Vanessa Simms

Vanessa was appointed to the Board on 4 May 2021 as Chief Financial Officer Designate and became Chief Financial Officer on 31 May 2021.

Skills and experience

Vanessa brings extensive financial experience to Landsec from the property sector, and has particular expertise in leading and implementing strategic change in businesses and substantial experience of leadership roles in a listed environment. Previously, Vanessa was Chief Financial Officer at Grainger plc, and prior to that held senior financial positions at Unite Group plc and SEGRO plc. She was also a Non-executive Director and Audit Chair of Drax Group Plc until June 2024.

Vanessa is a Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA) and has an executive MBA (EMBA) from Ashridge Business School.

Current appointments

Vanessa is a Non-executive Director of Rotork plc, a global provider of mission-critical intelligent flow control.

Committees

A member of the Group’s Executive Leadership Team and Chair of the Disclosure Committee. Vanessa also attends Audit Committee meetings at the invitation of the Committee Chair.