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Meet the BRE leadership team
BRE is governed by its executive board. The board is comprised of experienced senior business leaders who oversee the daily running of the company, as well as highly regarded industry experts and consultants.
To guide the organisation in its mission and ensure responsible, impartial business practice, BRE is governed by its executive board. The board is comprised of experienced senior business leaders who oversee the daily running of the company, as well as highly regarded industry experts and consultants.
BRE is a profit-for-purpose organisation owned by the BRE Trust, which is responsible for investing any profits from BRE’s work.
Meet our trusteesBRE board directors and senior leaders
Ian Shapiro: Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of BRE Group board
Ian leads BRE Group’s strategy and performance with a clear purpose: advancing sustainability and driving impact in the built environment. Under his leadership, BRE continues its 100-year legacy as a profit-for-purpose organisation, combining scientific expertise with digital solutions to tackle tomorrow’s challenges. His career spans extended time in East Africa and South Asia as well as the UK, focused on global development, infrastructure, cities, investment and sustainability - reflecting a lifelong commitment to solutions that benefit both people and planet. Before joining BRE, Ian served as CEO of Reall, a non-profit pioneering affordable, sustainable housing across urban Africa and Asia. He was a Non-Executive Adviser to the United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Director for UN-Habitat and currently serves as a non-Executive Director at whg, a UK housing association. Earlier in his career, Ian held senior leadership roles at Crown Agents, Restless Development, and the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Paul Hetherington: Non-Executive Director, BRE Group Board
Paul has over 30 years’ experience as a senior construction sector leader (BSS Group, Rugby Group, The Alumasc Group companies, Chief Executive of Marshall Tufflex). Paul has extensive non-executive experience on boards including the Builders’ Merchant Federation (BMF), the Department of Education’s Hasting Opportunity Area, Hastings & Rother Economic Task Force, Sussex branch of the Institute of Directors (IoD), where he is Manufacturing & Engineering ambassador and a Fellow of the Institute. He consults and provides leadership coaching as a Vistage Group Chair. Paul is also a Trustee on the BRE Trust Board.
Phil Wilbraham: Non Executive Director of BRE Group and Chair of BRE Trust
Phil has spent 40 years working in the construction industry (Carillion, DHV, Mott MacDonald) and is a Non-Executive Director of Keltbray, Wilson James and the Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, and Chair of Trustees of the BAA Pension Scheme. Before this role, he worked as Expansion Programme Director at Heathrow, accountable for delivering the third runway and supporting infrastructure, previously accountable for the Terminal 2 Programme and the construction of Terminal 5. Phil is also Chairman of the BRE Trust Board.
Jennifer Rudder: Group Chief Financial Officer and Director of Corporate Services
Jennifer joined BRE in March 2025 and brings expertise that spans strategic finance, operational leadership and board-level governance. She has had a varied international career in globally recognised manufacturing businesses, where she led transformation programmes across Finance, HR and IT that have strengthened governance, improved financial resilience and enabled sustainable long-term growth.
At BRE, Jennifer works closely with the CEO, divisional Managing Directors and Board, providing strategic financial leadership while ensuring that investment decisions, risk management and resource allocation are aligned with long-term resilience and sustainable growth.
Jennifer is committed to driving transparency, accountability and innovation, ensuring that BRE well-positioned to meet the evolving challenges of the business and regulatory environment.
