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Property’s redundant generation

If you have been made redundant recently, you are not alone. We interviewed some newly free agents who share their strategies for survival
Written on 8/21/09



Alistair Powel with son Henry

Alistair Powell, 39, was a salaried partner at the Northampton office of surveying firm Bidwells before he was made redundant at the end of 2008.


Powell, a general practice chartered surveyor, had been at Bidwells for nine years. He is retaining his RICS membership, and is having his subscription fee reduced to 50%, a concession the institution offers to surveyors who are out of work.


Until he can find a full-time job, he has taken a paid part-time, temporary role working for Cancer Research UK. He takes calls from people who want to participate in its fundraising event, Race For Life.


Toby Nicholson, 28, was made redundant from his job as a senior surveyor in the residential investment team at Jones Lang LaSalle in October last year.


He spent six days in the Middle East and squeezed in 16 interviews. They went well. But the property market in Dubai was just about to turn.


It was clear that his many interviews would come to nothing, so Nicholson focused his efforts on the UK.


But by January this year, nothing had come up. Cutting his losses, Nicholson made alternative plans. He put a deposit down on an energy performance certificate assessors’ course.


He heard that Penhurst Properties, a Battersea-based company that owns around 300 commercial and residential properties in west London, was looking for a portfolio director.


Roz Thornton, 37, was a director in the business space team at DTZ in London before she was let go. It was what she needed to pursue the career she had always wanted.


‘Events management is something I have always been interested in – I love organising and I like a good party – but I always thought: in the future,’ she explains.


‘I did a property degree and, while I enjoyed my time in the industry, it wasn’t my desire to remain a surveyor for the rest of my working life.’


Read the full article in Property week Property’s jilted generation.