In the spotlight

Jane Barlow

I am a rural practice surveyor having studied Rural Estate Management at the Royal Agricultural Collage. I qualified whilst working at Bell Ingram a firm of mainly Scottish land Agents who have a speciality utility team acting on behalf of water, electric and other utility operators. After qualifying I spent 3 years in Birmingham at GVA Grimley during the telecoms peak roll out time and specialised in portfolio management of existing mast sites dealing with lease renewal and rent review and site share applications on behalf of Orange. I then moved to United Utilities Water Company in the North West where I stayed for 15 years managing a team to co-ordinate enabling access to private land for water projects. Prior to joining CJ I spend 2 years at Dalcour McLaren again acting on behalf of predominantly water clients.

What initially attracted to you to join Carter Jonas?

I have worked in the infrastructure sector for some time and saw a change in client requirements from purely seeking advice on obtaining access to private land for their capital works programs to needing wider property advice such as Valuations and Property Management. Carter Jonas has an excellent reputation for quality property services as well as an experienced infrastructure team and so seemed to offer the opportunity for me to help to grow the infrastructures team using my experience teamed with CJ’s property expertise.

Tell us a little more about your journey with Carter Jonas so far?

I joined in November 2017 and spent some time with the Birmingham office infrastructure team to obtain a good understanding of how the team and CJ operate as a firm. I have been involved in a number of successful tenders for new utility clients and have spent a good proportion of my time working in the mobilisation team for the Highways England Property management contract. It has taken 12 months to fully mobilise the HE contract which has been extremely challenging and rewarding to establish a team of 15 spread across 3 offices.

What does a typical day look like for you and what work are you involved in?

I am still very involved in the Highways England contract and my days are varied, ranging from dealing with escalated issues with tenants to preparing reports for Highways to update on our progress as well as managing sub projects such as tree management and Capital works. I also manage part of the Network Rail contract and so have a varied range of issues to deal with as well as spending time on business development opportunities for CJ in the North West where I am based.

Describe your office working environment and culture.

I am associated to the Leeds office but spend most days working at home in the North West or at client meetings. The Leeds infrastructure team are really engaging to work with and the office space is very modern which makes a refreshing change to some of the offices I have worked in previously!

What are the skills required to be successful in your role?

I need to be organised, communicate well and able to think outside of the box. In order to develop new business and mobilise a large contract I have also had to quickly understand how Carter Jonas operates and have built great relationships across the business in IT, Client accounts and Contract management.

What is your favourite part about working for Carter Jonas?

The people, the team we have built on highways England are all fantastic and their professionalism really impresses me. I also get excellent support and encouragement to develop further from Mark Hall-Digweed and Charles Hardcastle and enjoy working with like-minded people across the business.

What has been your career highlight whilst working at Carter Jonas?

Working on and being successfully awarded a tender for a new client for CJ, it was a really technically challenging tender and I enjoyed showcasing the quality service that CJ has to offer.

If you could switch jobs with anyone else within Carter Jonas, whose job would you want?

I quite enjoy looking at processes and systems and so a swop with Sam Ellis-Cosgrove, Head of Contract Management would make a pleasant change from Surveying after 20 plus years!

What other activities do you participate in at Carter Jonas? For example CSR, Social events,

I attend the Birmingham or Leeds office socials when I can.

What are your goals for Carter Jonas Vision 2025?

I am looking to assist with the vision 2025 by looking at new opportunities for infrastructure business in the North West.

Ted Beale

What initially attracted to you to join
Carter Jonas?

Coming from a small regional firm I wanted the opportunities a larger firm holds helping me develop my career.

Tell us a little more about your journey with Carter Jonas so far?

I have been in the firm for nearly 18 months and so far I have been given a fantastic opportunity to develop my own team and have been supported in looking at new business opportunities.

What does a typical day look like for you and what work are you involved in?

Working for a client such as HS2 there is a great variance in my job role. A ‘typical’ day may include meeting affected landowners and occupiers and informing them of the latest update with regard to the scheme before heading back to the office to continue with the ongoing programme of valuations that we are tasked with delivering. It is a demanding and fast paced environment with a lot of challenges but it can be very rewarding.

Describe your office working environment and culture.

I work within a young dynamic team who are a pleasure to work with as well as joining for a drink afterwards!

What are the skills required to be successful in your role?

Highly motivated, flexible, good knowledge of your subject and able to work well within a team

What is your favourite part about working for Carter Jonas?

Tackling new challenges whilst continually learning

What has been your career highlight whilst working at Carter Jonas?

Developing my own team and having been given much responsibility to deliver the project.

If you could switch jobs with anyone else within Carter Jonas, whose job would you want?

Stephen Hall as I am very interested in the international markets

What other activities do you participate in at Carter Jonas? For example CSR, Social events,

I am a keen trainer for our graduates having been the ambassador for the infrastructure grads as well as running farm training days for those less agriculturally minded!

What are your goals for Carter Jonas Vision 2025?

To develop new business streams in international markets

Help to attract new clients to the business and get involved with new infrastructure projects

Katryna Ley

What initially attracted to you to join
Carter Jonas?

When I joined Carter Jonas, the Birmingham Office had recently opened. What initially attracted me was the mentality and aspiration that Christian Green had for the Birmingham Office. In addition the existing workload and proposed pipeline appeared to combine my surveying knowledge and interest in infrastructure projects and re-generation.

Tell us a little more about your journey with Carter Jonas so far?

My job role sits within the infrastructures division and so far has been extremely varied. Some of the activities include advising acquiring authorities on full and final settlements, ensuring affected parties are engaged with in line with Government Guidance and finally updating our Terms of Business to ensure they are compliant with new RICS Professional Standards.

What does a typical day look like for you and what work are you involved in?

A typical day is dependent on the ongoing project at the time. Currently, I am working with Birmingham City Council to facilitate the acquisition of a retail parade, which is required for the Common Wealth Games. My day-to-day activities involve; strategic advice to the client in relation to the submitted Compulsory Purchase Order, engagement with affected parties, to negotiate and acquire affected interests and finally compile Red book compliant recommendation reports.

What are the skills required to be successful in your role?

I believe those who are successful in my role have good communication skills. Compulsory Purchase can be a controversial field. Often parties affected would rather be removed from the scheme and sometimes inspections can be contentious. Ahead of meetings it is important to be as informed as possible, this will help manage expectations.

What is your favourite part about working for Carter Jonas?

The People. Everyone in the Birmingham Office is approachable and always happy to help if needed.

What has been your career highlight whilst working at Carter Jonas?

My promotion is an obvious highlight whilst working at Carter Jonas. However, I have also enjoyed having the responsibility to take charge of my own projects and manage the workload delivery. 

If you could switch jobs with anyone else within Carter Jonas, whose job would you want?

I wouldn’t want to switch my career path as I enjoy my job. However if I could switch for a day I would like to change job roles with Mark Hall Digweed. It would be useful to gain an appreciation on how the infrastructure team interacts between offices and departments.  

What other activities do you participate in at Carter Jonas? For example CSR, Social events,

I believe office social events are very important and a key part of understanding office dynamics. I always participate in and often organise events. 

The Birmingham office is running the Sutton fun Run in aid of Land aid on 2nd June. This is an 8.5 miles around Sutton Coldfield Town centre, there are a number of people taking part, wish us luck! 

What are your goals for Carter Jonas Vision 2025?

From a personal prospective I hope to progress up the career ladder as my expertise and experience grows. 

I would also like to help the Birmingham office become more established within the Birmingham market and expand on our existing client base.