Samantha McClary spoke at the BCO’s annual conference in Milan yesterday
Office developers must avoid “complacency” to navigate the coming years, according to the new chief of the British Council for Offices (BCO).
Former Estates Gazette editor Samantha McClary became chief executive of the membership organisation on 6 May, taking over from Richard Kauntze, who had held the role for more than two decades.
The leadership change took place just weeks BCO’s annual conference, which is taking place this week over three days in Milan.
McClary appeared on the conference’s main stage yesterday in conversation with Helen Hare, BCO senior vice president and conference chair.
Asked how she made the decision to move from “critical friend” of the sector to would-be industry leader, McClary explained that she “fell in love with real estate” as a journalist but ultimately “wanted to be more of a champion”.
Hare urged McClary to embrace this critical perspective, asking what she saw as being the biggest challenges for the sector going forward.
“It’s a long list, isn’t it, but I think can overcome them,” said McClary.
“One of the biggest challenges that any of us face in any industry, but I think we face it here in real estate particularly, and potentially in the workplace sector more than any is complacency.”
She said the industry no longer had the “luxury” to simply “get used to how things are done” without innovating.
“We need that caffeine shot clearly to make sure that we’re pushing forwards all the time,” she continued.
“I think if we’re not we’re not moving, we’re not running, we’re not pivoting when we need to pivot, then that’s a that’s a real danger.”
McClary then flipped the question on Hare, who said she was concerned about attracting and retaining talent in the industry.
“A lot of colleagues in the industry, I know in recent times, have gone to the Middle East,” said Hare.
“Real estate has become less attractive for quite a lot of people in the world, and having the appropriate skill set in our sector is going to be quite a challenge for us as we move forward”.
McClary added that it was “unbelievable that people outside of this room don’t see real estate as exciting or really valuable piece of our economy”.
“We can turn that around so that people really do understand what is done in this world and change that perception,” she said.
Building is media partner for this year’s BCO conference
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