Our People

Our team is comprised of experienced professionals from top tier global private equity firms, development companies and financial and accounting firms. The powerful combination of these skills enables us to deliver projects that require truly creative capital and asset management solutions.

Lloyd Lee,

Managing Partner, Chair Investment Committee

Lloyd Lee serves at the Managing Partner of Yoo Capital and sits on the Investment Committee. Lloyd brings over 24 years’ experience in real estate private equity and principal investing and has been involved in £12 billion of real estate acquisitions, public and private corporate opportunities, special situations and asset management turnarounds across the UK, EU, US and emerging markets in Turkey, India and Latin America.

Combining bulge bracket private equity experience with a granular knowledge of all major real estate asset classes, he has been a fundamental value investor in real estate on behalf of major institutional public and private investors since 1998.

Andrew Thorpe,

Managing Director, Investment Committee Member

Andrew joined YOO in 1999 to work alongside John Hitchcox and was appointed Managing Director of YOO’s private investment office in 2002, before it became Yoo Capital in 2010.

Andrew has extensive experience in construction and development, having spent over 35 years working in the industry. Prior to joining YOO, Andrew undertook Construction Management and Project Management roles for Watkins Pool Partnership, Structuretone and Manhattan Loft Corporation and was involved in the delivery of over 2M sqft of commercial, industrial and residential space.

In the last 10 years with Yoo Capital, Andrew has overseen the successful delivery of over 1.7 million square feet of institutional quality real estate development across Greater London and continues to maintain overall responsibility for the firm’s internal and external development teams, as well as the construction and delivery of the firm’s projects. Andrew sits on the firm’s investment committee.

Igor Mathias,

Principal

Prior to joining Yoo Capital, Igor spent over 10 years as principal at some of the most prestigious global investment and development firms, including Round Hill Capital and Hines UK.

Igor has led and managed investment, asset management and development teams in the commercial, residential, retail, student housing and industrial assets across the UK and internationally. Most recently, Igor led the formation and expansion of Kalumbila Town Development Corporation, the master-planned township of a major mining operation housing over 10,000 residents, including schools, hospitals, offices as well as mortgage and life insurance companies.

Dominic Holmes,

Principal

Dominic Holmes is a seasoned development and construction professional with responsibilities for the large-scale development activities at Yoo Capital.

Prior to joining the firm, Dominic worked at Capital and Counties (LSE: CAPC), a FTSE 250 real estate company, focusing on the company’s major urban regeneration projects.

Dominic is a Chartered Surveyor with extensive experience at all stages of the development lifecycle. He has led and managed development teams delivering commercial, residential, retail and educational schemes across Greater London and the UK.

Will Dickens,

Director of Investor Relations

Will Dickens brings more than 20 years of real estate capital formation experience across the UK and Europe, forging strong relationships with leading public and private institutional investors and family offices, covering all aspects of investment, fund and asset management structures and platforms. Previously, Will worked in leadership roles at Citi Private Bank’s Global Real Estate and Private Equity team, Henley Investment Management Ltd and King Sturge-JLL.

Will has a BSc (Hons) degree in Real Estate Management from Oxford Brookes University, is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is certified by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Andy Colman,

Finance Director

Andy Colman is Yoo Capital’s Finance Director and works closely with our partners to manage the tax structuring, finance, corporate governance and financial reporting and administration of our investments.

Andy was previously the Finance Director for CBRE Global Investment Advisors and has also served as advisor to specialist funds and major family offices on complex transactions and structuring.

Prior to investment fund management, Andy worked at PWC advising global private equity firms on structuring complex transactions across the UK and Europe. He has considerable commercial, transactional and structuring experience as well as broad finance, accounting and tax skills.

Louise Page-Jennings,

Director

Louise Page-Jennings is Yoo Capital’s Director of Communications and Social Impact. Louise oversees communications for the firm and leads on our social impact strategy. She also has responsibility for the implementation, management and monitoring of the firm’s wider ESG strategy.

Prior to joining Yoo Capital, Louise spent almost a decade in public affairs and communications, specialising in real estate. During this time, she advised on the communications and consultation strategies for large-scale development projects across London and the UK, and worked on campaigns to raise awareness of new and emerging tenures across all levels of government.

Her clients included Blackstone, Sage Housing, Essential Living and Hub.

Alexandra Bennett,

Chief of Staff

Chris Ray,

Senior Development Manager

Chris Ray is a Development Manager at Yoo Capital. Chris oversees our real estate development projects from acquisition through to planning and construction and is currently working on our Shepherd’s Bush Market and Saville Theatre projects.

Chris joined the Yoo Capital team in 2020, having previously worked at The Office Group, an investment company owned by Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Gulf Related. He has nearly a decade of international real estate experience from the UK and the Middle East and has delivered a variety of projects in different sectors totalling over £250m in combined value.

Will Key,

Vice President

Will Key is a Vice President at Yoo Capital. Will specialises in the appraisal of new investment opportunities and supporting asset management initiatives on current projects.

Prior to joining the firm, Will served as an analyst at Civitas Investment Management, focusing on the investment into a large portfolio of community healthcare properties across the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. Before this he was an assistant manager in KPMG’s financial services department.

Will has a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University and is a Chartered Accountant.

 

Nicholas Rush,

Vice President

Nicholas Rush brings more than 11 years of real estate investment experience across both indirect and direct real estate and serves as Vice President at Yoo Capital. He specialises in underwriting new investment opportunities and engaging with third parties including property owners, banks, brokers, operating partners, and other asset managers, as well as being involved in asset management. Prior to joining the firm, Nicholas served as Vice President at The Townsend Group, evaluating real estate fund managers and co-investment opportunities for the firm.

Nicholas has a BA (Hons) degree in French and Business Management from Queen Mary University of London and an MSC in Real Estate Investment and Finance from Henley Business School.

Ravi Badiani,

Financial Controller

Ravi Badiani joined Yoo Capital in 2022 as a Financial Controller and has oversight of the accounting, finance, tax and compliance aspects for both Yoo Capital and its investment structures.

 

Bringing over 10 years of accounting and finance experience, Ravi has previously worked for the UK property investment vehicle of the Laing family, Eskmuir Properties, as well as auditor Grant Thornton.

 

Ravi holds a BSc in Economics from University College London and is a Chartered Accountant.

Phoebe Loades,

Executive Assistant

Phoebe Loades serves as the Executive Assistant at Yoo Capital. Phoebe is responsible for the coordination, administration, office and diary management of the remaining Senior Management team at Yoo Capital.

As an Executive Assistant, Phoebe ensures the smooth operation of the wider team with her skills in office and diary management, efficient handling of inquiries, and timely access to clients, tenants, investors and consultants.

Prior to joining Yoo Capital, Phoebe was responsible for the diary management and admin support of Private Family Offices and UHNWI’s around Central London. Phoebe has gained further experience as an Executive Assistant, Social Media Content Manager and Junior Cyber Research Analyst for a London based Tech company.

Investment Committee

John Hitchcox,

Yoo Capital Chairman & Investment Committee Member

John Hitchcox is a pioneer in the global property industry. YOO was founded in 1999 by John Hitchcox and celebrated designer Philippe Starck. Under their leadership YOO became one of the world’s leading placemaking and design brands and the powerhouse behind some of the most innovative and creative residential and hotel developments across the globe.

In 2010, John established Yoo Capital with Lloyd Lee and continues to serve as Chairman and a member of the Investment Committee.

Teresa Farmaki,

Investment Committee Member

Teresa is a Co-Founder of Astarte Capital Partners and a member of the Yoo Capital Fund II Investment Committee.

Before co-founding Astarte, Teresa was Head of Private Equity for a multi-family office, where she oversaw the investment strategy and investment selection for fund investments and co-investments.

Prior to this, Teresa was CIO for Private Equity at Piraeus Group, where she co-led the establishment of the private equity group, launched three private equity and venture capita funds and developed the group’s strategy in the renewable energy space.

Dr Stavros Siokos,

Investment Committee Member

Stavros is a Co-Founder of Astarte Capital Partners and a member of the Yoo Capital Fund II Investment Committee.

Before establishing Astarte, Stavros spent a decade as Managing Director at Citigroup where he was global head of alternative executions, portfolio trading strategies and pension fund solutions.

Stavros holds an Electrical and Computer Engineering Diploma from the University of Patras, Greece, an MSc in the same field and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts.