Our Team
Artisan Real Estate’s team combines a wealth of experienced professionals with fresh, creative energy and passion for real estate. Our expertise covers all phases of the property development cycle including acquisition, finance, structuring, planning, construction, asset management and sales. Artisan Real Estate operates out of offices in Bristol, Edinburgh and the Isle of Man.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Jaco Jansen
Jaco joined Artisan Real Estate as chief executive officer in January 2016. Previously Jaco spent 14 years at an international wealth management, advisory and fiduciary services business where he was the head of the investment services division, managing in excess of $500 million for private clients and providing investment advice to institutional clients with $2,3 billion of assets.
After qualifying as a South African chartered accountant, Jaco started his career as a corporate finance executive at Brait, a South African private equity group. Jaco is based in the Isle of Man.
Clive Wilding
Clive is Artisan Real Estate’s property director. He comes from an Agricultural Land Management background he joined UK construction group M.J. Gleeson Group plc to build a strategic land bank, successfully promoting sites through the planning process for residential development. He soon rose to become Managing Director of Gleeson, where the business grew from a £20m turnover company to one with over £220m ‐ constructing over 1,200 homes per annum around the country. Clive has forged strong links with local authorities and government and has held founder board positions on the Housing Forum and other Public/Private partnerships.
Over the last 15 years he has been with the Raven Group, then The Santon Group, focusing on mixed use, city-led residential schemes. Clive is a creative thinker and finding the best solutions to challenging practical development opportunities is what he thrives on.
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Reece Briesies
Reece is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Sanlam Investments Limited, a financial services group delivering life, pension and insurance products and investment and wealth management services managing assets in excess of £22bn.
Reece has been with the Sanlam Group since 2009 both in the UK and South Africa and has a wide range of responsibilities which include functional areas such as finance, risk, legal and compliance. Reece is based in South Africa.
Thomas Van Heerden
Thomas is Chief Operating Officer of Sanlam Investments Group, a financial services group delivering life, pension and insurance products and investment and wealth management services managing assets in excess of £22bn.
Thomas has been with the Sanlam Group since 2002 and has a wide range of responsibilities in both the UK and South Africa. Thomas is based in South Africa.
CORPORATE SECRETARIAL
Sarah Melvin
Sarah joined Artisan as Group Company Secretary in January 2020, bringing with her over 18 years of experience of company secretarial work and company administration. Prior to this Sarah worked for MAS Real Estate Inc., a listed European property investor, as Assistant Company Secretary for almost 8 years, providing all aspects of support to the Group Company Secretary. Sarah is based in the Isle of Man.
DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT - NORTH
James Bulmer
James joined Artisan Real Estate in February 2021 as Development Manager for the North. With 20 years’ experience in the construction industry, James has extensively worked in the residential sector for PLC housebuilders like David Wilson Homes and Redrow. James ran a private design practice before co-founding an SME house builder in Yorkshire.
James is a problem solver and enjoys technically challenging sites, he can quickly identify key development constraints, mitigate risk and maximise development opportunities. A client-centric person with a can do approach, James loves creating new places to live and the journey involved in delivering new homes.
DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT - SCOTLAND
Iain Eckersall
Iain joined Artisan Real Estate in September 2017 as Head of Project Management having spent the previous fifteen years as a director of construction consultant Gleeds.
Iain comes from a cost management background and has specialised in the delivery of complex, multi-phased developments including several large residential-driven masterplans and the £150 million New Waverley mixed use development in Edinburgh City Centre.
With more than thirty years of experience in the construction industry across a wide variety of market sectors, Iain brings an imaginative approach and an attention to detail to all his projects.
Iain is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is based in the Edinburgh office.
Sean Ferguson
Sean joined Artisan Real Estate as a Project Surveyor in November 2020, and is based in the Edinburgh office.
Sean is a qualified Quantity Surveyor, with considerable experience of high end residential projects, having worked for AMA Homes for three years prior to joining the company.
Sean’s focus is on project delivery and providing purchasers with a high quality product that is in line with the company’s environmental sustainability values.
DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT - SOUTH
Myles Thomas
Myles joined Artisan Real Estate in July 2018 as Development Manager for Scotland and the North with over 9 years’ experience in the development industry. In September 2019 Myles relocated to take responsibility for the Southern Region as Development Manager for the South.
Prior to joining Artisan Myles gained extensive experience in the housebuilding sector, having worked for Persimmon, Redrow, Berkeley and Curo Homes. Myles has experience ranging from small bespoke sites to large regeneration projects.
Steve Fletcher
Steve Joined Artisan Real Estate in January 2020 as a Regional Commercial Manager. Steve’s focus is on project delivery and together with the Regional Development Manager building the Artisan Brand across the Southern Region.
Prior to joining Artisan, Steve headed up Cost Management delivery for Ridge & Partners Bristol office servicing demanding and wide-reaching client portfolios at all project stages. Steve is an experienced Chartered Quantity Surveyor, an original thinker, and has a proven ability to deliver creative solutions to ensure results are achieved.
FINANCE
Jazz Williamson
Jazz joined Artisan Real Estate as an Analyst in February 2017, and became Senior Finance Manager in July 2019.
Prior to this Jazz worked for MAS Real Estate Inc, a listed European property investor, as a Property Accountant where she primarily dealt with the development projects managed by Artisan Real Estate. Jazz is ACCA qualified and based in the Isle of Man.
Robyn Foster-Martin
Robyn is a Stellenbosch University graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce degree specialising in Financial Management. Having joined the Artisan Real Estate team in September 2017 as Group Accountant, Robyn became Senior Group Accountant in July 2019.
Prior to this Robyn managed the finance department of a multi-investment group of companies in Cape Town South Africa for 5 years. Robyn is based in the Isle of Man.
Cal Hill
Cal joined Artisan as an Accountant in August 2019 coming from a construction industry background with over 10 years’ experience.
He successfully ran his own construction firm in the southern regions of Africa, concentrating on high complex government projects and turnkey solutions for private developments. Cal is currently studying towards an ACCA qualification and is based in the Isle of Man.
