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BCO NextGen London committee member and portfolio manager at Landsec Chloe Prince is on a mission to open up the world of real estate so that young people don\u2019t miss out on the exciting career opportunities it offers.<\/p>\n
Why is she so passionate? Well, because she could have missed out on the opportunity herself. At Prince\u2019s school \u2013 like so many \u2013 commercial property wasn\u2019t discussed as a career option. The smart kids, of which she was clearly one, became lawyers or doctors.<\/p>\n
\u201cProperty wasn\u2019t on the agenda,\u201d she says. \u201cTo be honest I always thought that property meant estate agent and that was it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, of course, she knows is wrong. But it took a turn studying French and Spanish and stints living in Paris and Valencia for Prince to find her way to property.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was looking for something to do in Paris, I decided to take an internship. At that point I was desperate and this property management internship came up. I didn\u2019t know much about commercial property but I loved buildings and architecture and they loved that I could speak English. I did lots of translation and a lot of their property management with their English clients. And that\u2019s how I discovered real estate and \u00a0property surveying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The power of determination<\/strong><\/p>\n The rest is history. Prince came back to the UK with a mission to be a surveyor and get chartered. She finished her degree and started applying for non-cog graduate schemes. There were knock backs, but again that passion kicked in.<\/p>\n \u201cI was so determined,\u201d says Prince. \u201cI was getting into real estate, no matter what. I was going to get chartered so\u00a0 I decided to go slightly through the back door and I applied for a role in Savills residential.\u201d<\/p>\n Prince worked in the firm\u2019s Wandsworth office in an admin role, but used her spare to researching so that when the opportunity to apply for Savills\u2019 graduate scheme came up, she was more prepared than anyone else.<\/p>\n And the rest really is history.<\/p>\n Prince clearly doesn\u2019t want others to have to take such a wiggly path, however, and has been working with her fellow BCO committee members this year to deliver a partnership with charity Bridging Barriers that culminated a real estate insight\u00a0 day on London\u2019s South Bank.<\/p>\n The day, which saw a number of young adults from London communities visit LandSec\u2019s The Forge and Native Land\u2019s Bankside Yards site to learn more about development and the many careers in real estate.<\/p>\n Barriers to entry persist<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOne of the key challenges for social mobility for the industry is barriers to entry and awareness,\u201d says Prince. \u201cI’ve spoken to countless young people who have no idea what a surveyor is, so for me, one of the key ambitions for the committee was to increase awareness among young people and for them to really understand what we do. And to understand that there are so many different routes that you can go into property.\u201d<\/p>\n The event was a hit. Pretty much all 15 individuals involved in the day have created connections with members of the BCO committee. Prince has piqued their interest and shown them that there is a way into this industry that doesn\u2019t necessarily have to take you round the houses.<\/p>\n But, while the industry has become more diverse there is clearly more to do.\u00a0While Prince says that even in the relatively short time she\u2019s been working in the sector, she\u2019s been encouraged by how the narrative around social mobility has changed.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople often talk about social mobility, DEI, etc. as either a box tick exercise or just something to do as a good thing, which is true, but there’s also a huge amount of value that is brought by it,\u201d says Prince. \u201cWe make buildings for people, so our leadership should reflect that. And if you have diverse opinions, your building will only be better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I talk about this, I just I like to frame it in the sense that it’s just good business to ensure that your employees don’t all look the same, don’t all think the same, don’t all come from the same background,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt makes so much sense to have people who have different experiences and may challenge things or look at certain aspects differently. And that’s why social mobility is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why listening in and learning from Prince is important too, which you can do in this episode of the Workspace Unwired podcast.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n