Built on Collective Talent

Polly joined Obsidian Strategic as Chief Executive Officer in January 2025. Polly has more than 30 years of development experience. Prior to joining Obsidian, Polly was Managing Director at St Modwen Properties a housing and commercial strategic land, developer and regeneration business, so is well placed to navigate sites and the business through the land promotion process to release value for our landowners.

Tom Martin is the co-founder of Obsidian Strategic. He is Executive Chairman of Martins Properties, a property investment and development company operating in prime locations throughout London and the South of England. Prior to his current role he held a number of senior positions within both national property consultants and one of the largest independent providers of affordable housing in the UK.

David graduated from Christ’s College, Cambridge with a degree in Computer Science, and then completed his professional training as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG. David spent 17 years in senior finance roles at Greene King, before progressing to CFO roles at property company Market Tech, restaurateur Byron Burger and most recently media business Bonhill Group.

Ben has been a Planner and Urban Regeneration Strategist in residential-led promotion and development for over 25 years across the South East of England. The planning applications brought forward in this time have ranged in size from 25 homes up to mixed-use schemes of 1,500 homes. Most of these planning applications have been secured via local consent, as a result of working closely and effectively with local communities and the determining local authorities.

Iain leads the Land Team who are responsible for identifying, appraising and acquiring strategic land opportunities across the UK. He qualified as Chartered Surveyor and Land Agent in 2004 and spent over 10 years with national property consultants Smiths Gore (now Savills). Before joining Obsidian, Iain worked with another London based promoter successfully building a portfolio of sites and overseeing the sale of consented land into the development land market. He enjoys forging long lasting relationships with our landowners, agents, and housebuilder clients.

Pete joined Obsidian in February 2024 and heads up our immediate and long-term land acquisition for our Northern Region. Previously Pete worked for both a national housebuilder and for one of the UK’s most successful Land Promoter’s where he acquired land with and without planning permission as well as being involved in site disposals. Pete therefore has a strong track record in helping to deliver successful strategic land projects across the country.

Stephanie is a Chartered Town Planner with over 15 years’ experience in strategic land promotion and development across both greenfield and brownfield sites. She has worked within a national housebuilder, brownfield developer, planning consultancy and local authority, giving her a well-rounded understanding of the planning process. Since becoming an RTPI member in 2015, she has promoted a wide range of residential-led sites through the plan-making and application processes, working closely with local stakeholders and authorities to secure positive outcomes.

Anna is a highly experienced senior land manager with over 15 years’ experience in housebuilding and land promotion. As Obsidian continues to secure an increasing number of planning consents, Anna’s role has evolved to focus on maximising land value for our landowner partners. She leads on all technical aspects of development, manages the marketing and disposal of consented sites, and is also responsible for identifying and securing immediate and long-term development opportunities across Southeast England. She works closely with landowners and land agents to acquire sites that align with the company’s strategic growth objectives.

Jake joined Obsidian in September 2023 to head up our Southwest Region and secure short and long-term strategic opportunities for the business. Prior to joining Obsidian, Jake worked for two of the country’s largest national housebuilders, securing land with or without planning, exercising Option agreements and managing planning applications. As such, Jake has first-hand experience of how developers operate and uses this experience to help deliver successful projects that maximize value for our landowner partners.

Anthony’s position within Obsidian Strategic is to source both immediate and long-term land opportunities for the purpose of future development, as well as working on existing sites with the planning team to promote through the planning system as well as submitting applications. Previously Anthony worked in the strategic land and planning department for a regional house builder. Anthony has recently qualified as a member of the RICS and is now working towards his RTPI.

Paul works with the leadership team to provide insight to support land promotion initiatives, ensuring projects are commercially robust and strategically aligned.  With extensive experience in property investment and real estate finance, he has previously led finance teams at major property investment and development firms, overseeing large-scale projects, joint ventures and strategic land portfolios, garnering a track record of enhancing financial reporting, improving commercial insights and driving operational efficiency to maximise value.