Close to 150 people recently joined us for a very special event to mark 10-years of Real Estate Balance.
We were thrilled to be joined by so many people representing our member organisations, supporters past and present and senior leaders and other professionals who all share a vision for a more representative and inclusive UK real estate industry.
Better Balance IV, the fourth in our annual ‘state of the nation’ of EDI in property event, was held at Spitalfields Studio in central London, and kindly supported by our partners MAPP and Davitt Jones Bould.
Estates Gazette was our exclusive media partner for the session. Read their coverage on the celebration here.
Attendees were invited to take part in tours of Spitalfields, a testament to the high-quality of development that can be built when community and stakeholder engagement is prioritised.
Sir Michael Bear, former CEO of the Spitalfields Development Group, and our Managing Director, Sue Brown, opened the event by reflecting on their experiences working together on the landmark project.
Sue then joined Louise Bonham, CEO of MAPP, and Mark Allan, CEO of Landsec, in the keynote discussion where they discussed how far our industry has come in the past 10 years and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, the initiatives making a difference at MAPP and Landsec and the communities where they operate, their personal views on inclusive leadership and more.
A panel discussion featuring the real estate professionals at different stages of their careers, below, followed:
- Jasmine Ceccarelli-Drewry – Co-chair of our NextGen Committee
- Zena Couppey – CEO, Altum
- Carl Konadu BEM – CEO and Co-founder, 2-3 Degrees
- Andrea Ruckstuhl – Group Executive, International, Lendlease and Real Estate Balance Board Director
- Akanksha Soni – News Editor, Estates Gazette
Their conversation covered topics including ongoing global debates around EDI, AI and the future of work, the values that matter to the different generations in today’s workplaces and the persistent gender divide at senior levels of corporate Britain.
Vivienne King – one of our co-founders with Liz Peace CBE, Karen Friebe, Sue Clayton, Suzanne Avery, Elisabeth Teo-Pennell and Claire Milton – spoke about the beginnings of Real Estate Balance and some our key milestones since 2015.
These included our leading Industry EDI Survey, our Employer Toolkit, the establishment of our NextGen Committee, Parents Network and Patrons Group, popular speed mentoring programme and growth to 131 private and public sector member organisations today.
Jo Davis, Chair of our Board of Directors, provided an update on initiatives aligned with our strategy, covering industry accountability, inclusive leadership, and research and data, and spoke with pride about being at the helm of the dynamic, passionate and successful Real Estate Balance community.
Download our e-booklet on a decade of Real Estate Balance here.
Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to our collective over the years. Here’s to the next decade!
Some of our favourite photos from Better Balance IV:
