Lockdown diaries: Alex Notay

Alex Notay is placemaking and investment director at PfP Capital, co-chair of Creative Land Trust and a board member of LandAid SW, Essensys and Sound Diplomacy. She shares her day on Monday 16 November from her home in Bristol, progressing site acquisitions, overseeing castle negotiations and dancing in the kitchen. Before Covid-19 I was frequently on a 5am train. That dark commute is not something I miss hugely, but sadly my six-year-old daughter Seraphina remains a defiantly early riser. At 4.53am I’m woken by a distinctive crash as the Lego castle we had painstakingly built all day yesterday is destroyed. Still in bed, I swiftly scroll through e-mails, research reports and social media, which I know I’m not supposed to do, but makes me feel on top of things. I keep half an ear on a forthright negotiation between Barbie and Mr Potato Head for the freehold of what’s left of the Lego castle. Today doesn’t feature a pre-dawn call with overseas investors so I could squeeze in some exercise. But frankly, it’s a freezing, grey Monday and, although I have found running to be crucial to my sanity, I chicken out of braving the cold. Instead, I steer my daughter through last-minute homework, breakfast and the school run before launching into some morning calls from 8.30am. I touch base with our lawyers on the progress of a site acquisition and our marketing team on some website updates, and have a quick “cheerleader” call with one of my mentees, who has a job interview later in the day. At 10am I dash out for a walking meeting with Rachael Sherratt, project manager at JLL and current chair of Women in Property South West. We manage a few loops of Queen Square, laughing at the memory of dragging our screaming children through a hailstorm around that same square for the LandAid QuaranTEN. After brainstorming speaker ideas for a forthcoming WiPSW event, I have somehow committed to meeting Rachael for an early morning run.  Back to my screens for an 11am prep call for a British Property Federation webinar on ESG. Institutional commercial property has been grappling with sustainability for years, but a focus within residential property portfolios is relatively recent. The horrific impacts of the Grenfell tragedy and Covid-19 are driving greater focus on good governance and tangible social impact, not just environmental metrics. Since July I’ve been chairing a BPF working group on ESG and residential, which has highlighted many of the complexities of trying to standardise measurement across hugely different and granular portfolios that are also people’s homes. Not being able to see the audience is really tough on these webinars, but there’s so much great content I am confident we can keep the session engaging. After a quick lunch and appropriately inspired, I work on the revised ESG strategy for PfP Capital. Next I have calls with my MD Chris Jones and FD John Tatham to ensure we are prepped for a board call the next day, then with our development managers at PfP igloo and PfP Cubex. I really miss seeing all these guys in person but there’s still plenty of banter. We’re now live! Chair @aknotay kicks off our ESG webinar alongside speakers @Lovell_Jon, @Hillbreak_Ltd, Katherine Sherwin, @blackrock and Stuart Burrows, @cabinetofficeuk pic.twitter.com/zhUkGn4bXA — BPF (@BritProp) November 18, 2020 At 3.30pm I switch metaphorical hats to charity trustee and co-chair for a call with my Creative Land Trust co-chair Cath Webster and our chief executive Gordon Seabright. The charity is making great progress on securing our first buildings to provide secure, affordable workspace for artists in London. Last week we had a virtual strategy day with our whole board and it’s a chance to check in on the feedback, which is pleasingly positive. I’m spared PM school-run duty, so I start work on some investor presentations for next week. We are always refining how we tell our story, and in such a fast-moving market that is critical. I love pitching and am really excited about the new opportunities we’re working on within our Urban Transformations Partnership. As a proud urbanist geek, I’m thrilled to get a new book in the post, Broken Homes by Peter Bill and Jackie Sadek, signed by the great lady herself. I add it to my quiet day reading list pile, which is growing worryingly large. Pre-Covid I used to travel a lot and loved long journeys to read uninterrupted – I haven’t managed to generate the headspace in lockdown to do the same.  I adopt a bit of “do as I say, not as I do” for my 6pm group mentoring session where two mentees are struggling with their workload. After a quick snuggle with my daughter for bedtime stories, I resist the call of my wine rack – it is only Monday – but I look forward to the next UrbanMamas Zoom drinks on Thursday. These professional women juggling young children and ambitious, challenging careers have become my closest confidantes through this strange year, and laughing with them through our chats has kept me going. For this evening, I return to social media and check in with a few friends living in the US and Australia. I have a bit of a dance around the kitchen while attempting to batch-cook some vaguely healthy meals before bedtime with The World Tonight on Radio 4.