It is a reasonably safe bet, if you follow the mould in real estate, that over the past decade or so you’ve done a reasonable amount of your networking on a golf course or riding a bike.
For those that found themselves nodding at the “riding a bike”, you’ll most probably have heard of Club Peloton, the Cycle to MIPIM, Cycle to Mapic and more recently PedElle and Explore. You might have taken part in one or more of those rides. And, you’ll definitely have raised funds for charity through them if you have taken part. But how much do you really know about what Club Peloton is, how it is working hard to do its bit in transforming the real estate sector and how you can play your part – on or off the bike?
EG caught up with Argent joint managing partner Nick Searl, who has been chair of the Club Peloton charity for the past six years, Nick Hanmer, chief executive of Club Peloton (main picture), and Sarah Cary, executive director for place at Enfield Council, who is preparing to take over as chair, to find out a little bit more about Club Peloton, behind the rides.
Club Peloton was born in 2006 with the first Cycle to MIPIM (or Cycle to Cannes as it was known then), an industry ride that raised money for charity and saw people from across the real estate sector don their Lycra and pedal their way from London to Cannes in the south of France for the annual MIPIM property conference.
The event will ride again in 2022 after having to cancel its 2020 ride last minute due to the outbreak of Covid (scores of cyclist still did the 1,500km distance, even without the promise of a Cannes style welcome), and switched it to an individual challenge to complete 1,500 somethings – kilometres, hours, metres of elevation – etc over 15 weeks to raise money for charity.
Anyone who has cycled with Club Peloton will know that the experience is like no other. This is a group of people who know how to put on a great cycling experience. The Club Peloton staff and volunteers look after every person like they are a pro rider.
A club with purpose
But Club Peloton is more than a cycle events producer, says chief executive Hanmer.
“We’re a charity. Many people may think we’re not, but we are a charity,” he says. “We like to think of ourselves as the real estate cycling community with all of our grants going towards transforming the lives of vulnerable young kids.
“We’ve got a very clear remit about what we do. We like to bring people together from all walks of life within the industry, all abilities on their bikes. So, whether they ride road bikes, mountain bikes, commute to work, pootle around at the weekend with their kids, everyone is welcome.”
It really is a club with a purpose. To bring people together and to raise money. Since its launch, it has raised some £4.5m for charity.
For Argent’s Searl, who as well as being outgoing chairman has been a trustee of the charity for some eight years, it is the inclusivity drive that is really important for the future of Club Peloton. And he says that the growth of the membership of Club Peloton is enabling that inclusivity.
“It’s giving us an opportunity to bring together an ever broader network of people from this amazing industry that we’re all in to not only ride their bikes together, but to network on and off the bike,” says Searl. “There is a lot of work to be done to make it more inclusive – cycling still has its challenges on that front – but everything’s really positively heading in the right direction.”
And guiding that direction is a new chair in the form of Enfield Council’s Cary who, with Hanmer, is on the hunt for a collection of new trustees to the charity.
Cary says the charity is looking for trustees who want to help it increase and diversify its membership, increase the variety of events it puts on – she cites the launch of Explore this year which combined a range of different cycling styles with the opportunity to learn more about real estate’s role in climate change – and, of course, expand its fundraising and the impact it has.
“You’ve got to be someone who wants to ride your bike in interesting ways,” says Cary, adding with a smile, “we’re very flexible about what kind of bike, though. But you’ve got to be someone who loves riding the bike and wants to do events around that with people they know through work and perhaps their personal lives as well. That passion for cycling as a sport is really important.
Broadening horizons
“We also want trustees who recognise the benefits of getting to know people from across the industry. I’ve always felt that making really good places, you’re never going to just have an architect, you need to have really good, thoughtful people who are in the finance side, who are on planning, who are in legal. And actually, what we’re looking for in trustees are people who really value that multi-disciplinary aspect to real estate and who want to help make those connections.”
“That breadth is important because that’s where the networking really, really starts to work,” adds Searl. “If it’s just architects talking to architects or contractors talking to contractors, that’s only so interesting. It’s far more interesting as a conversation and beneficial as a business network when you get the breadth.”
And it is those vital connections, across disciplines, that make the Club Peloton community so powerful in terms of the businesses it can reach for its fundraising activities but also in the connections its members can make, often for personal and professional gain.
“I feel like I’ve grown up with Club Peloton,” says Cary. “When my job was to influence around environmental sustainability or social impacts, which are not always first nature to the real estate industry, being able to speak the language of a legal team or of an architect because I’d spent enough time on the bike with similar people has definitely given me an edge in my career.”
“I could probably put down a promotion or two to some of the contacts that I’ve made,” adds Cary. “That’s one of the things that’s attractive about Club Peloton. It is not just the members, it’s actually that I’ve developed personally by spending time with people on the bike and I really encourage people of all ages to come and take part in the rides.”
To listen to this conversation in full, download Behind the rides: What being part of the Club Peloton family really means from the EG Property Podcast (available on all good podcasts players) and visit Club Peloton for more details about how to become a trustee.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
