EDITOR’S COMMENT I don’t mind admitting that I returned to my desk this week feeling more downbeat than I’d expected.
That “desk” remains a table in my children’s playroom – and, despite the news of Covid-19 vaccine roll-outs that buoyed us at the tail end of last year, it feels like I’ll be here for some weeks and months yet. Another lockdown begins and another round of haphazard home schooling awaits (I did not miss my calling by choosing a career other than teaching).
But as the week went on and we put this first issue of the year together, stories kept jumping out at me that showed the potential amid the problems.
Stories like Cubex co-founder Gavin Bridge striking out on his own to establish Spatia, his new development company. “Everything is changing,” Bridge says. “For a disruptive developer looking for opportunities and working with new partners, it is a great time.”
Or SevenCapital’s push to make a mark in the London residential market with the hire of former Berkeley man Angus Michie. “There do appear to have been quite a few relatively high-profile exits from the housebuilders and some of the old guard,” Michie says. “We think there is definitely room for another entrant in the market.”
Or India’s Lodha raising £100m to plough into luxury residential in London, with UK finance director Ab Shome telling us that the capital “will recover” from the many challenges it faces.
And stories like our epic canvassing of EG’s Rising Stars and Future Leaders from the past five years for their views on the future of real estate.
It’s a must-read if you want to know (and who doesn’t?) what the brightest up-and-comers in real estate think about the industry outlook, the biggest catalysts for change and who will influence the direction of travel the most in the next five years.
These are individuals and companies committed to taking a lead as we map out a new way to work and the role that real estate plays in it. Turning the deluge of data companies have at their virtual fingertips into something of value. Making a focus on ESG more than a box-ticking exercise. Doing more than paying lip-service to the promise of proptech and finding genuine ways in which it can make our lives easier.
If, like me, you came into the new year feeling like you needed a little pep talk, then the words of more than 50 of the industry’s next leaders is the ultimate. I would challenge anyone to read those views and not come away feeling fired up and ready to tackle whatever 2021 throws their way.
And so by the time I sat down to write this first leader column of the year, I felt a lot more hopeful about what the months ahead will hold and the real estate industry’s ability to effect change, learn lessons and grasp the opportunities.
And you know what? Maybe this playroom/office will do for a little while yet. I asked the kids to help me out with some new pictures for the wall and, alongside a family portrait, was given a nine-year-old’s equivalent of a motivational meme from LinkedIn – “You can do this”.
Real estate, I reckon we can.
To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette
