Property industry leaders discuss key challenges at Brabners event

The property and construction sector must work together to tackle growing economic pressures, senior industry leaders agreed at Brabners’ inaugural Building Links event.

The new quarterly event, held at Brabners’ Central Lancashire office on Wednesday July 5, has been launched to bring together senior leaders from the Lancashire property and construction industry to debate key issues, while allowing attendees to meet fellow professionals who are passionate about what they do and want to collaborate and share best practice.

The new quarterly events are centred around professional development and training with a view to driving education through businesses and offering practical solutions to real challenges affecting the market.

Attendees heard from Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity programme director, Blackpool Council, who outlined the town’s £2bn regeneration strategy. Nick provided insight into the distinctive challenges faced by Blackpool and in the market generally.

This was followed by a panel discussion chaired by Jennie Jones, partner in Brabners’ construction team, with industry experts Chris Everett (Capital Consulting International), Martin Maloney (Leonard Curtis), Zoe Pond (Brabners Construction) and Michael Winder (Brabners Commercial).

The discussion highlighted the pressures on the industry, including rising material costs, land prices and labour shortages as well as potential solutions to overcome challenges in the market.

The solutions discussed included the need for more risk sharing in the way construction contracts are structured, as highlighted by Zoe Pond, senior associate in Brabners’ construction team, and a more pro-active management approach to be taken with sub-contractors and employers to ride out the peaks and troughs suffered with inflation at present, as highlighted by Chris Everett, director of CCI. 

Jennie Jones, partner, Brabners said: “Property and construction is a core sector for Brabners and we have a team of over 50 sector specialists supporting clients on a range of property and construction related issues, so we are keen to help businesses and share our knowledge through discussions like these.

“Our first Building Links event was a huge success and the discussion has really helped to shape the theme for our next event in October. I’m really excited to be leading this initiative to bring together passionate market leaders in the local area to share their ideas to drive the Lancashire property and construction sector forward.” 

The next Brabners Building Links event is currently scheduled for Wednesday October 18. Property professionals interested in the next event can enquire by contacting events@brabners.com. Attendees to last Wednesday’s event will be contacted directly.

Brabners’ property team is one of the largest in the North West. It includes leading experts in construction, residential, commercial, industrial, retail, office and leisure who help clients at every stage of the legal process.