Back in the 1990s I spent a lot of time commuting in and out of London for work.

I came to absolutely loathe it !!!

Not just the uncomfortable travel on increasingly unreliable railway infrastructure in antiquated slam door carriages that were well past their sell by date, but the crowding, noise, filth and polluted air of the Capital itself.

I must admit I was concerned when my eldest daughter chose to move to London and embrace it so wholeheartedly in her career.

However, in supporting her while she has moved around regularly from one rent to another and now the commitment she has made to buying her first property, I have visited London a lot again in recent years.

Her first project was as an assistant construction manager on One Grosvenor Square – https://1gsq.com/ – not a bad starting point for a career.

She then moved to a project in Islington working on the renovation of Finsbury Tower – https://www.jcoffey.com/projects/finsbury-tower/.

The reception area development that she proudly project managed was featured on an episode of The Apprentice when they used the newly revamped offices to conduct the infamous interviews with the final candidates.

On her next project I was delighted to be given a tour around during construction – Nova in Victoria – https://www.macegroup.com/projects/nova-victoria .

Her early responsibilities included managing concrete pouring for the distinctive phase two lower columns and then the floors as they were added.

After the official topping out my wife and I were invited to take a tour down through the 15 stories to see how each level was taking shape. Being a bit of a nerd I was fascinated to see how each level was getting closer and closer to completion as we headed to the ground floor.

Today, she is working on the Timber Square project near the Tate Modern – an important ‘net zero’ orientated development that will set new standards in large scale office and residential buildings – https://www.macegroup.com/media-centre/mace-to-deliver-grade-a-office-redevelopment-in-central-london-for-landsec

One of London’s biggest development projects in recent years has been the amazing regeneration in and around Battersea Power Station. My daughter’s employer has been a major contractor on varying elements of that project https://www.macegroup.com/projects/battersea-power-station and she has been brought in to work on it occasionally when extra support has been needed.

For me, this is a very tangible example of how London has changed over the last 20 years.

Continue reading →