Chris Oglesby

Chief Executive, Bruntwood

Chris is the Greater Manchester Business Board lead for Establishing the Clean Growth Mission in Greater Manchester, and serves as interim Chair of the Innovation Greater Manchester partnership.

He grew up in Manchester, studied at LSE and City University, London and worked briefly in the City before returning north in 1991 to work for the company his father founded in 1976. He was appointed CEO in 1999 and has overseen the growth of the business to one that owns over £1bn of commercial property across the city regions of Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds with a further £1bn development pipeline across all four cities.

Chris is the majority shareholder of Bruntwood, which was founded on a belief that its success comes from the success of its colleagues, customers and the communities in which it operates. This commitment to creating thriving cities has led to Chris playing an active role in many public and private sector partnerships including CityCo, MIF, Manchester Oxford Road Corridor, the Business Leadership Council and Manchester Climate Change Forum.

Continuing its strong partnership approach, in 2018 Bruntwood created Bruntwood SciTech; a 50:50 joint venture with Legal and General Capital focussed on the creation of environments and ecosystems for companies in the science and technology sector. This includes Alderley Park, Innovation Birmingham, Citylabs, a development for the Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Manchester Science Park, part of Manchester Science Partnerships which includes the Councils of Manchester, Salford and Cheshire East, the University of Manchester and MMU and the Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Bruntwood is recognised nationally for its support of cultural and community initiatives, donating 10% of its annual profits to charitable causes. Chris is a trustee of The Oglesby Charitable Trust, which works with more than 40 community based charities a year, is a board member of youth charity Young Manchester and a school governor.

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