EDITOR’S COMMENT I honestly don’t know where to begin this week. The issues throughout this week’s edition of EG offer plenty to prompt me to puff out my chest and make a big statement on.
Chief among them is the story you will read on the opening pages of The Market. It is a story that will shock but I dare say not surprise you. It is a story that you should spend time reading and reflecting on. A story that all of us, media included, need to work very hard, together, to make sure we don’t have to write again.
The words on our lead story and again on our in-depth report are much more powerful and insightful than anything I could write here, so I’ll just direct you there.
I’d especially direct the two new recruits that we have welcomed to the UK property market this week to those pieces as it is them, as part of the incoming new guard of real estate, that will be vital in driving forward and delivering change.
I, for one, am really excited to see what insights Sawrwjit Sambhi is going to bring to St Modwen and just how Rita-Rose Gagné is going to turn Hammerson’s fortunes around.
What will a man with almost 20 years in the energy sector have learnt that he can bring over to real estate? Will we see a bigger, better focus on the customer? Will we see regeneration as a service? And what might he bring to the company and sector as they grapple with the challenges of sustainability?
And what of Gagné? Raised in Quebec City with English as her first language, but often speaking more French than English, beginning her career as a lawyer and spending almost two decades in private practice before moving over to one of Canada’s biggest real estate investors and being the seventh of eight kids, one thing we can be sure of with Hammerson’s incoming new boss is that she will be resilient and adaptable.
A dig into her background reveals that she believes hard work is a prerequisite for success, that balance is vital (Friday night through to Sunday morning are non-work-focused), a view she’ll share with new boss Rob Noel who says the week is for shareholders and the weekend for family). She also believes that it is good, strong and meaningful partnerships that will ultimately deliver results.
There is a collective changing of the guard across some of the biggest propcos in the UK that could just see the kind of shift in behaviours – and, dare I say it, of perception – that the sector has been threatening for some time.
These unprecedented times (I know it is an overused phrase) are creating an unprecedented opportunity to do things differently.
These could be the times when a new breed of real estate CEOs – Simon Carter at British Land, Mark Allan at Landsec, Rita-Rose Gagné at Hammerson, Dan Labbad at the Crown Estate, James Raynor at the Grosvenor Estate, Lynda Shillaw at Harworth, Sawrwjit Sambhi at St Modwen, and Shobi Khan at Canary Wharf Group (and any more that get added to the list as the trend continues) – get to truly make their mark and open up the world of real estate and all that it can, does and should do, to everyone.
A small but important side note and favour. EG is running two very important surveys at the moment and we would love your insight and help sharing them with the wider real estate community. The first is a looking into how the real estate sector is faring from a mental health perspective. Last year’s results revealed some worrying trends but ignited some really important conversations. Our mental health has never been more important, so please do take five minutes to fill in the survey: www.egi.co.uk/news/eg-launches-second-mental-health-survey
And, if you are a Radius subscriber we’re keen to find out more about how you use data and real estate information services. For every survey completed, we’ll donate £5 to charity. Take part at https://rbi.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cN16SQhbPJisNOR
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
