Our Team

Peter Ferrari

Chief Executive

Peter is our Chief Executive. He set up AshbyCapital in 2013.

Peter has over 35 years’ experience in the property industry. His previous experience includes roles as Managing Director at Heron International and as a Director at London & Edinburgh Trust. He was instrumental in the growth of both, leading development and investment projects across various property sectors in the UK and Europe.

Peter holds a BA (Hons) degree in Philosophy and a Masters degree in Land Management from Reading University. He has been a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors since 1988.

Peter is proud of the dynamic, close-knit and ambitious team he has built under the AshbyCapital brand. Outside of work, he enjoys various sports and is a keen family man.

Charles-Etienne Lawrence

Investment Director

Charles is our Investment Director and takes particular responsibility for deal making, structuring and negotiation. With previous experience at JER Partners as well as in the Real Estate Finance and Advisory teams at both HSBC and RBS Charles has comprehensive knowledge of real estate investment across the debt-equity spectrum.

Charles holds an MSc Finance from HEC Montréal and a degree in international business from Université du Québec à Montréal. He is also a CFA charterholder and speaks English, French and Spanish.

Charles uses exercise to switch off from work, whether through climbing, hiking, cycling or yoga.

Tom Smithers

Property Director

Tom is our Property Director, he joined us in January 2016 and has a broad range of cross sector property experience. He has a passion for creating best-in-class real estate assets and delivering the highest possible service for tenants.

Tom previously worked at Green Property, where he was responsible for three UK distressed asset management platforms on behalf of various banking clients. Prior to this, he spent six years at German Fund IVG, where he was responsible for acquisitions and disposals. Tom started his career at Grosvenor, where he trained and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor.

Tom holds a first-class honours degree in Real Estate Management and has been a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) since 2006.

Away from the office, Tom is an avid water sports fan and enjoys spending time with his family on the south coast.

Lucy Arthur

Operations and Marketing Director

Lucy is Operations and Marketing Director at Ashby.

After obtaining a first-class degree in Politics from Durham University, Lucy worked as a management consultant across the retail, leisure and financial services industries before joining Ashby when it was founded in 2013.

Lucy’s role spans Operations, Marketing, PR and HR at Ashby and Lucy enjoys the varied nature of her role, working closely with our developers, tenants, agents, building management teams, amenity operators and creative agencies across all of our investments. She has been particularly involved in developing Ashby’s market leading workplace offering bringing wellness, community and service to traditional office buildings.

Out of the office, Lucy enjoys various sporting activities – she is a keen skier, runner and tennis player – and won the MIPIM Tennis Classic in 2018 along with her colleague Simon. Lucy is also a keen backgammon player.

Simon Osborne

Legal Director

Simon is our Legal Counsel.

He trained and qualified at Clifford Chance LLP and joined us from Forsters LLP, one of the UK’s top real estate law firms. Simon has worked across a broad range of M&A transactions, with a particular focus on property holding company acquisitions and development joint ventures, as well as private equity work and corporate restructurings. He has substantial and wide-ranging experience in the commercial and residential real estate sectors and enjoys the sense of satisfaction of getting a deal done.

Simon has a degree in Modern History from the University of St Andrews, a Graduate Diploma in Law from the College of Law and completed his Legal Practice Certificate at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.

When not at work, Simon enjoys golf by the sea, walks in Scotland and tennis anywhere, especially with his family

Tom McCafferty

Senior Property Manager

Tom helps look after our portfolio of office and retail investments.

Tom joined Ashby in August 2020, having managed properties for a variety of property investors and institutional companies in the past, helping them to deliver their investment strategies.

A member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), Tom takes pride in the journey of mobilising multi-let buildings from initial design inception to fully functioning and operational use for business. He is passionate about giving the best possible service to attract people and businesses, as well as maintaining long-term relationships.

In his free time, Tom enjoys relaxing with his family, as well as hitting the slopes in winter and the golf course in the summer. He recently ran the Barcelona marathon with a group of highly competitive friends.

Mark Caldwell

Senior Property Manager

With almost ten years of commercial real estate experience, Mark helps looks after our growing portfolio of office and retail investments.

A member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), Mark joined us in October 2021 from Derwent London, where he was responsible for day-to-day property management of a number of buildings, in addition to working on the rollout of portfolio-wide initiatives including WiredScore adoption and smart buildings.

Before this Mark worked for CBRE, having graduated from the University of Auckland, New Zealand with a degree in Property Management in 2012.

Outside of the office, Mark enjoys travelling, skiing, and cooking.

Oscar Nevin

Financial Controller

Oscar is our Financial Controller, who joined us in January 2023 after nine years at BDO, where he worked most recently as a Senior Audit Manager. At BDO Oscar was responsible for delivering and assisting the planning, execution and completion of audit engagements at major firms across the property industry, building strong relationships with clients including British Land, Galliard Homes, and Aviva Investors.

A chartered accountant and member of the ICAEW, Oscar also holds a BA in Economics from the University of Exeter.

One of his proudest achievements outside work was cycling 1000 miles in 10 days from Land’s End to John O’Groats, and he also enjoys going travelling and exploring new places in his free time.

Hamish MacRae

Senior Investment Analyst

Hamish is our Senior Investment Analyst, providing our team with the required information to make sound investment decisions.

Hamish joined us in March 2022 from German bank Helaba, where he was part of the origination team providing senior debt for property investments and developments in the UK & Ireland, where he led the financial analysis of a large office development in central London. Before this, Hamish was an investment analyst at Shaptor Capital, which he joined following the completion of his MSc in Real Estate from the Henley Business School.

Outside of work, Hamish enjoys running and walking, attending music festivals and socialising with friends.

Smilla Askeland

Team Assistant

Smilla is our Team Assistant. With a degree in BScHons Criminology from the University of Exeter, she joined us in August 2022.

Previously, Smilla has worked as a teaching assistant and worked closely with Special Educational Needs children. Smilla is friendly and enthusiastic and a fluent Danish speaker.

Smilla is a qualified tennis coach and enjoys playing tennis as well as doing yoga, spending time with friends and family and travelling.

Emma Dewhurst

Operations Manager and PA to Chief Executive

Emma joined us in January 2017 and is PA to Peter Ferrari. She has a wealth of experience in operations management and was previously in charge of a team of four running the operations and customer services team at tour operator Railbookers.

Emma loves working as part of a team and gets a great sense of satisfaction from seeing projects through from start to finish. Calm under pressure, approachable and with a good sense of humour, she has the perfect qualities for a PA.

Away from the office, she enjoys sport: particularly tennis, waterskiing and golf – preferably in her favourite spot in the UK, Cornwall.

Emma has a BA in Geography from Exeter University.

Lea Boyce Zuccotto

Marketing Executive

Lea is our Marketing Executive. She joined us in October 2018 after completing a degree in Management from the University of Leeds. During her time at University she completed a placement year at Spabreaks.com, where she worked as a sales consultant.

Lea enjoys working as part of a team and draws satisfaction from seeing a project through to completion. She is always willing to help, employing her strong organisation skills wherever possible.

Outside of work, Lea loves travelling and has been involved with the Chickenshed Theatre charity for many years, helping to inspire positive change through drama that brings together children of all abilities. To the delight of her colleagues, friends and family, she also likes to indulge her passion for baking and cooking delicious Italian dishes.

Tatiana Lis

Bookkeeper

Tatiana is our Bookkeeper, handling all our monthly accounts, payments and invoices.

An economics graduate, Tatiana has extensive experience working in finance departments ranging from long-established family businesses to exciting start-ups.

Away from work Tatiana enjoys a busy family life and is a passionate supporter of the London Cycling Campaign.

Andrew Baum

Andrew has spent the majority of his time working with institutional real estate investors, developing global property investment strategies. He is chairman of Newcore Capital Management, a member of the investment committee for CBRE Global Investment Partners and a member of the advisory board for Redevco.

John Stephen

John is a Chartered Surveyor with over 40 years’ experience in commercial investment markets, including five years in Hong Kong and Tokyo. He retired in 2009 from international real estate advisors Jones Lang LaSalle after 35 years, having spent the last six as chairman of the English business. He is now involved in a range of non-executive and advisory board roles with public and private companies, family offices and charities.

William Hill

William is a chartered surveyor who has worked in investment management since 1985. He became head of the property business at Schroders in 1991 and, under his management, real estate assets grew from just under £200m to over £10bn. He stepped down from this role in November 2013, but remains an advisor to Schroders.