he joined Allied Dunbar in 1987 and restructured their head offices, acquiring 250,000 sq ft and disposing of 150,000 sq ft of legacy property. Innovative strategies were also required to manage a high turnover of acquisitions and disposals at 150 branches for a dynamic sales force. In 1991 with 3 colleagues he created First Move Facilities Management (FM2) and subsequently became part of one of the UK's first FM outsourcing ventures, continuing to work for Allied Dunbar as well as other clients including J Rothschild Assurance (now St James's Place plc) for whom he acquired their first Head Office in Cirencester. After an MBO and a sale to Honeywell his client list grew to include Eagle Star and Black Horse Financial Services.

In 1998 he joined the College of Estate Management as Course Director for the Postgraduate Diploma in FM (the UK's leading course of its kind and one of the first to be accredited by the BIFM and RICS) and Tutor for the University of Reading External BSc in Estate Management.

From 2001 he was Standard Chartered Bank's Global Property Manager for 2,000 properties in 50 countries, devising operational property strategy including a medium- to long-term property plan for the acquisition of a new London Head Office and UK based operations, while advising branches globally on processes, transactions, database management, benchmarking and KPIs.

Richard is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a former RICS FM Faculty Board representative, and former chairman of the College of Estate Management's Independent Appeals Board.

Anne Gibb MBA, Finance & Administration Manager, manages ‘back-office’ functions and provides accounting and support services to the team.

Anne’s previous roles have involved accounting and IT functions, bringing this experience to bear in the property sector at Royal SunAlliance Property Investments where she was Systems Manager leading a 12-strong back office team providing finance and accounting solutions.

Before joining REAL she provided consultancy services to the company, including the design of REAL’s main property information and management system (PIMS).  Her experience here, and with previous systems integration projects, stands her in good stead for customising REAL’s IT platform to suit the specific needs of each new fund under management.

Anne has excellent problem solving skills able to take on any challenge and see it through to completion.  Key achievements include studying with OUBS to attain her MBA, introduction of new technology to improve efficiency, and maintaining excellent communication throughout the duration of a project.