George Iacobescu

Sir George is the Chairman of Canary Wharf Group. He joined the Docklands’ regeneration team in 1988 as a Senior Vice President of Construction. He has led the construction and development of many landmark buildings in the UK, Canada and the United States.

From 1991, he was Construction Director under the chairmanship of Lord Levene. He joined the Canary Wharf Group board in 1995 and in 1996, became Deputy Chief Executive. In 1997, he became Chief Executive and Chairman in 2011. In July 2021, Sir George moved from the role of Executive Chairman to Chairman, providing strategic guidance to the board and management team and acting as ambassador and representative of the Company to our stakeholders.

With Canary Wharf Group, Sir George has helped develop more than 16 million square feet (1.5 million square metres) of office space, more than 300 shops, bars, restaurants and amenities, 20 acres (8 hectares) of gardens and other outdoor space, and 3,600 homes.

Born in Romania in November 1945, Sir George studied civil and industrial engineering at Bucharest University. From 1969 to 1975 he worked as a structural engineer in Romania before emigrating to Canada.

Sir George is a Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors; a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute; a founding contributor and co-chairman of Teach First; and a director of London First and Gateway to London. He was a Trustee of the British Museum and vice patron of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. He has an honorary doctorate in business administration from the University of East London. He was appointed to the Ministry of Defence Reform Unit to assist with MOD reorganisation.

Her Majesty the Queen gave Sir George a knighthood (KBE) for services to charity, community and the financial services industry in 2012 and a CBE for services to regeneration and inward investment in 2003. He holds three of Romania’s national honours: Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania; Commander of the Order For Merit; and Commander of the Order of the Crown of Romania.