Just starting out? The future’s bright

rewireThe property industry is a great place to work but I can understand why young people starting out in real estate, such as those I met at the Sociable Surveyors awards in September, might think there’s a hard road ahead. As well as winning a charity auction to hijack this page (hopefully the editor will still think this was a good idea), I saw a group of hugely talented and focused professionals trying to work out what their futures might hold, five weeks after the EU referendum. Two months later, there is no doubt that UK real estate has been dealt a new set of cards to play. Are they good ones? The new rules of the game have yet to be decided and a new vocabulary of Brexit has sprung up to fill the gap. We’ve had ‘hard Brexit’, ‘soft Brexit’, ‘slow Brexit’, BEANO (that’s “Brexit Existing As Name Only”), a “dog’s Brexit” (to be avoided) and, strangely, “dirty Brexit”, which I’m happy not to know the meaning of at all. Whatever happens, it is important it happens fast. We need stability to give certainty to overseas investors, not just in real estate, but in the UK as a whole, and to provide a framework in which UK businesses can act. The range of global risk factors with potential to affect the market mean 2017 could be an exacting year. To thrive, we must be agile, resourceful and play to our strengths. Surveyors are still sociable Another reason real estate is a great place to work, and one that hasn’t changed throughout my time in the industry, is the camaraderie. The best surveyors have a personal touch that can’t be replaced by an algorithm. You can see it in the luncheon clubs and alumni associations. And new networks, physical and virtual, are springing up as the industry evolves – REWIRE, Freehold and Women in Property are all great examples. We all have a responsibility to embrace this change. We must become more diverse and inclusive to draw in as much talent as we can, to discourage group think and to better reflect, and serve, our clients. Giving less privileged people access to real estate is something I’ve pushed for throughout my career, which is why we’re proud supporters of Pathways to Property, Changing the Face of Property and the Reading Real Estate Foundation. And it’s why Sociable Surveyors makes an important contribution, giving a leg up to talented youngsters based on their own merit through its global internship programme. So, the advice I gave in September was to work hard, build your network and embrace change. And enjoy it. We’re lucky to have such dynamic and rewarding jobs. We should be ambassadors for real estate, with government, business, and in the cities where we work. This is why Land Aid, the property industry charity that took the fee for this column, is so important. It is a superb organisation whose mission to end youth homelessness is one I’m proud to see the industry support. And it is an example of how, together as an industry, we can achieve great things. The future for those starting a career in real estate is a bright one. • John Slade is UK chief executive at BNP Paribas Real Estate