Sandra leads PwC’s real estate practice in the UK and has been with the UK firm for over 25 years. She has FTSE listed experience working with REITs and asset managers as well as private equity real estate and fund managers. Sandra’s clients have included U+I Group PLC, Civitas Social Housing REIT, Aviva Investors Real Assets, BlackRock Real Assets and Jupiter Fund Management PLC. 

Sandra also sits on the British Property Federation Finance Committee and represents PwC at the Real Estate Balance Network. 

Outside of work Sandra enjoys horse riding, spending time with her cocker spaniel and has 15 year old boy/girl twins. Sandra lives in Esher and has previously lived in Boston and Montreal, where she grew up. 

Q-What was your first job and what is the worst job you’ve ever done? 

My first job was working at local flying club in Montreal – I loved it and went on to get my private pilot’s license whilst working there over the summers and weekends through my university years.
The worst job I ever did was actually working on a stock count for a pharmaceutical company where I had to go to the test lab and count rats! 

Q-Was Tax your first career choice and what were you doing before?
Joining an accounting firm was my first choice and I actually applied to 23 firms in Montreal for a summer internship whilst at McGill University. I chose to join PwC because of the opportunity to work overseas and I’ve done four international secondments over my career, so very happy that I chose PwC in the end. 

Q-Why did you choose a career in the commercial real estate sector?
I’ve worked with a variety of industries over my career at PwC including forestry, financial services, pharmaceuticals and I’ve been involved with the real estate sector over the last 12 years. It has been the best industry sector in many ways because it touches so many different aspects of the economy and I find macro trends to be very interesting. The real estate community is also a tight one and you get to know people really well. 

Q-Why do you enjoy the sector? See above. 

Q-What’s a typical day like?
Every day is different in that there are new challenges and issues to address. As a single parent, I have to get myself up and ready before getting my two 15 year olds out the door whilst managing the chaos that my Spaniel and two kittens cause. I then might have a client breakfast, real estate leadership meeting, audit committee presentation, people manager issue, partner meeting, CEO or CFO dinner, industry event, team meeting about our Emerging Trends in Europe publication, a Real Estate Balance speed mentoring event and the current climate of Brexit and the broader geopolitical uncertainty mean that my clients are looking to us for advice. I’m also helping my son with GCSE maths so I’m relearning quadratic equations! No two days are the same! 

Q-Who or what has had the biggest impact on your career?
There have been many people that have given me advice, support, counsel and that is the advantage of working at PwC as there are many partners that invest in our people and I really benefited from that on more than one occasion – I wouldn’t be where I am today without their support. 

Q-What advice would you give to people at different levels on developing their careers?
I think it is really important to seek out feedback, support and advice no matter what level you are at – look for opportunities to do something different and stretch yourself. I think people will have more than one career going forward and the ability to adapt to change will be key – put yourself out there and don’t be afraid of failure! I think resilience will be a necessity to a successful career. 

Q-Who inspires you and why?
People that are passionate about what they do, whether they are saving lives, picking up the rubbish, driving a bus, solving complex business problems or coming up with new ideas. Steve Jobs changed lives all over the world – where would we be without our phones today? 

Q-What are your strengths and weaknesses?
I’m very passionate about people and spend a lot of time leading and coaching people. I’m also known for building long term lasting relationships and trusted by my clients. I can be less political and quite direct which sometimes doesn’t land well with people with large egos! 

Q-What do you think are the common qualities that the best leaders have?
I think leadership is a very complex skill that only very few people actually master (or perhaps are born with). A great leader has a strong sense of self awareness, a capability to see the wood from the trees but can dip into detail when it is needed and an ability to influence others to follow their vision. An outstanding leader recognises when they are the right leader for the situation and when they should go and do something different! 

Q-What are you most proud of?
It goes without saying that my 15 year old twins are my proudest achievement – helping them develop into young adults and turn into wonderful, caring, fun, interesting, bright, outgoing people is something that touches deep inside you. Being a single parent whilst managing a full time career has been an added challenge and I’m lucky to have the support of my parents, even though they live overseas, and fantastic home support from people and friends. 

Q-Why do you feel championing inclusion and diversity is so important?
Because the sum of the parts is greater than the whole – each person has so much to contribute in terms of perspective, ideas, doing things in a different way – that leaving them out means we will achieve less as a collective. The quiet person in the corner might have the best idea in the room – if you don’t include them everyone has lost out. It’s a no brainer. 

Q-Where do you see the Real Estate sector in 10 years time?
I am worried about where the current ‘Real Estate sector’ will be – it is well known that the industry is behind others in terms of diversity & inclusion, adapting to change, embracing technology. It is ripe for disruption in many different ways and that perhaps that is what is needed to really make change happen – one thing is for certain – it will not look like it does today! 

Q-What are key challenges for business directors/partners in 2018?
Navigating the current political uncertainty, deciding where to invest in technology, attracting and keeping a diverse talent pool, managing costs are the challenges for real estate CEOs for 2019. 

Q-Finally, what do you do to relax? 

We love to do activity holidays as a family and have recently been to Hawaii where we learnt to surf, road horses on a cliff, snuba (not scuba) dived, zip-wired over a volcano and cycled down a canyon. Work hard, play hard and be kind is our family motto.