Peter Drummond appointed BCSC President

Peter Drummond, Chief Executive of BDP, has taken take over the role of BCSC President for the next 12 months from Richard Akers, Managing Director for Retail at Land Securities.

At the BCSC annual dinner last night (Wednesday 7 December) incoming BCSC President Peter Drummond said: “It is a great honour to take on this role. The retail property industry has a huge part to play in regenerating communities and one of my key aims is to encourage closer working with local authorities and use the vast experience of our members to help support councils improve their town centres.

“I’ve got a strong interest in sustainability, not just environmentally but in terms of creating places that are successful for many years to come, places that really engage their communities. I would also like to see BCSC look outside the UK and begin to share its experience around the world, for example with growing urban centres in India and China.

Peter has been actively involved in BCSC as Chairman of its annual conference in 2007, and as author - with BDP Director Tessa O’Neill - of a commissioned study on retail-led regeneration and urban design, resulting in the acclaimed Urban Design for Retail Environments report (2002), and Future Shopping Places (2007) part of the Future of Retail Property programme.

He has also served on the BCSC advisory board since 2009 - along with fellow BDP director and head of retail Peter Coleman and as a BCSC member and frequent conference speaker before that.

Note (13/12/2011): One of Peter's first tasks, less than a week into his new role, has been to comment on The (Mary) Portas Review into future of our high streets.

Picture (from left): Peter Drummond and Richard Akers