Former John Lewis Partnership property chief Katherine Russell has launched Lived, a residential consultancy for investors, developers, and operators building and scaling living-sector platforms.
The new business opens with a major institutional investment manager as its first anchor client, for which Russell will help shape residential strategy and improve performance across the existing portfolio.
Russell spent nearly 20 years at John Lewis Partnership, where she built its build-to-rent operating platform from scratch and grew it to almost 1,000 homes under management in Leeds, Leicester, Birmingham and Stratford for Aberdeen-backed clients. She also led planning efforts for three schemes, winning permission in Bromley and West Ealing and a resolution to grant in Reading. The West Ealing project was approved after a contested public inquiry.
Her earlier career at John Lewis and Waitrose covered asset management, planning and development, giving her experience across shopping centres, high street retail and logistics. Lived. will now apply that cross-sector background to living platforms, retail estates, mixed-use places and other property businesses where customer experience and operations are closely linked.
Russell said: “There is still huge opportunity in Living, but it’s a tough market to make things happen in. Capital is selective, and viability is stretched. Operating businesses need investment and scale to succeed, while investors need clear oversight of operational performance or risk leaving significant value on the table.”
She added that Lived. combines investment ambition with operational delivery, helping clients spot opportunity, shape strategy and bring the right people together through to execution. Russell is also advising a private family office and asset managers, alongside her board role at Dolphin Living.
The consultancy’s launch follows John Lewis Partnership’s exit from build-to-rent in February 2026, citing higher borrowing and construction costs and changing economic conditions.
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