I worked at Bruntwood for 25 years and a lot of that time I spent reinventing buildings, so taking predominantly 60s and 70s buildings, but some period buildings, which were deemed to have reached the end of their useful life. Rather than flattening we looked at how they could be brought back into meaningful use that actually met with customer demands, which I really enjoyed and over time developed a real capability with. But as the business grew and the shareholding changed we started to be involved in delivering new build.

I hit a point where the business was going in a direction that didn’t meet with my personal ambitions. Kate Lawlor was the CEO and I was the Chief Development Officer, and we took the decision that we’d set up HERE and do it ourselves. HERE very much has a focus on reimagining existing buildings and looking to reinvent them by recycling them. I know in London there’s a bit of a planning push to look at recycling rather than demolishing buildings, but in the regions that’s less pronounced. I very much enjoy the challenge of reinvention and I’d probably hit an age where it was now or never.

We’re working with clients to successfully recycle buildings or we’ve got access to funding that allows us to do it ourselves. At the moment there are a lot of buildings that currently have income but don’t perform well from an energy perspective. There’s an expectation that they’ll become redundant either because of regulations or from a customer expectation perspective. Quite often it’s contingent on the expectations of the workforce, which is increasingly focused on authentic social responsibility.

How does social responsibility translate into workplace design?
In terms of physical space it’s about accessibility and inclusivity, which have become more of a focus over recent years. But it’s less about the physical environment, and more about looking at what you can deliver to the wider community, whether you’re delivering a building or a campus or a masterplan. And looking at things like procurement and supply chain and apprenticeships and finding ways to be part of the solution to the skills shortage rather than somebody that cannibalises others and takes what they can. Lots of developers are looking at ways to open people’s eyes to the roles and jobs that exist in the industry, and looking at what they can do to facilitate their skills. Degree apprenticeships are a fantastic way of giving people opportunities to earn as they learn. I did a sandwich degree way back when and I learnt way more in my year in commerce than in my three years sitting in lecture theatres.

What made you want to be BCO President?
From about 2012 to 2017 I was involved in the national judging process for the BCO Awards, and I found it really rewarding and stimulating. It certainly helped with my day job. And it was about giving time voluntarily to play a part in an initiative that I hope broadens people’s horizons on what good looks like. It’s easy to work in an industry and not really give anything back. I suppose in life there are people who observe stuff and people who like to get things done. It’s very easy to be part of a membership organisation and think there are ways it could do things better, but I’d rather try and make things happen myself.

At this point in time technology, environmental requirements and the focus on social value are all giving rise to a real change in how individual projects, masterplans and campus projects are being thought about, so I just want to support the organisation through that because I do think events such as this are great in terms of providing a forum for people to share knowledge and showcase what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and to share their expertise and successes. There is a real social side to it to. It’s a great place to network and make contacts and broaden horizons. There are 800 people here who seem to be having a good time.

And I do hope people give money to our charity (the 2024 BCO Conference charity partner is The Brain Tumour Charity). Fifty people cycled here from Newcastle. It would have been fine if it had been a lovely warm sunny day, but all of them looked like their hands had been in the bath too long, and were mucky with road grit. And part of the reason they sign up for it is that there’s a hope it raises money for charity. I know for the Midlands team, because they lost one of their friends and colleagues a year ago to a brain tumour, it’s a really pertinent charity. We are all vulnerable and it’s all part of that process of giving back and not just taking. As an industry the development and property industry hasn’t had the best of reputations and most people outside the industry probably look in and think it’s very avaricious, which again I find distressing because I think if we do what we do well we have a real opportunity to benefit society. One of our challenges is to make the industry more representative of the society we’re developing projects into and for.