Managing Director, Malls & Meeting Places

Gary Burrows leads the FitForCommerce Malls & Meeting Place consulting practice globally. He is a dynamic and inspirational growth-oriented leader who has developed, operated, and facilitated large-scale mixed-use real estate and retail investments for over 30 years. An expert in Place-making Methodology, Gary has worked with over 90 shopping centers across 36 countries in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. His accomplishments cover concept-to-launch development, asset optimization, operational management, and turnaround initiatives.

Gary began his career in retail and moved over to mall management, followed by regional operations and portfolio management, before setting up his own consultancy and advisory in shopping, leisure, and mixed-use schemes. In this position, he advised developers and investors and operating businesses at global leaders such as Westfield, Al- Futtaim, Trigranit, IKEA, and Centros Millar. Executive roles have included Dana Holdings, IKEA/Ingka Centres, and Al Farwaniya Property Developments. In all, he has managed or developed over £10 billion in assets and 11 million sqft GLA with the largest development being a $1.2 billion, 2 million sqft GLA mall development in the Middle East.

Gary is a frequent speaker and award judge at top industry programs such as Central & Eastern European Retail Property Awards, Eastern European Real Estate Awards, and North Eastern European Retail Property Awards. He co-founded the Belarusian Council and Croatian Council of Shopping Centres Supervisory Board and has served on International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), and Middle East Council of Shopping Centers & Retailers (MECSC).