Real estate and construction sectors ‘showing resilience’

The real estate and construction sector is experiencing resilience but needs to focus on skills and the next generation to deliver the major infrastructure projects of the future, according to two senior business leaders.

Angela Barnicle, chief officer for asset management and regeneration at Leeds City Council, and Lisa Bowden, head of infrastructure in the North at Mace, spoke at TheBusinessDesk.com’s Women In Business lunch on Friday.

They highlighted the need to encourage more people into the sector, the issues around less females represented in senior roles, shared insights into the schemes they have been involved with and what makes a development work.

Bowden has always worked in the construction sector and was part of the team delivering the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Manchester Airport.

She was the only female in 1,500 people on site at the Trafford Centre and said it was “exciting” to visit now, to say she was responsible for many aspects of the building.

Now in a consulting role, she still welcomes the times to put her boots on and has recently been involved with the Bradford Northern Powerhouse Rail initiative.

Bowden said: “There is a robust market coming forward. The collapse of Carillion didn’t help but it was nice to see a lot of projects being rescued and moving forward. That shows the resilience of where we are at the moment.

“People are excited and talking positively about what’s coming on and I think that will be the same for the couple of years to come. ”

Barnicle said she was enticed into the real estate sector by the thought of seeing a “physical manifestation of your efforts.” She has been involved in large scale projects right across the country and previously worked as a consultant at Deloitte.

Barnicle said people had to have resilience in real estate. She said that as graduates, people wanted to build something straight away but, in reality, development takes a long time.

“You need to be resilient. But when when you see the product at the end and influence you have had along the way, you get a real sense of pleasure and delight,” she added.

Barnicle named Liverpool One  as something she was involved in which “transformed a city.” In Yorkshire, she said enjoyed being involved in the Hull St Stephens development delivering “phenomenal change, not just physical, but also the social aspects a development brings.”

Of the current climate, Barnicle added:  “There is resilience in the construction and real estate sector at the minute. We have had it for some time but we shouldn’t take it for granted –  while don’t want to talk the market up, we don’t want to talk down either.

“Skills are a big issue in the sector though, certainly in terms of infrastructure. We have some major projects coming on board to deliver and we need those skills.

“But everything is connected. In creating a place, everybody wants to be a part of it. That includes the infrastructure, how a property is maintained, how it looks and how it’s animated. We all live in property and feel we have an opinion and say so; and rightly so.

“Place is a very emotive thing and we can’t separate it from people.”

Barnicle said that economic activity in terms of occupation of buildings was imperative in successful placemaking. “Property is quite simple – it’s about the investor, the developer and the occupier,” she added.

“They all need each other and then the occupier needs talent. Talent is everything. How do you attract and retain people? That’s where our investment narrative is; how we get people to our city and retain them.”

She added that the bigger picture around offering great buildings but also the right spaces between them as being important, as well as the culture that is offered to potential and current talent.

“Property is a people industry and if you are connected to people, you will get property. I have stuck to that in my career.”

When talking about the representation of women, Bowden said she was used to working in an all-male industry and has never come across any major issues. She is optimistic that times are changing and that in two generations, more females will be on the boards of businesses – leading to a different dynamic in firms.

“When construction projects  are going wrong, you often find a difficult situation with male project managers who seem to think it’s their project. If females are involved, there is a much more approachable way to deal with things. It is a calmer and different dynamic.”

Bodwen works with universities to inspire the next generation – both male and female – into the sector. She added: “Of those younger people, those coming into STEM subjects, there is a generational change and two generations away from now we will be seeing that coming forward. I think there will be more females in senior positions.”

She added that the delivery of high quality, innovative projects was important for the economy and this could only be achieved through investment; naming the Doncaster high speed rail project as one critical aspect of that process.

Barncile said she had never come across barriers but knew others who had, and therefore wasn’t far from them at times. She agreed that women in leadership positions are severely unrepresented but said she was lucky to have had hugely supportive colleagues through her career.

She said in her current role, she had a 20-year-old mentor who “keeps me young” and that it was about striving for progress, not perfection. Asked if the situation will alter in the coming years, Barnicle added: “Will it change? It has to! We are half the buying power. Vote with your feet, vote with your pound notes. If a company is not representing your values, don’t go with them.”

Barnicle updated the more than 80 delegates on how the city is planning projects to be attractive to new firms and people, stating the offer has to be”animated.” She said the citizens of Leeds were starting to feel confident talking about culture as the driving force to economic success.

“We have got to get 2023 ready. The city also has to get HS2 ready. Over the next four years, you are going to see an awful lot of development,” she added.