The skills to pay the bills

For many, this week was about exam results – your own, or a family member’s.  Good outcome? Ignore the naysayers who belittle the achievement with talk of grade inflation.  Room for improvement? It feels like a big deal now, but in fact, there is always a way forward.  

What’s that got to do with real estate?  In short – skills. 

How do you thrive in this industry in an age of ever-greater technological advances?

I'm sharing five thoughts at the bottom of this newsletter, based on my experience in the narrow field of commercial real estate research - but my hunch is they’ll be relevant to a wider audience.

Let me know what you think!

Headlines - a mixed bag this week

• UK GDP surprised on the upside – 0.4% growth in June, meaning 0.3% growth in Q2 overall.

• Labour market data was mixed, as noted in Khadija Hussain's Leading Indicators – unemployment didn’t move significantly, and real wages are still growing at as good as 5%.   

• What are employers getting for this increase? Not all that much, according to this quarter’s productivity data, which shows that output per worker is flatlining.

• Looking ahead, the CIPD’s quarterly labour market outlook painted a more subdued picture for hiring, citing national insurance costs and new immigration rules.

Delivering the goods: rising Chinese demand for UK logistics space

Trade has once again been in the headlines.  As expected, Donald Trump postponed tariffs for China for another 90 days.  Meanwhile, Chinese ecommerce platforms are scaling up their operations in the UK market.  They are expanding their UK-based supply chains and stock holdings in order to offer same or next day delivery options, according to a new note from Claire Williams .

Demand could be further boosted by the removal of the £135 threshold for customs duties on imports.  In Claire’s view, the removal of the threshold would encourage further expansion by Chinese firms, who would need to hold more stock in the UK.  This would accelerate investment in UK-based supply chains and warehouse operations.

Read the full note here.

Thinking of a masterplan...for London

The next London Plan will set out framework for how the Capital will develop over the next 23 years (2027- 2050). Its early consultation document, Towards a new London Plan (May 2025) outlines the ambitions of the Next London Plan and puts forward the policy ideas through which they propose to achieve these aims.

We’ve spent time looking at the proposal, and we summarise our thoughts across the different sectors here. 

This week, I would draw your attention to Stephen Springham's retail take. 

His expert assessment of the plan? Like the curate’s egg – good in parts.  Support for London’s high streets is of course welcomed, but some of the measures and interventions are too extreme. 

There is a notion that vacant properties are being wilfully withheld from the market by unscrupulous landlords. The reality is much more likely to be they remain unlet because there is no demand to occupy them in their current form. The way forward must surely be wider engagement between landlords and local authorities to work together to resolve vacancy, rather than taking a purely stick-based approach.

You can read Stephen’s full assessment here.

It was 20 years ago today…five lessons I've learned in commercial real estate research

I started work in research exactly 20 years ago.  Picture the era: we got news from inky broadsheets.  Consulted dusty ring binders stuffed with physical journals.  Had corporate libraries (in which to occasionally hide).  We watched as bosses dictated emails into cassette recorders. ‘Going on the internet’ was viewed with suspicion in some quarters.

Since then, the work has evolved.  Research used to be more about reporting.  Today, there is a far greater emphasis on the ‘so what’.   

A lot has changed, but a lot more is likely to change as AI redefines knowledge work.  So, what will remain relevant?

Here are five of the many lessons I've learned that I think will endure. 

 1. You can never stand still

Much of what I learnt in my degrees has since been disproven or discredited. The skills I picked up as a junior researcher are less relevant.  The tools are different, the methods change - the only constant is that you have to keep learning.  That's your job, your responsibility, and if you think someone is going to map that path out for you - good luck!

 2. Remember, data is physical

Data is critical and obtaining good data often means getting out there in the real world. AI is amazing, but it can’t walk the streets for you or pick up information in coffee queue chats. Too many people put blind faith in datasets without really understanding them - the provenance, the accuracy, the coverage, the nuance. AI will amplify this risk. That means the rewards for those prepared to actually do the work will be higher.      

 3. Have a view, share an opinion

Facts are important, but people look to you for insight. Don’t just present numbers — say what you think they mean. The most compelling people I work with are opinionated, passionate about their subject, and able to weave their thoughts into engaging stories. AI might be good at giving answers, but for now, it can't quite do the credibility part. 

 4. Master the difficult second album

I’ve been fortunate to work with many brilliant people as their careers accelerated - when enthusiasm, drive, and increasing knowledge begin to spark. The most consistent challenge I've seen is the move to the next rung on the career ladder.  Too often, it's easier to ‘do the old job’.  Moving up means you must leave things behind. It's not easy. In some ways, AI is moving us all up the ladder, and we all must be careful not to get stuck in the past. 

5. Presence matters 

Yes, we have Teams, email, and instant messages — but nothing beats the impact of showing up in person when it counts. This isn't about the mind-numbingly tedious office vs. WFH debate. In my experience, many a minor crisis has been averted by the mere act of 'being there'. This is human nature, hard-wired into us over millions of years.  Ignore it at your peril.

 The bottom line is that the craft of knowledge work - such as research - is changing. It will be an exciting journey, but as I try to impress on my team, the nature of our roles will soon be very different.     

What do you think? I'd love to see your lessons in the comments!

What to look out for in the week ahead

A few key data releases:

• CPI: with inflation having flatlined in the US, there may be some hope of a similar story in the UK, but economic momentum makes that unlikely

• Public sector finances: borrowing data will add colour to expectations ahead of the Autumn budget but are unlikely to change the direction of travel

• Retail sales data will be released on Friday