Credit where it’s due: MIPIM tackles industry problems
MIPIM 2018: This year’s MIPIM was all about diversity, with a massive focus on gender.
Plaudits are due to the London Festival of Architecture’s Elephant Campaign (the lack of visible women in our industry is “the elephant in the room”) which was smart, attention-grabbing and sassy. Others too have been working at this relentlessly and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Step forward Women in Property – it’s great to see their hard work finally paying off. Samantha McClary of this magazine (and many others), with ReWire, has successfully captured other parts of the sector.
MIPIM 2018: This year’s MIPIM was all about diversity, with a massive focus on gender.
Plaudits are due to the London Festival of Architecture’s Elephant Campaign (the lack of visible women in our industry is “the elephant in the room”) which was smart, attention-grabbing and sassy. Others too have been working at this relentlessly and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Step forward Women in Property – it’s great to see their hard work finally paying off. Samantha McClary of this magazine (and many others), with ReWire, has successfully captured other parts of the sector.
The magnificent Deborah Cadman, chief executive of WMCA, is leading dynamic and hugely positive change in the Midlands, working with mayor Andy Street and others (it was my MIPIM highlight to begin a conversation with Deborah around innovative housing projects for the Midlands).
My colleague in MHCLG, Rachel Fisher, is co-founder of Urbanistas, a network for women in urban regeneration, which has been hugely successful. And the British Property Federation has been showing the way yet again, not least by having had a female chief executive for over 15 years, but also by hosting excellent MIPIM events on the gender issue facing the industry.
These, and many other groups and individuals too numerous to mention, deserve our heartfelt thanks.
Of course, actions speak louder than words. It is all very well knowing what needs to change but how to go about changing it? A very good example was set by the London stand and many other regions this year in terms of representation of women on panels.
Hats off again to Andy Street, who refuses to appear on platforms unless the panels are at least 50% women (a decision he had broadcast some months ago). In an inspirational address, Paul Brundage of Oxford Properties told those stalwarts (who had found their way there in the pouring rain) at the BPF Diversity Round Table afternoon tea that he would encourage his 13-year-old daughter to join our industry “provided we are not still having these discussions in 10 years’ time”.
The BPF is now on a mission to beg, steal and borrow methodology from other industry sectors as to how to further promote women in our industry. And that can only be a good thing.
It is a joy for me to be able report that the government agency I work for, Homes England, is more than playing its part. Our chief executive, Nick Walkley, goes to great lengths to champion the cause of women – you only have to look at his Twitter feed for proof of that.
Senior women, in both local and national government, readily testify to the strong support Walkley has personally given to help them climb the ladder.
Led by Sir Edward Lister, Homes England chair, the agency is committed to the diversity agenda, to a woman and a man.
There is more to do but we are determined to combat the gender pay gap and we know that the more appreciative we can be of family commitments for both our male and female staff, the longer they will stay with us.
Of course, it does help that Homes England has been recently refocused to explicitly encourage innovation and modernisation in the way that homes are delivered throughout the UK.
Embracing the need for diversity in the workforce is logically coherent with the rest of our modernising programme. After so many years of wading through treacle, it is totally invigorating to be part of this.
What I witnessed last week at MIPIM was a real turning point. There is now a universal acceptance that the property industry has to change. It was refreshing that I did not encounter any resistance at all. In fact, what I saw last week was a property industry ready and willing.
Furthermore, on countless occasions throughout MIPIM I was told by delegates in the private sector that they were grateful for the example shown by government – in all its forms.
There is much to do, but what an exciting time to be doing it.
Louise Wyman MRICS MLA is head of strategy at Homes England, a member of the planning committee of the London Legacy Development Corporation and design ambassador for Harvard University.
Follow Wyman on Twitter.
