British Council for Offices backs next generation in Midlands

A MEMBERSHIP organisation representing the office industry across the UK has launched its first group for the promotion of upcoming Midlands talent.

The British Council for Offices, which this year celebrated its 20th anniversary, created a NextGen committee for London last year to nurture the industry’s rookie recruits in the early stages of their career.

The Midlands is the first region to adopt the approach outside the capital and last night it was officially launched at an event in Brindleyplace, Birmingham.

Around 80 guests heard Gary Taylor, joint managing director of Argent (UK Developments) which manages Brindleyplace, speak about the history of the mixed-use estate, its future and wider development issues affecting Birmingham.

The launch comes just a week ahead of the BCO’s annual awards dinner which features four regional winners from Birmingham among the projects vying for a national prize.

The NextGen committee’s first chairman is James Hall, from Associated Architects in Birmingham whose offices are nominated for the ‘Best Project up to 2,000m²’ award.

He said: “We are delighted to be the BCO’s first region outside of London to launch the NextGen committee.

“We aim to mentor the new generation of leading professionals in the sector and the turnout at the event last night event is testimony to the appetite that exists for a group like this in the Midlands.

“We look forward to delivering a range of seminars and debates to encourage opportunities for NextGen members across the Midlands area to network with other disciplines outside of their own area of specialism.”

BCO NextGen says it will organise a full calendar of seminars and networking events for young professionals in the commercial property industry.