SAY Associates Q&A – Caspar Courage
We spoke to our Associate, Caspar Courage who heads up the alternatives team at SAY and has a particular interest in later living about his time at SAY and his experience in the industry.
This is what he had to say…
- If you could sum up working at SAY in one sentence, what would it be?
A company where punching above our weight constantly provides a huge variety of opportunities at every level, with a brilliant team of people and endlessly interesting clients.
- What’s your area of expertise within SAY?
I head up the alternatives team at SAY, and have a particular interest in later living. Helping new operators find their feet in the relatively new integrated retirement community sector has been especially rewarding in the past few years.
I continue to work across all of SAY’s areas of specialism though, and as I approach my seventh year at the company, I continue to find this variety of work highly rewarding.
- What are some current trends you are seeing from clients approaching you?
The cost of living is clearly a huge consideration for everyone at the moment. For our clients who own and operate buildings, ensuring they can continue providing market-leading service levels whilst remaining affordable, is a huge challenge. It requires an innovative approach to management and will increase the need to understand how technology and building design can deliver efficiency.
In the later living sector, several operators are looking to open up their residential amenities to the wider public. This can create engagement with their communities, enliven the buildings, and simultaneously increase operational affordability. I think we will see new, community-led approaches towards enlivenment and the provision of amenities also continue to grow in other residential sectors.
- What initially drew you into the industry?
I’ve always been interested in how and where people live, and I studied anthropology as an undergraduate as a result. To be completely honest though, it was a bit of a happy accident that I ended up in this industry. After initially working in property management, I wanted to find a job where I could be proactive rather than reactive, and work with people creating exciting new places. I was initially unsure where I would be able to do this with the experience I had at the time, but I was fortunate enough to find SAY, and I have never looked back.
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given about your career and who was it from?
Someone early in my career once told me ‘No one knows anything’.
It was clearly meant to be tongue in cheek, and better approach would probably be ‘No one knows everything’.
I do think it can be helpful to remember though. Particularly when starting out, work can often feel daunting, and it’s easy to feel out of your depth. But the reality is everyone is constantly learning, and work is most rewarding when people are working together to figure out a solution to a new problem or question, they haven’t thought of before.
- What advice would you give future generations wanting to get into the industry?
“The property industry can sometimes feel a little intimidating and elitist because of qualifications with specific degree requirements etc. It is an industry with so many opportunities though, in a huge range of jobs with a real tangible impact on the built environment. There are lots of pathways into it, from apprenticeships and graduate schemes to transitioning from other sectors.
So, my advice would be to spend some time looking for companies whose work and values interest you and go for it!”
If you want to speak to Caspar about your later living development, get in touch with him at caspar@sayproperty.co.uk.
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