To kick-start the year, we recently hosted our first Exchange Network event, particularly, but not exclusively, aimed at women in the real estate industry, at our Herbert Smith Freehills offices in Exchange House, London.
We invited Liz Peace to share her story of a career in property and defence. Liz is a leading property expert and the former CEO of the British Property Federation.
This inaugural event was well attended by women from across the real estate sector. The evening began with a welcome speech from Shelagh McKibbin, partner in the real estate team at Herbert Smith Freehills, introducing Liz and her remarkable career in the property industry. Liz ran the British Property Federation (BPF) for 13 years until her retirement in 2014. During her time she managed to change the Government's perception of the commercial property industry, to establish it as a key contributor to policy debate, to dissuade the Government from legislating on commercial leases, to win innumerable changes to planning and tax legislation and, as part of a pan industry alliance, to secure the introduction of REITs. Prior to her time at the BPF, Liz spent 27 years as a civil servant in the MOD on a wide range of projects, and even managed, back in 1985, to pioneer the principle of part-time working for women at the MOD.
Liz's talk emphasised the challenges she met during her career, but also the possibilities for women in a male dominated industry. During the talk, Liz highlighted several stories where her gender had become an issue and how she had overcome these and succeeded in her roles.
As a result, Liz's talk posed a lot of questions from the audience and provoked a debate on issues faced by women in the industry today. It also provided an opportunity to share experiences and advice. The evening was concluded with further networking over drinks and canapés.
Herbert Smith Freehills are planning to host more events in our Exchange Network series throughout the year. If you would like to attend, please click here join our mailing list.
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