Valerie Owen is a Chartered Architect, Town Planner, Development Surveyor and Environmentalist – expert in sustainable development and regeneration.

In her early career, Valerie specialised in conservation and heritage, converting redundant Listed Buildings to commercial uses. She then became Architect Director at international consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, upgrading properties in major Pension Fund portfolios. Later, Valerie became Managing Director at London First, delivering sustainable development programmes through business/government partnerships.Valerie is passionate about good design and sustainability. She has held numerous Ministerial and NED appointments, acting as commissioning client for major public sector projects, including: Covent Garden Market, Nine Elms; Growth Area housing programmes; Dover Port/Waterfront regeneration; Redevelopment, Barts & London Hospitals; Thames ‘super sewer’; Thames 2100 Flood Defences; 2012 Olympics Environmental Legacy and The National Forest. Valerie Chaired Swan Housing, managing 11,000 houses, a construction company and MMC factory.

She currently runs Le Vaillant Owen Consultancy and Chairs the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence. In 2001, Valerie received an OBE for services to Architecture; she is an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University, and Master of the Architect’s Livery Company. Valerie received the National Women in Construction Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), and the CBI’s ‘First Woman’ Built Environment Award (2016.)