Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman

Mr Hiranandani is a founder of Hirco and co-founder of the Hiranandani Group. Mr Hiranandani holds key positions in various Indian government bodies, private and social institutions, schools, and colleges. Current leadership roles include President of the Maharashtra Chambers of Housing Industry (MCHI); Chairman of Mumbai City, Development & Environment Committee of the Indian Merchants Chambers (I.M.C.) Mumbai; Member of the Task Force of the Government of India for reforms in Housing and Urban Development; and Member of the Study Group on Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, Government of Maharashtra.

Some of his past achievements include drafting the state policy for slum rehabilitation in Mumbai designed to improve the wellbeing of over 6 million slum inhabitants; acting as a trustee for the creation of Nathdwara Township as a heritage destination; serving on the board of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), an organisation which distributes US$3 billion per annum to help fund the building of housing for low income families; acting as an adviser to the government of India on housing and habitat policy for over a decade; and serving as Real Estate President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Mr Hiranandani is a chartered accountant by qualification.

 

Kersi Gherda OBE

Mr Kersi Gherda is a chartered accountant both from the Indian Institute and from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He started his career with Volkart Bros, a Swiss company trading in India. He worked for 27 years with the Tata Electric Cos, latterly as Vice-chairman and Managing Director. He is a director of several public and private companies and is also connected with various non-governmental organisations and trusts. He is a former India Director on the International Board of the Institute of Internal Auditors, Florida. He is Chairman of the Breach Candy Hospital, the Indian Red Cross Society, Maharashtra and The Bombay Cheshire Homes.

He was awarded the Insignia of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE).

 

Douglas Gardner

Douglas Gardner has significant experience in the real estate sector in the UK and as a director of real estate investment funds. In 1971 Mr Gardner joined Tarmac Properties Limited, a joint venture between Tarmac plc, Hambros Bank and Hill Samuel. Between 1975 and 1983 he was the Chief Executive of the property division of Tarmac plc. In 1983 Mr Gardner became Managing Director of Brixton Estate plc, a position he held for 10 years before becoming Chairman and Chief Executive of the group from 1993 until 2000. He was appointed a governor of Nuffield Hospitals in 1995 and has been Chairman of the Board of Governors of Nuffield Hospitals since 2001. Nuffield Hospitals is the UK’s largest trading charity with a turnover in excess of £500 million per annum.

Currently, Mr. Gardner is a director of Invesco High Income Property Trust Limited, a Jersey based Invesco fund with £300 million under management and which is quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Since 2004, he has also been Chairman of Halverton REIM Ltd. Until September, 2007, Mr Gardner served as Chairman of the Investment Committee and Limited Partnership of Industrial Development Partnership 2, a La Salle Investment Management Fund which has developed and sold approximately £200 million of industrial and warehouse buildings in the UK. From 2001 to 2005 he was a member of the Investment Committee of the European Industrial Partnership, an AXA formed pan-European industrial investment fund with €550 million under management.

 

Sir Rob Young

Sir Rob Young has had a distinguished career in the diplomatic service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (“FCO”) and more recently as the High Commissioner to India. After joining the FCO in 1967, Sir Rob was Head of Arabia Section, Middle East Department between 1972 and 1974. Between 1974 and 1976 he served as Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the FCO and was then First Secretary at the British Embassy in Paris between 1977 and 1981. He was the Deputy Head of the West European Department of the FCO from 1981 to 1983 before becoming Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Damascus from 1983 to 1986. Sir Rob became the Head of the Middle East Department of the FCO in 1987 and in 1991 moved to be a minister at the British Embassy in Paris. From 1994 to 1995 he served as the Deputy Under- Secretary of State at the FCO dealing with Eastern Europe and the Middle East and from 1995 to 1998 as the Deputy Under-Secretary of State at the FCO and Chief Clerk at the FCO.

Sir Rob became the UK’s High Commissioner to India (based in Delhi) in January 1999 where he served until his retirement from the diplomatic service in October 2003. Since 2003 Sir Rob has acted as Chairman of the Calcutta Tercentenary Trust and is a Commissioner on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

 

David Burton

David Burton began his career with Panell Kerr Forster and, after a spell with KPMG, became a partner at Deloitte and Touche in 1979 until his retirement in 1993. He advised on corporate finance and was Managing Partner in the Isle of Man between 1983 and 1991. Mr Burton previously served as a non-executive director of Springboard Housing Association Limited between 1993-1999 and acted as a trustee (from 1998 as Chairman of Trustees) of the Jubilee Centre and Relationships Foundation between 1996 and 2002. He was an advisory director of Campbell Lutyens & Co Limited between 1993 and 2003.

Mr Burton is currently Chairman of the Aon Alexander & Alexander and AON UK Pension Schemes, as well as being Chairman of the Combined Britons Pension Scheme (which is the UK end of the Combined Insurance Company of America) and an associate partner of Lancea Partners Limited. He is also serving as a non-executive director of Central & Overseas Securities Limited, which is part of the South African Tongaat-Hulett Group Limited, a listed company that is controlled by Anglo-American plc. Since 2001, Mr Burton has acted as a director of Sigma Q C Limited and as Chairman of Globaltech Solutions Limited.

 

Nigel McGowan

Nigel McGowan qualified as a chartered accountant in 1991 with Deloitte & Touche, London. After working in senior management roles in the audit and corporate finance departments he returned to the Isle of Man to join Deloitte’s local office in 1995.

From 1998 to 2001 Mr McGowan worked in senior management positions with the Isle of Man Assurance Group, culminating in the role of Chief Financial Officer. Between 2001 and 2005 Mr McGowan worked for Simcocks Advocates in the Isle of Man with responsibility for financial control and also the establishment and development of the Simcocks Group of companies including the licensed corporate service provider, Simcocks Trust in the Isle of Man and Mauritius. Since 2005 Mr McGowan has been a self employed business consultant and holds a number of executive and non-executive directorships including a number of private property companies with investments in residential and commercial property in the Isle of Man. Mr McGowan is a former chairman of the Isle of Man Society of Chartered Accountants.