Our Managing Director Sue Brown has been awarded an Honorary MBA by the University of the Built Environment.
The University of the Built Environment awards Honorary Degrees to professionals who have made an outstanding and inspiring contribution to the sector.
Sue joined Real Estate Balance in April 2020 and was responsible for expanding our focus from gender alone to other areas such as ethnicity and social mobility. Under her leadership, we have grown significantly and our membership now includes over 130 of the largest and most influential companies operating in UK real estate today.
A longstanding advocate for inclusion and champion of underrepresented groups, Sue won the Outstanding Individual Award at the 2023 Estates Gazette awards and was granted the Freedom of the City of London in 2025 for her significant contribution to London’s public life.
Having started her career in government and going on to establish her own real estates communications consultancy, Sue was a driving force behind the launch of MIPIM; the co-founder and co-chair of REWIRE, the network for women in property; and was heavily involved in the regeneration of the Spitalifields area in the late ‘80s and ‘90s.
Sue’s Honorary MBA reflects her dedication to making real estate accessible to people of all backgrounds and spreading principles of fairness and inclusion across the industry.
She was awarded her Honorary MBA at a University of the Built Environment graduation ceremony on Friday 30 January.
Previous recipients of the University of the Built Environment’s Honorary MBA include former CBRE boss Ciaran Bird.
Professor Ashley Wheaton, Vice Chancellor of the University of the Built Environment, said:
“Few individuals can claim to have transformed an entire discipline within the property sector, but Sue Brown is one of them. She virtually invented property PR, and she was the driving force behind the launch of MIPIM, the world’s largest real estate investment conference. Her work through Real Estate Balance has redefined how property tells its stories, engages stakeholders, and reflects society more honestly. The University is proud to recognise her outstanding contribution and lasting influence with an Honorary MBA.”
Sue said:
“I am honoured and delighted to accept this award. I do so on behalf of Real Estate Balance’s talented and committed team, the 130+ engaged organisations that make up our membership, and the people working within them every day to make our industry a fairer, better-balanced place for everyone. Driving lasting change will always require a collective approach, and coming together to stand up for fairness is now more important than it’s ever been. I’d like to thank the University of the Built Environment for this wonderful award as well as all the brilliant people I’ve had the privilege to work alongside during the course of my career.”