Building a career in property

Building a career in property

Paul Clark (OE 1990-1997) is looking forward to building on his success in 2013 after being picked out as one of the top names in the UK property industry.

In 2012, he was voted one of the industry’s Hot 100 Rising Stars by readers of Property Week magazine – one of the highlights of his career to date. It was the second running of the poll, which is conducted only once every five years. Property Week is one of the UK’s largest industry publications, with a weekly readership of 40,000. Nominees for the Hot 100 must be under the age of 35 and the previous vote included luxury property developers the Candy brothers and Ivanka Trump (daughter of Donald).

“The property industry is a really interesting, varied and – despite the recent market issues – a rewarding place to be,” says Paul.

He is currently head of Development at Capita Symonds Real Estate, a subsidiary of FTSE 100-listed Capita plc. Paul runs a team of consultants who specialise in providing advice to landowners and property developers. Some of his current projects include the acquisition of a new property for a film studio, the development of 1,000 homes on the south coast and the structuring of the sale and leaseback of a new bespoke headquarters for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in central London. He has previously worked on the legacy plans for the 2012 Olympics and managed a major urban extension in Oxford.

At QE, Paul was a School Lieutenant and Sergeant Major in the Army Cadets. He won an Army Sixth Form Scholarship whilst at QE, but a skiing accident ended his aspiration to join the Army. He went on to Nottingham University to read Urban Planning. From there, Paul studied Town & Country Planning at post-graduate level at University College London. He then gained an MPhil in Land Economy at Cambridge University, where he rowed for the Sidney Sussex College 1st VIII. Outside work, Paul is now a committee member of the Cambridge University Land Society and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society ; he also  provides pro bono support for an urban regeneration charity in Finsbury Park.

“There is a wide representation of OEs throughout the property business including architects, engineers, town planners and agents. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a diverse life and the opportunity to have a lasting and positive impact on our built environment,” Paul concludes.