Paul was Head of Research at PRUPIM (now M&G Real Estate) for over 20 years before retiring in 2012.  He now runs his own consultancy business.

Following his first degree at the University of St. Andrews, he gained a PhD in Geography from the University of Edinburgh in 1985.

Before joining PRUPIM in 1987, he worked as a researcher and lecturer at Oxford Polytechnic and is now a Visiting Professor at that institution (now Oxford Brookes University).  

He is an Honorary Fellow and a past Chairman of both the Investment Property Forum and Society of Property Researchers. For many years, he was also a Non-executive Director of IPD.

He was a key advocate for the internationalisation of real estate investment and for the creation of a property derivatives market.  However, he is probably best known for his publications and presentations on responsible investment in real estate.

He has chaired the Property Working Groups of both the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Kingston University for his ‘responsible real estate investment’.

He was also awarded an OBE for ‘services to the property industry’ in the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2003 and an Outstanding Industry Contribution Award by IPE Real Estate Magazine in 2008.