Our people

Nick is a pioneer in the student housing sector for over 30 years. His unparalleled reputation at expanding into new markets, innovating the sector and creating unique student experiences is testament to his career to date.

Nick founded Yugo, the first global student housing brand and operator that offers a truly differentiated living experience. He is also CEO of The Dot Group and founder of GSA.

A life lived with purpose and impact: that’s Rui’s vision for each of our students. An expert in leading international teams, he brings 30+ years of hospitality experience to his role as Yugo’s CEO. And before that, as our Global Chief Operating Officer. Life before Yugo included COO positions at Habitas and Quarters Co-living, where he also steered the business safely through Covid as their CEO.

With a strong track record in building and leading finance organizations, Mark fulfills an essential dual role: as CFO to Yugo and also our sister company, Global Student Accommodation (GSA).

Before Yugo, he spent 28+ years in financial and operational management at GE in the US, Europe and Asia. Most recently, he served as the Global FP&A Leader and Chief Diversity Officer at GE Capital.

The driving force behind Yugo’s worldwide expansion and former Managing Director of Global Student Accommodation (GSA) Spain.

Christopher owns the independent bookseller Cervantes y Cia Libros and has published several articles on management in private educational institutions. He’s also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Architecture & Design, IE University.

Bringing 20+ years of international human resources leadership experience, Michelle has been key in shaping Yugo culture.

In a career that's taken her from Australia, to the UAE and the US, she’s proved her ability to create engaging employee experiences, bringing people and culture together. She's an expert in building diverse, high-performing teams.

Stacy is fuelled by a passion for hospitality. Leading cross-functional multi-cultural teams is her forte and, over the course of her 20-year career, she’s also proved herself adept at managing the roll-out of brand-defining standards and programs. Alongside her other achievements, Stacy has created and launched a training program for property managers and overseen the training department set up to deliver them.

Leslie brings a valuable mix of marketing, financial analytical, and problem-solving skills to the Yugo team, and is responsible for delivering on portfolio NOI, occupancy, and team development.

She’s spent the past 12 years working across the US in various sectors of the property management industry, for companies such as Greystar and Ambling Management Company.

Tim has 20+ years’ experience in hospitality, commercial, residential leased & freehold portfolios, plus global experience in portfolio management.

Before Yugo, Tim led national operations for Unilodge, driving operational standards, revenue generation and managing key stakeholder relationships with Owners and Universities.

In 2021, Abby led the launch of Yugo as the first global student housing operator. She now is pivotal in brand development, keeping students’ needs at the core of all we do.

Before joining Yugo, she held global leaderships positions in the TUI group, and has worked across the hospitality and media industries focusing on rapid growth and digital transformation.

Ed plays a key role in our continued growth as a business, leading our IT team with a combination of business acumen and technical agility. He brings many years’ experience in running transformational projects, driving change and innovation, and successfully building tech systems within the student housing sector.

Before Yugo, he spent over 17 years with University Partnerships Programme (UPP).