Property Focus: The Interview – Rod Moulder
IN the second of our new, weekly interviews with figures from across the West Midlands property industry, we speak to Rod Moulder, director in the Birmingham office of Turner and Townsend.
The property and management consultant has 13 offices in the UK, 63 worldwide and employs 2,400 staff across 28 countries. The Birmingham team operates from Church Street and is 100 people strong.
If you are interested in taking part in ‘The Interview’, please email tamlyn.jones@thebusinessdesk.com and click through to see all our previous Property Focus Interviews.
1. What are your views on the current state of the commercial property and property development markets?
Both are going through a difficult transition period due to the difficult economic climate exacerbated in part by the cautious approach being taken towards speculative developments which is understandable. This is clearly visible by the number of schemes that have either been mothballed or stalled on site.
Birmingham is a great city to live and work in and it’s more a question of when the market will bounce back rather than if.
2. What are the key challenges and pieces of legislation you think will most affect your sector over the coming months?
Working predominantly with the public sector, the key challenge will be the scale of the cuts required to reduce the budget deficit. The cutbacks just announced in the education sector, whilst expected, have been on a larger scale than most would have envisaged.
The new Part L regulations due to come into force in October will also be a key legislative challenge on new projects.
3. Why do you think that the West Midlands is a good place to do business?
The Midlands offers great cultural and social diversity. It is well balanced by the number of employment and networking opportunities offered by the number and diversity of blue chip organisations which have migrated to the city centre, in particular over the last 10 years.
The Birmingham New Street redevelopment, for which Turner and Townsend is programme director, means the city centre will finally have the infrastructure to become a key central hub for the whole of the UK and will bring people together in a way we thought was impossible just a couple of years ago.
The completion of Birmingham New Street will also become the catalyst for Birmingham City Council’s Big City Plan in which it envisages Birmingham truly becoming a global city with a global reputation.
4. What is your favourite building/development in the West Midlands and why?
Brindleyplace. They have the business and social mix right, evident from how successful it has become. It offers something for all tastes in a great location that is easily accessible by both private and public transport.
5. If you could improve anything in the region, what would it be?
The quality of housing provision for all. Whilst the region is working towards tackling this issue, there are still a significant number of areas in desperate need of improvement. Turner and Townsend has recently completed the project management of Bournville Village Trust’s housing development which contains 167 uniquely designed and mixed tenure properties.
It is a superb example of what a good community with sound sustainable credentials can look like and it is my hope that other local authorities and regional social landlords will develop similar schemes to attract families to the city centre.
6. What barriers have you had to overcome during your career and how have you overcome them?
I joined Turner and Townsend back in 2001 as a junior member of staff but I made quick progression to my current role as a director within seven years, despite having joined the industry late at the age of 24. I was fortunate in that I didn’t experience any barriers of entry to the industry or barriers to progression whilst working within it.
Whilst I am acutely aware that the experience of others may be different to mine, I try very hard as a director to act as a mentor to my team, presenting them with opportunities to expand their skills and responsibilities to ensure they also do not experience barriers to progression in their career. I believe all senior managers within the construction industry have a responsibility to do this.
7. What was your first job and how did you enter your current line of work?
My first job was working for a facilities management contractor. Although I gained valuable experience, I spent quite a tiresome year neither excited nor challenged enough by the work I was given.
I decided from there to join a consultancy which has been the best decision I ever made. It has given me great autonomy to work hands on with clients to find innovative solutions to their problems.
8. What do you enjoy most about your job?
Genuinely, no two days are the same. I have a variety of issues to deal with on a daily basis. These range from line manager responsibilities, such as appraisals and the continuing professional development of my team, to monitoring the P&L accounts to ensure the division is meeting its financial targets.
I am tasked with developing a pipeline of opportunity for the office and, of course, there is the small matter of the day job. Presently, I manage two large schemes for the University of Oxford; the new £32m physics and £63m physiology buildings whilst further down the road at Oxford Brookes University, I am the cost consultant for the new library and teaching buildings.
The best part of my job though is working with a great bunch of people both client side and in-house with the Turner and Townsend team.
9. What is the best piece of advice that you have ever been given?
Know what your strengths are and focus on them. Also don’t be afraid of change.
10. And the worst?
Accepting convention and believing that opportunity will come knocking for you when the time is right. I have found that in most cases you have to be the creator and the owner of your own destiny. I wouldn’t be a very successful consultant if I recommended my clients hang around and wait for fate to play a hand.
