What’s your involvement with the BCO and what do you get out of it?
I’m a former Chair of the Midlands NextGen committee and I’m still a committee member. Helping to orchestrate building tours, talks and seminars helped to build my confidence in networking in my own career, and my involvement with the BCO continues to build my professional network as well as my general knowledge of and awareness of the office market.

Why is it important for the NextGen to have a voice in the industry?
The clue is in the name. We’re the next gen! We need to be designing and planning for future generations to ensure our cities don’t become stagnant. So instead of looking at what the here and now wants and needs, look to the younger generations. See what technologies, spaces and principles they have in higher education settings, and what they expect and want out of their working lives. The BCO NextGen membership is a great place to start. Arguably it has a more diverse cohort of membership and so, in turn, represents our cities much better.

Can you tell us a little about your day job?
I’m an associate at Associated Architects in Birmingham, working predominantly in the commercial sector, and am part of the practice’s CSR committee. I’m currently on site with 19 Cornwall Street for Kier Property Ltd – a retrofit of almost  140,000 sqft in the heart of Birmingham’s Business District that is designed to be net zero in operation and will give the Cornwall Street façade a new identity. A lot of our work is landlord based, looking at decarbonisation strategies for buildings, looking at the repositioning and reinvention of existing buildings with some elements of end user fitout. We are currently working with Praxis looking at a number of buildings across the Brindley Place estate.

What are your impressions of the Birmingham office market?
In the last few years there have been a number of really good-quality, hugely successful new buildings which, along with some high-quality refurbs, have driven the headline rents. There’s very much a flight to quality. We’ve seen a steady stream of enquiries from occupiers who are reassessing the amount of space they need. They’re looking for less space, but better quality, in a better location and with high sustainability credentials. The longer-term pipeline for new build is dwindling. We’re securing a lot more retrofit work from landlords who can no longer get away with a new carpet and a lick of paint, and require much deeper interventions to improve the quality and align with occupiers’ ESG targets. According to the UK Green Building Council 80% of all the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built, and with the Government’s net zero targets there’s little justification that can be made to prioritise new build over retrofit or refurb.

What evidence are you seeing of the growing occupier demand for ESG and how is your company addressing this?
Pretty much every brief we get has ESG on the top line. Five years ago it would have been there, but it would have been line four or five. From an occupier’s perspective 50% of the interview panel reviewing proposals are ESG specialists, so it’s clearly at the top of the agenda. In the past ‘Environment’ has been the main emphasis of ‘ESG’ but people are starting to pay more attention to the S and G – Social and Governance – which is important in creating meaningful and lasting change.