Real estate: the sociable sector

This article was written for EG’s Starting Out in Real Estate guide, click here to view the digital edition >> COMMENT Real estate is a very much a “people business” that’s not just about building buildings, but relationships too. In such a vast industry there is an incredible range of career opportunities available – from planning and development and construction to finance, media and law. All of them are deeply interconnected and dependent on strong relationships between people from a number of backgrounds. More so than in other industries, real estate has a strong link with the physical world – by its nature, creating spaces and opportunities that bring people together. It’s an extremely sociable sector and people are constantly coming together to network, do business and coalesce over shared challenges such as decarbonisation and diversity, equality and inclusion. Network, network, network But it’s not all business – there’s also plenty of fun on offer and a great social life too. In March, I took part in the annual Cycle to MIPIM – real estate’s largest conference in France which is attended by thousands of property people from all over the world. It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet new clients and develop professional networks – and an excellent example of the many industry events and activities to get involved with. You might not expect law firms to be particularly social places but at Maples Teesdale, putting people first has been key to our success for more than a hundred years. We understand the value of being connected and curate regular events to bring people together – from art exhibitions and networking dinners for our clients and industry peers, to our monthly “classic album” club where we come together, listen to great music and chat as we vote for our favourite tunes. Bringing people together Although the pandemic and “drift to digital” is creating much more flexibility about how, where and when people work, I believe that being together in person has never been more important. It’s about so much more than networking, business development or even just socialising – bringing people together keeps our industry moving forward so innovation and new ideas can emerge. Bringing in new talent Thankfully, real estate is very well served by some fantastic, sociably minded industry bodies that create plenty of opportunities for property people to get together – particularly younger people at the start of their careers: BPF Futures, the ULI’s Young Leaders programme and Real Estate Balance’s NextGen committee, to name but a few. Whereas previously the industry tended to be dominated by senior men and this was the only place where networking opportunities were available, this has been turned on its head and there are far more activities for people of all backgrounds, ages and levels of experience. The industry is waking up to the fact that senior leaders need to work alongside young talent in order to nurture the leaders of tomorrow. For example, I was pleased to recently attend Real Estate Balance’s annual conference, where senior leaders could only attend if they brought a younger professional from their organisation along with them. I’m delighted to be able to say that real estate is a business with a genuine sense of community. There are literally limitless opportunities for connecting with other people; clients and colleagues quickly become friends and it’s certainly never boring. It’s an industry that truly has people at its heart and understands the value of bringing them together – from the profusion of conferences and seminars, to sporting events and charity fundraisers. Often the only difficult thing is deciding where to dive in first. Paul Burke is managing partner at Maples Teesdale View the digital edition of Starting Out in Real Estate >> Photo © Maples Teesdale