EDITOR’S COMMENT The time has come to start thinking seriously about what kind of footwear to sport at this year’s EG Awards, as today we reveal who will be going head-to-head to pick up one of the 21 awards we’ll be handing out on 2 November at the biggest and best bash of the year in your property calendar.
The volume and calibre of entries we receive every year always surprises me. There is so much talent and passion in this industry. I’d love to be able to give everyone a coveted EG Award, but there can only be one winner (well, 21 winners, but you know what I mean.)
What I can do is say congratulations to absolutely everyone who entered and shared their pride in their own businesses and what they are delivering.
Reading through the many hundreds of entries builds my confidence that this industry is a sector that is bringing about change in our built environment, a sector that cares about the places and spaces it develops and occupies, and that wants to do better. A sector that can do better. A sector that is doing better.
What was particularly encouraging this year was the growth in entries for our sustainability and social impact awards. These two categories were by far the most popular of those open to entry. What was most encouraging was that these were full of meaningful entries. The dozens of businesses that entered were showing what they were actually doing to help solve the climate challenge that real estate plays such a huge role in, instead of just talking about plans and targets. This was action.
And in the social impact category, judges could actually feel the difference so many of our entries talked about making. Here, in this category, there were reams and reams of solutions and actions that were fixing the many inequalities there are in this country, in our businesses and in our towns and cities. This was real estate taking ownership of its power to effect change and doing something with that power. It gave me the tingles. I love it.
You’ll see that our shortlists for these two categories are a little longer than the average, reflecting just how hard it was for our judges to select potential winners. Even those that didn’t make the cut impressed. Well done real estate.
Further inspiration and hope came when poring through all the entries to our Future of Real Estate and Rising Star awards. If ever you have a moment where you worry about the direction of travel the sector is going in, if you ever think that the industry is lacking in talent, I encourage you to look to all the firms and individuals shortlisted for these awards – although you’ll have to wait until EG’s 10 September issue for our big reveal of this year’s Rising Stars.
We’re going to be all right, you know. There are businesses out there that are solving today’s problems so the sector can thrive tomorrow and there are so many inspiring young people out there, who are elegantly carrying the weight of having to find those solutions to the problems we have caused and getting on and delivering change.
Couple all of that with the excellence in service we see through those shortlisted for our advisory, legal, deal and employer categories and I couldn’t agree more with judge (and SEGRO chief executive) David Sleath. We are working in an exciting and dynamic industry. You should be proud. I am.
Congratulations to everyone and good luck to those shortlisted.
Now all I have to do is find shoes that are just as exciting and dynamic as you.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
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