Estates Gazette Property Podcasts

Investing Through Auctions: Creating dreams from the retail nightmare

Private investor Stephen Ashworth tells EG's Investing Through Auctions series why he has just taken the opportunity to buy his first shopping centre through Allsop, after years of investing in industrial and offices

Voice Of The Region: Suffolk – Opportunity sails in on east wind

The market in Suffolk has remained buoyant despite – and in some cases because of – the pandemic, but investment in and around the port of Felixstowe could be about to take things to a new level, says Penn Commercial founder and managing director Vanessa Penn.

Penn Commercial is the highest-placed regional agent in the Radius On Demand Rankings for Suffolk, with 70,000 sq ft of space transacted across a greater number of deals than anyone. Penn says the logistics sector around the county’s three ports and the A14 corridor has remained robust, in part due to companies providing PPE and food deliveries in response to the pandemic.

Penn expects this demand for industrial units to accelerate with the creation of a recently-approved freeport at Felixstowe and Harwich which will offer tax incentives for businesses to locate in the area. At the same time, the county is pioneering research into alternative energy and this is likely to have spin-off benefits for companies looking to develop the technology further.

She also expects Suffolk to benefit from London-based firms realising the need for satellite offices located nearer to workers who live within commuting distance of the capital.

Emma Pinkerton, Mark Reading and Brie Stevens-Hoare on diversity and inclusion in property law

In this latest episode of the EG Property Podcast, EG’s professional & legal editor Sarah Jackman is joined by three figures from the property law profession to explore diversity and inclusion in property law. They are barrister and Property Bar Association chair Brie Stevens-Hoare QC and Property Litigation Association members Emma Pinkerton, partner at CMS, and Mark Reading, legal director at Mishcon de Reya.

The conversation covers a range of issues from gender balance and ethnicity to talent retention and progression, as well as looking at the importance of culture, leadership and allyship within the workplace. Reading and Pinkerton highlight some initiatives utilised by their firms to broaden the talent pool, while Stevens-Hoare reflects on key things she’s learned about promoting inclusivity from her time as a board member at Freehold.

The trio conclude with their thoughts on where they would like to see the industry 10 years from now in relation to D&I. For Stevens-Hoare, it is: “Where we don’t have to have this conversation. Where we don’t have the labels, but the space just works and flexes for whoever everyone is and allows them to fulfil their potential. I think it's going to take more than 10 years, but that’s what I’d love.”

Talent: The evolution of in real life

With something approaching normality returning before the end of the summer, more and more of us will be headed back to our offices, setting up in real life meetings and remembering how to network in 4D and not in our slippers.

For many it will be a welcome return to after work drinks, pressing the flesh and building social capital through in person relationships. For others there may be anxiety about, an inability to or just no desire to return to the way things were.

In a sector where career progression has very much been based who you know, what will the sector need to do to make sure that in world that for the medium term at least looks set to be largely hybrid, everyone is offered the same opportunity to succeed?

In this episode of the EG Property Podcast, EG editor Samantha McClary sits down with Chenge Bobo, HR business partner at JLL, Zoe Cooke, HR business partner at Octopus Real Estate, Lauren Fendick, real estate partner & head of life sciences real estate group at Taylor Wessing and Briony Grant, asset manager at Oxford Properties to find out.

EG Like Sunday Morning: The unprecedented episode

Deputy editor Tim Burke and news editor Pui Guan-Man round-up the week, with a reckoning of real estate's eye-watering losses during the pandemic - and a special focus on how many times the word "unprecedented" features in annual results.

We catch up on rent arrears as the end of the moratorium draws near - and address what the industry hopes the government will do next.

But, after Sam McClary scored 5 out of 5 on last week's quiz, can Pui rise to the challenge and claim joint top spot on the leaderboard?

Law & Borders: Planning reform in Scotland

In the second episode of a three-part Law & Borders series focusing on Scottish real estate with partners from law firm Morton Fraser, Jess Harrold is joined by Rory Alexander, from the planning team, and Jonathan Seddon, from the construction team, to discuss the planning system north of the border.

Alexander and Seddon look at how planning has reacted to the challenges posed by Covid-19 in Scotland, and how that has affected the ongoing program of planning reform.

Topics include National Planning Framework 4, local place plans, the infrastructure levy, environmental targets - and more.

Talent: How to spend your apprenticeship levy pot

In this episode of the EG Property podcast, EG editor Samantha McClary is in conversation with Ros Goode from Avison Young to talk about talent.

The real estate industry offers some tremendous career opportunities but it is struggling to get that message across to a diverse group of potential future leaders.

Many firms operating in the sector have their own apprenticeship schemes in a bid to open up the industry to a wider talent base, but during the Covid pandemic, like many other sectors, has been unable to fully utilise their apprenticeship levy pots.

But there is a way that real estate can help create careers for people in both real estate-linked sectors and beyond - by gifting a proportion of their apprenticeship levy to SMEs through the London Progression Collaboration.

Avison Young signed up to the scheme in March last year and has taken a lot away from being involved in it.

Here Goode talks about how the scheme works and why real estate needs to be more joined up when it comes to bringing a wider selection of talented individuals into its workforce.

 

EG Like Sunday Morning: Refreshed, #REBooted and ready for a busy summer

Editor Samantha McClary joins Jess Harrold to review the week, beginning with an update on the roaring success so far of the #REBoot scheme encouraging those in real estate to donate computers that are no longer being used to ComputerAid, with the aim of benefiting underprivileged school children across the country. We're proud of what we've achieved so far, but looking to do even better. To find out more about how to donate and logistics, contact Keith Sonnet at Computer Aid (keith@computeraid.org) , quoting the #REBoot hashtag.

In addition, McClary braces for a busy summer for real estate, with plenty of deals in the pipeline - and lots of work in store for property lawyers, with landlord and tenant disputes on the rise.

The future of work, UK cities and more get a mention... but it's all a precursor for Sam's big shot at greatness in the quiz of the week.

Resi Talks: The rise of rooftop development

New policy, ongoing demand for affordable housing and a lack of land in city centres all point to a rise in rooftop development.

Last year, the government introduced a new permitted development right to allow two-storey residential extension on top of existing buildings. This type of development can fund wider refurbishment and fire safety measures, with scope to provide 180,000 new homes in London alone.

But still, resident backlash, a misunderstanding of the industry and complex construction requirements pose a challenge.

In this podcast, EG's residential editor Emma Rosser is joined by councillor Stephanie Cryan, cabinet member for council homes and homelessness at Southwark Council; Arthur Kay, founder and chief executive of Skyroom and Phillippa Prongué, chief operating officer at Apex Airspace.

The group discuss the potential for airspace development and what is needed for this to scale.

Law & Borders: The impact of Covid-19 on Scottish real estate

Beginning a three-part Law & Borders series on Scottish real estate, Jess Harrold speaks to Jonathan Seddon and Alan Stewart, partners at Morton Fraser, on how the pandemic has affected the market in Scotland.

Seddon and Stewart take a sector-by-sector approach, discussing the impact on offices, retail, logistics, residential, student accommodation and more.

Further episodes in the series will focus on planning in Scotland and the future of investment.