Careers rarely run straight
In June, we hosted a CoreNet Young Leaders Skills Workshop at our London office.
Navigating the Unpredictable: Building Resilience and Growth Through Non-Linear Career Paths brought together speakers from across UK corporate real estate and the wider built environment:
- Lauren Gow, HSBC
- Michelle Charman, Overbury
- James Phillips, AtkinsRéalis
- Natasha Bonugli, The Bon Collective
- Charikleia Stringa, Jason Bruges Studio
The discussion challenged the idea that a successful career follows a neat, predictable route.
Lateral moves, changes of sector, missed opportunities and market disruption can all redirect a career. They can also build the adaptability, judgement and resilience required to lead.
That matters in a sector where change is rarely theoretical. UK commercial property and fit-out teams are responding to shifting patterns of occupation, tighter environmental targets, accelerated programmes and growing expectations around workplace experience.
Tomorrow’s leaders will need the confidence to ask better questions, listen to different disciplines and respond when the original plan no longer fits the reality.
The workshop created room for that kind of honest exchange. It also gave members of our own young team an opportunity to learn from people working across different areas of the UK market and at different stages of their careers.
Building industry relationships
Not every valuable industry conversation happens around a meeting table.
Specialist also made its debut at the CoreNet UK Young Leaders Mixed Netball Tournament, sponsoring and taking part in an evening that brought professionals together through friendly competition, conversation and some unexpectedly serious shooting.
The tournament attracted its highest number of registrations to date, reflecting the appetite for industry events that make professional networking more open, active and human.
Congratulations went to the Black Team on taking the overall win, while Alexander Taggart of Tsunami Axis received the Specialist Group Shamrock Award. Our own Steven Hider also demonstrated previously undisclosed talents by securing the Overbury Sharpshooter Award!
The competition was real and so was the wider purpose: relationships built away from formal project settings can make future collaboration more direct, open and effective. In UK corporate real estate and commercial fit-out, where successful delivery depends on multiple businesses working towards the same outcome, those relationships matter.
Supporting future capability
Effective sponsorship requires more than adding a company name to an event.
In our first year with CoreNet UK Young Leaders, Specialist has contributed funding, space and active participation. We have welcomed the network into our London office, involved our own people and supported events designed around both professional development and genuine industry connection.
That approach reflects how we see our wider role within the UK fit-out sector.
Specialist has grown from a team of ten in 1988 to more than 300 people working across the UK and Ireland. That growth has depended on developing talent from within, learning from the wider industry and building relationships that last beyond an individual project.
Many members of our senior team began their careers as apprentices or in operational roles before progressing through the business. Our Specialist Academy continues that commitment by combining formal training, practical experience and long-term career development.
Supporting CoreNet UK Young Leaders takes the same belief beyond our own organisation.
It helps emerging professionals access experienced industry voices, make connections across the UK corporate real estate community and gain a clearer understanding of the different careers and disciplines within it. Initiatives such as the CoreNet UK Young Leaders Mentoring Scheme extend that support through one-to-one guidance from established industry leaders.
Investing in what follows
The future of UK corporate real estate is not some distant idea. It is being shaped today by the questions young professionals ask, the experiences available to them and the relationships they begin building now.
Our first year supporting CoreNet UK Young Leaders has brought learning, competition and new connections. More importantly, it has allowed Specialist to contribute to a network developing the people who will influence how UK workplaces are designed, delivered and experienced in the years ahead.
We are proud to play a part in it and we look forward to building on that involvement.
Find out more about CoreNet UK Young Leaders, view its upcoming UK events, or explore current opportunities with Specialist Group.
