SENIOR MANAGEMENT
PAUL OLIVER
Founder & Chairman
Paul chairs the Curlew board and sets the firm’s strategic direction. He founded Curlew in 2011 and was Chief Executive until April 2026. Under his leadership Curlew launched the Curlew Student Trust in 2013 and Curlew Student Trust II in 2018.
Paul began in real estate development in the 1980s, leading commercial development teams, mainly on shopping centre schemes. He has established collective investment schemes since 1988. He was Managing Director of Dusco from 1991 to 1996, then founded Equity Partnerships, which merged with Teesland Group in 2000. In 2002 he launched Teesland plc on the London Stock Exchange, growing funds under management to over €5.5 billion before its sale to Valad in 2007. From 2017 to 2023 he was an independent non-executive director of Triple Point Social Housing REIT.
CHARLIE OLIVER
CEO
Charlie runs the day-to-day management of Curlew and leads its capital markets activity and its investor and partner relationships. He joined Curlew in 2018 to lead acquisitions and investment. As Managing Director from 2022 until he became CEO in April 2026, he led fundraising and transactions, including the sale of the Curlew Student Trust II portfolio in 2025.
Charlie worked in residential capital markets at BNP Paribas Real Estate from 2012 and at JLL from 2016, on build to rent, co-living and residential investment transactions. He has been involved in over £900m of land, forward commitment and investment transactions across the UK living sectors. He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and holds a BSc (Hons) in Real Estate Management from Kingston University.
STEVEN CLARK
Chief Investment Officer
Steven joined Curlew in 2026 as Chief Investment Officer, a platform-wide appointment with a mandate to define and execute the firm’s investment strategy, from origination and underwriting through to structuring, capital raising and completion.
Steven is a Chartered Accountant (ICAS) with over 20 years’ experience in real estate investment, fund management and corporate finance, gained primarily in the UK living sectors. He joined Curlew from Grainger plc, the FTSE 250 residential landlord, where he was Director of Investments (Acquisitions), and before that was Residential Investment Director at Lendlease in Europe. He began his career at PwC.
In four years leading Grainger’s build to rent acquisitions he originated and executed the acquisition and forward funding of over 1,000 homes. He sat on the boards of several joint ventures, including those with LPPI, Places for London, Blocwork, and the London Borough of Lewisham. At Lendlease he held a regulated fund manager role for a UK venture with CPP Investments, and earlier at Grainger he was joint fund manager of the GRIP UK private rented sector venture with APG. He brings relationships with institutional investors, pension funds, family offices and sovereign wealth funds active in UK residential.
ATHAR RASHID
Managing Director, Residential
Athar joined Curlew in 2026 and leads the residential division, covering development, asset management and the advisory business.
Athar is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with experience across commercial real estate investment, development and the build to rent sector. He spent much of his career at CBRE Capital Markets, working on the acquisition, disposal and development of large scale assets including City of London offices, prime shopping centres and high end residential schemes for a range of clients including The Crown Estate, British Land, Lendlease, and Capital & Counties. He has delivered c. 500 BTR homes across both single-family and multi-family housing.
He was Development Manager on Curlew’s build to rent scheme in Corby, where he delivered 100 homes and took the asset from construction through mobilisation and into stabilised operation. He also advises local authorities on residential development, covering both multi-family and single family housing.
IAN SCOTT
Investment Committee Chairman
Ian is Fund Strategist at Curlew and chairs its Investment Committee. He joined Curlew in 2014 as Fund Manager for the Curlew Student Trust and is a director of Curlew’s Guernsey investment entities.
Ian joined Quintain in 2005 to set up the iQ student accommodation platform, which launched as a fund in 2007, and ran it until Quintain sold its stake in 2014. He has over 20 years’ senior experience and has been directly involved in over £2bn of PBSA investment transactions. Before iQ he was a property and construction companies analyst at Prudential Portfolio Managers from 1994 to 1999, Head of Research and Corporate Development at Unite Group from 1999 to 2003, and Product Development Manager at Prudential Property Investment Managers (now M&G) from 2003 to 2005. He is a Chartered Surveyor and holds a doctorate in computer-assisted residential property valuation.
THE TEAM
DAVE
ALLWOOD
Director, Fund & Portfolio Management
Dave leads fund and portfolio management at Curlew, providing the financial modelling, analysis and underwriting behind its investment and development programme. He joined in 2020 as Deputy Fund Manager, became Fund Manager in 2022 and Director in 2025.
He was previously lead development analyst at British Land, advising on acquisitions, development projects and regeneration schemes. Before that he worked on student accommodation, build to rent and co-living transactions at Montagu Evans, and in real estate equity research at Barclays Investment Bank. He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor.
KRISTIAN
MILLS
Director, Asset Management
Kristian leads the asset management of Curlew’s student accommodation portfolio. Since joining Curlew in June 2020 he has managed 4,017 beds across 15 properties, as well as Curlew’s build to rent homes in Corby. He chairs Curlew’s Income Committee and Asset Design Panel and sits on its Building Safety Act Committee.
Kristian has close to 20 years’ experience in student accommodation and the wider living sectors. Before Curlew he held operational and leadership roles at Unite Group, iQ Student Accommodation, Greystar, Quintain and CRM Students, where he was Head of Operations. He holds an MA in Human Resource Development and is a Licentiate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
SHAZIM
ABDULLAH
Director, Finance
Shazim leads Curlew’s finance function. He joined Curlew in 2017 as Senior Financial Controller for the Curlew Student Trust.
He was previously Financial Controller for Round Hill Capital’s Nordic Commercial Fund and a senior real estate fund accountant at Schroders, working on its UK listed real estate investment trust. Earlier he worked in transaction services at Grant Thornton and as a senior associate at PwC. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and qualified at PwC. He completed the Association’s Corporate Valuation Programme with Columbia Business School in 2024.
DEBORAH
LLOYD
Fund, Legal
& Strategy Advisor
Deborah has advised Curlew since May 2016 as a senior consultant on business strategy, regulatory, corporate and contractual matters, and sits on its Risk Committee.
She was a partner at Nabarro LLP (now CMS) for 23 years, where she co-founded the funds and indirect real estate team and acted for Curlew from its foundation. She chaired the Association of Real Estate Funds from 2017 to 2020. She sat on the Management Committee of INREV, the European association for investors in non-listed real estate, from 2009 to 2015, as Vice Chair from 2012. From 2018 to 2024 she sat on the University of London’s Estates Committee, as Deputy Chair from 2020 to 2023.
GREG
FOX
Director, Development
Greg leads development at Curlew, taking schemes from site acquisition to completion. He joined Curlew in 2018 as a Development Manager, became Senior Development Manager in 2019 and Director in 2020. He previously worked for Multiplex (formerly Brookfield Multiplex) from 2013, latterly as Site Manager on One Blackfriars in London. Over his career he has been involved in the delivery of over 4,000 student beds. He holds a degree in Construction Management and Surveying from the University of Reading.
NICK
WOOLCOTT
Head of Project Management
Nick heads project management at Curlew, acting as project manager on its schemes and monitoring the Curlew Student Trust’s forward funding programmes. He established the Curlew Specification, the firm’s design and specification guide for student accommodation, first issued in 2014 and updated since. Before working with Curlew, he managed projects in the UK across several sectors, including Tate Modern, Heathrow Terminal 5 baggage handling, Luton Airport, the Acute Wing of the Whittington Hospital and a project management system for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
DANIEL ADEMUWAGUN
Fund Accounting Manager
Daniel runs fund finance for Curlew’s PBSA funds, covering liquidity, lender and administrator relationships and financial reporting, including audited accounts and board packs. He has managed the funds’ debt from originating facilities of more than £100m through to covenant compliance, and advises on real estate tax, corporation tax and VAT. He joined Curlew in 2015 from Amber Infrastructure and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians.
GREG
AKOKA
Director, Sustainability
Greg leads sustainability at Curlew, covering its environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework, ESG integration in the investment process and sustainability disclosures. In 2020 he developed the Curlew Sustainability Strategy 2030, its road map to net zero operations by 2030. He joined Curlew in 2015 as an ESG consultant on reporting to the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). The Curlew Student Trust has held a GRESB Green Star rating every year since 2016 and was rated four stars, with a score of 90, in the 2026 benchmark. He previously worked in the hospitality sector and is a WELL Accredited Professional.
LAARNI CORNISTA-SAMUELSSON
Executive & Operations Assistant
Laarni provides executive support to Curlew’s senior management and helps run the office. Before joining Curlew in 2025 she worked in operations and project coordination at Arqit and in reception management at Lexington Reception Services. She holds PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner qualifications in project management and a first-class MA from King’s College London.
KIRSTEN
DAMANT
Senior Investment Analyst
Kirsten supports Curlew’s fund and asset managers with financial modelling, market analysis and investment underwriting, from fund reporting and valuations to acquisitions, development appraisals and asset sales. She joined Curlew in 2020 as a Development Analyst and is now Senior Investment Analyst. Kirsten holds a BSc in Property Studies and a first-class MSc in Real Estate from Kingston University.
TUVA
WRIGLEY
Senior Surveyor, Investment and Asset Management
Tuva works in Curlew’s investment and asset management team, where she is responsible for the day-to-day performance of assets, including leasing, operations, reporting and business planning, and supports new acquisitions. Before Curlew she spent over four years at JLL, including in the Land and Development team, advising on development site acquisitions and disposals. She is a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS).
ED
JEFFS
Senior Asset Manager
Ed runs asset management of a PBSA portfolio, directing its third-party operators and managing operating budgets and capital projects. He joined Curlew in 2025 from 90 North, where he was Asset Manager for a UK PBSA fund and worked on the sale of its Collection portfolio. He previously worked at Ilchester Estates, managing a mixed-use commercial and residential portfolio, leading leasing transactions, and overseeing capital improvement and refurbishment projects.