EDITOR’S COMMENT I’ve pondered long and hard on what to write this week. I should, of course, write about the election, but I can’t. Not because I still don’t really have a clue what to write (although that is true), but because as I tap away on my keyboard, we are still at the polling stations and as you read this those votes will have been counted and our fate will be clear.
So instead, and because this is our last physical edition of EG for 2019 – we’ll still be active digitally, so do keep logging on to egi.co.uk/news – I thought I’d pen a little letter to Father Christmas, a list of the naughties and nices – or highs and lows – of 2019.
It’s been a year, hasn’t it? It definitely has for me. Taking over as editor of EG has been an incredible honour. And, if I’m entirely honest with you – which hopefully you’ll have realised by now I certainly strive to be – it has been a lot tougher than I imagined. It’s a big responsibility, especially when you feel so passionate about the work that we do and the role that we play in the industry.
But I’m oh so proud of all that we’ve done so far: the Future Leaders project, which has resonated with so many in the industry and highlighted the phenomenal talent in the built environment; our work around real estate’s role in saving the planet through our sustainability and social impact projects; the mental health edition we produced last month, which highlighted this very real and pressing issue facing our sector; and the breaking news, data, analysis and interviews we provide on a daily basis.
So, I’m totally putting Team EG on my nice list.
Many in the industry too have proved to be “nice” this year. Across the industry we have seen support for finding solutions to the climate emergency, with firms managing billions of pounds of assets publicly committing to getting their portfolios in order and getting to net zero carbon by 2050 or before.
In April, property united against the Sultan of Brunei’s hideous anti-LGBT laws – the first time we have seen big names in the industry publicly pull support from a potential client and put ethics and their people first.
People and purpose are fast becoming as powerful words as profit in this sector and it’s a beautiful thing to see, so for this Samta (see what I did there?), anyone who has delivered on those two elements is definitely on the nice list.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, of course. The year has had its dark moments too. Indeed, you may well be reading this in a new dark moment.
There has been continuing uncertainty as the shambles that is/was Brexit has left the industry in limbo (Boris is definitely on my naughty list, FYI), retail has continued to cause headaches, job losses, fund redemptions and valuation tumbles, and while WeWork’s Adam Neumann has been the dream for many of us journalists, he has been a nightmare for investors and scores of (former) WeWork employees.
Overall though, my nice list is most definitely longer than my naughty list and I’m not sure that is something I would have been able to say even just a few years ago. This little world in which we operate is always going to have to deal with some negative impacts, it is too connected to the economy, politics and people to escape all the challenges thrown at us. But, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here, something has fundamentally changed in this sector and while the perception of real estate from the outside in still leaves a lot to be desired, the perception from the inside out is changing for the better and that, for me at least, is a pretty strong place to start.
Happy holidays.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
