Urban Splash invests in a Director of the Future
Award winning regeneration and property company Urban Splash has appointed former RIBA North Director Suzy Jones as their first ever Director of the Future – a move set to help the company tackle the challenges of future development.
Suzy will be responsible for using foresight and innovation to develop the purpose led ambition of Urban Splash and the strategy required to support it.
Suzy, who previously worked at Urban Splash as part of its sister company House, is thrilled to return in this new capacity adding: “Director of the Future is quite some job title to live up to. Much of the roles focus is on ESG, which is well embedded at Urban Splash so not too much of an uphill struggle.
“Urban Splash is an entrepreneurial and commercially minded brand but believe, and have demonstrated, this isn’t at odds with trying to do things better. Being part of a company whose purpose is to leave things better and more beautiful is refreshing. It provides room to make decisions differently and an opportunity to be directly involved in shaping a more equitable, appropriate and resilient sector.”
Suzy joins Urban Splash at an exciting time. The company celebrates its 30th birthday this year and has recently announced a new funding deal with Grosvenor, and a pipeline of projects that will create an impressive 4,500 new homes and 500,000 sq ft of commercial space in the next five years. Suzy continued: “The projects we are initiating now will be realised over the next decade or so, impacting people’s lives and our planet for considerably longer. The way in which people will want, and need to live is likely to change dramatically during this period and we need to be prepared for that as we imagine, design and create neighbourhoods of the future.
“The relevance and resilience of our neighbourhoods, the happiness of our customers and therefore the success of Urban Splash, hinges on understanding those changing demands. ”
Urban Splash co-founder Jonathan Falkingham added: “We are delighted to welcome Suzy back into our business to help us navigate the next 30 years.”
“It’s rare for a property company to have a director tasked purely with thinking beyond immediate horizons. Climate change, ecosystem collapse, the unprecedented speed at which technological leaps are adopted, and the socio, political and economic impact of these things is going to have significant impact on the requirements of the built environment. Our sector needs to change and this is Urban Splash’s way helping to do that.“
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