On Wednesday 18th November Estates Gazette held another session in its London Question Time series, chaired by editor Damian Wild with a focus on the key trends and issues affecting the London commercial property market.
With the promised of some intelligent debate and of course, nibbles courtesy of Burger & Lobster, we made our way to the City for the evening.
To kick-start the session and set the tone of the debate, we were given a presentation from Rachel Armstrong, Professor of Experimental Architecture at Newcastle University who spoke about the future of architecture in London.
Rachel’s inspiring speech was followed by a series of Q&As with the expert panel comprising Mark Ridley, Chief Executive, Savills, Alex Price, Chief Executive, Palmer Capital, Kaela Fenn-Smith, Head of Commercial, Land Securities, Richard Cook, Head of Residential Development, Lend Lease and Bobby Hashemi, Founder, Pizza Union.
It was clear from the questions – ‘Are we entering an affordable office crisis?’ and ‘Are we ensuring the industry is doing enough to get the best graduate talent?’ – that the future of the industry in the current economic climate and affordable space in London are key topics shaping the mood of the industry today.
#EGQT addressed macro issues for example the impact of Brexit on the London commercial prop market, and micro issues, such as diversity in the workplace and salary reviews within the sector with live tweeting and discussions on social media throughout the session.