Sean O’Shea
Chief Executive
As Chief Executive, Sean is charged with leading the company into its next ambitious phase of development. Sean has a background as a quantity surveyor and joined UPP at its commencement in 1998. With over 15 years experience in the sector and prior commercial experience, he has a thorough understanding of construction costs, facilities management regimes and transaction structures. Sean is also the Managing Director of UPP’s Residential Services Limited.
Mark Allen
Director
Mark joined UPP in 2000 as Business Development Director and has over 20 years experience in the university sector. He is a main Group Board Director, responsible for Business Development, Health and Safety, Human Resources and is also a Director of UPP’s special purchase companies (SPCs). Mark is a graduate in Economics and Politics from the University of Sheffield. After graduating he joined the University of Greenwich as Head of Accommodation Services until 1992, at which time he was appointed as Head of Department for Residential, Catering and Conferences Services for Goldsmiths College, University of London. While at Goldsmiths College he was responsible for the development of their estates strategy.
Gabriel Behr
Group Finance Director
Gabriel joined UPP as Group Finance Director in 2008 and his wealth of experience ensures UPP builds on its successes and achieve its goals by maximising opportunities. Gabriel is a Director on the UPP Group Holdings Board, the Group Board and on UPP’s university partners SPCs. Gabriel is a chartered accountant and has developed expertise across a range of sectors over the last 12 years. His previous role was at Energ Plc, where he was responsible for the financial management of an international division, acquisition policy, and PFI contracts.
Julian Benkel
Company Secretary and Compliance Director
Julian joined UPP in 2002 as Financial Director and is a chartered accountant with over 20 years of post-qualification experience. As well as being a main Board Director, since 2006 Julian has taken over responsibility for all company secretarial and compliance across the portfolio. Julian is a Director of the UPP Group Holdings, the Group Board and is company secretary within the group. He has nearly 20 years board experience and has worked in both the financial services and construction industries.
Clive Crawford
Company Founder
Clive set up UPP as Managing Director in 1998 and lead the management buy out from Jarvis in 2004. He joined Jarvis in 1994 and has been involved in the design, construction, and operation of over 30,000 study bedrooms over the last 15 years. As Company Founder, Clive is a Director on the Group Board, Projects Division Board and the SPCs.
Clive is an architect and a graduate of Cambridge. Immediately following qualification, Clive worked in Spain where he was responsible for the award winning design of the Church of San Francisco de Asis in Victoria. Following this he worked at the Greater London Council Architects Department and was responsible for number of major projects including the Waltham Forest Magistrates’ Courts, the standard fire stations for London Fire Brigade and the Newham and Brenford Refuse Transfer Stations.
From 1975 to 1990, Clive was a partner in private practice. During this time, Clive won a number of awards, including the Financial Times Industrial Architecture Award, an RIBA Festival of Architecture Award and a Civic Trust Award. From 1990 to 1994 Clive was a Director of Team Services plc and was involved in the design and construction of student residential accommodation .
Andrew May
Managing Director Projects Division
Andrew is main Board Director of UPP’s Projects Division, with responsibility for all UPP’s transactions. Having originally been appointed as UPP’s Revenue Director, Andrew is a chartered surveyor with over ten years post-qualification experience in the property and construction industry. He is a Director on the Group Board and has worked for a variety of government and corporate clients. Before joining UPP, Andrew held a senior position with a private property company acting as Project Director, heading PFI consortia in the health and education sectors.