NatWest’s Andy McBain appointed BCO President

Andy McBain, head of branch & workplace design at NatWest Group, has been elected as the BCO’s new President.

McBain succeeds Helen Hare, director of projects at GPE, and will help lead the BCO with chief executive Samantha McClary and the wider presidential team over the coming year.

Ben Cross, founder of MORE, has been appointed as the BCO’s new junior vice president.

John Wright, director at Stride Treglown, steps up into the senior vice president role, with Beth Starling from Broadway Malyan taking over as National NextGen chair from Make Architects’ Oliver Hall. The National NextGen chair position now formally sits within the presidential team.

As BCO President, McBain brings more than two decades of workplace and occupier experience to the role. At NatWest Group, he leads workplace design and helps shape the ongoing evolution of the colleague experience and the bank’s future workplace strategy, alongside responsibility for branch design across the UK.

A long-standing contributor to the BCO, McBain has already spent two years on the presidential team and has been involved with the organisation since joining the Scotland Committee in 2010. During that time, he has played a key role in a number of initiatives, including curating and chairing the BCO’s 2026 Annual Conference, Festival of Enlightenment, in Edinburgh and Glasgow and helping to establish the organisation’s NextGen Scotland group.

In 2024, he led the publication of the BCO’s research paper, Towards Experience Utopia, and launched the BCO’s Customer Experience Award, reinforcing the organisation’s focus on operational and design excellence.

McBain said “It is a real privilege to become President of the BCO and build on the outstanding work of Helen Hare and the wider membership. The conversations at this year’s Festival of Enlightenment highlighted the pace of change across society and our industry, with growing emphasis on experience, sustainability and the transformative potential of AI in shaping new occupier expectations towards their workplace.

“I look forward to working closely with John, Ben, Beth, Sam and our wider membership across the UK to ensure the BCO continues to lead the sector through its industry-leading research, trusted guidance, the renowned awards programme and over 140 brilliant UK wide events every year.”

McBain will be supported by senior vice president John Wright. Bringing expertise in commercial architecture, workplace strategy and sustainability, Wright will help the BCO continue to drive collaboration, innovation and best practice across the office sector, with sustainability remaining a key focus for the presidential team.

This year, for the first time, the BCO opened the junior vice president role to nominations from across its membership, underscoring the organisation’s commitment to an inclusive and representative leadership pipeline.

MORE’s Ben Cross was one of more than 20 exceptional nominations submitted for the role and was awarded the position following an interview process with shortlisted candidates.

Commenting on his appointment, Cross said “The office sector is at an inflection point. How and why people use workplaces is changing quickly, while the expectations placed on buildings continue to rise. The BCO has an important role to play in helping the industry respond to that change and shape the future of the workplace. I’m looking forward to contributing to that as part of the presidential team.”

Cross has more than 20 years’ experience spanning architecture, development, and investment. He founded MORE after holding senior roles at General Projects and HUB.

“The BCO’s presidential team plays an incredibly important, strategic and powerful role and it was particularly encouraging to see so many nominations submitted for the JVP role this year,” said BCO chief executive Samantha McClary. “The nominations showcased just how talented, passionate and purpose-driven the BCO membership is. And it is this that makes the BCO so special.”

McClary added: “I’m very much looking forward to welcoming Ben and Beth into the presidential team and working much closer with Andy as he steps into the presidential role. Huge thanks has to go to Helen Hare for her leadership of the team over the past year as she’s helped steer the BCO on its journey of evolution and to Pete Crowther for his four years of dedication to the presidential team.”

“As we move into a new presidential year at the BCO, members can expect more focus on delivering content, events and connections that help them design, develop and operate workspaces that work for human beings,” continued McClary. “Our members have been incredibly generous with their feedback over the past 12-18 months, so these next 12-18 months will be focused on delivering on what they want and need from their BCO and I am excited to get cracking on what I know is going to an incredible new chapter for the world of workspace.”

Reflecting the breadth of the BCO’s membership, the presidential team spans Scotland, Bristol and London, and brings together occupier, developer and architect expertise. Over the coming year, the team will focus on driving collaboration across the industry, advancing sustainability and supporting the continued evolution of the workplace sector.