The ULI UK Mentorship Summer Social took place on 29 August 2019 and was kindly hosted by Gardiner and Theobald LLP (G&T) at its London HQ.

The annual Summer BBQ offered mentors and mentees the chance to network with others on the Mentorship Programme in an informal setting. ULI UK Young Leader member Mo O’Connell, who leads the mentoring programme and works at G&T as a project surveyor, gave a welcome speech and said:

“I am pleased to say 2019 is the largest cohort in the history of the UK programme, something we are very proud of and are working to increase numbers yet again for 2020.”

The ULI UK chair, Vanessa Hale (director of research at BNP Paribas Real Estate) also welcomed the group and explained how she had started as a mentee herself. Vanessa spoke about the benefits of mentoring and advised mentees on how to make the most of the programme.

The programme is a group-mentoring scheme that provides members of the ULI UK’s Young Leaders Group the opportunity to discuss relevant real estate issues and their professional development with their peers and an established member of ULI.

Senior level executives in the real estate industry and active members of ULI act as mentors and are assigned groups of three-to-four mentees to meet with quarterly. The role of the mentor is to guide mentees to develop their network and industry knowledge whilst helping them work through any challenges they may be facing in their career.