Laura Brown, Gerald Eve

Laura Brown is a surveyor at Gerald Eve working in their development consultancy team. She studied a degree in real estate management at Oxford Brookes University.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in real estate?

I knew from a fairly young age that property was the career for me. I wanted to do a vocational degree at university and, as I have friends and family members who are chartered surveyors, I already knew what  property could involve. To help me decide what kind of firm I wanted to work for after I graduated I did work experience at different property consultancies every summer while I was at university.

Tell us about your day-to-day job as a property developer

My firm specialises in large mixed-use developments and my field is development consultancy, which means I sell and acquire development sites and look at valuation, viability and development issues. One of the most exciting jobs I’ve worked on is the Victoria Transport Interchange, where our client is proposing a 2.9 million sq ft mixed-use scheme.

I’ve also been involved in some interesting pro bono work. One client, a community organisation providing counselling to young people, was based in an unsuitable property. We helped them assess their accommodation options and whether to sell, refurbish or redevelop their property. I felt we were able to make a real difference.

Is the property industry different to how you expected it to be?

When I first started out in property I was surprised by the scale and breadth of expertise required to create a major new development. I expected to be working with architects, quantity surveyors, construction companies and lawyers, but I didn’t realise the level of financial expertise and design skills that are needed to get new schemes built.