Recently, Sally Duggleby caught up with our friends at Property Week (PW) for their “5 Minutes with…” interview. Here’s the results!

PW : How did you join the property industry? 
Sally : I grew up on a farm and wanted a land based career so chose a rural practice surveying degree.  After managing agricultural and country house estates for a few years in Scotland and Sussex, I switched to commercial surveying in London. 

PW : What does your job entail now? 
Sally : I’m lucky to be involved in every stage of the warehouse development lifecycle from land promotion to leasing and strategic asset management.  My main project is Prologis DIRFT which which is the UK’s leading rail-served logistics park. I have had to learn about rail freight fast. 

PW : What do you like most about the property industry?  
Sally : I like the depth and breadth of work the industry provides and the excellent teachers I’ve met along the way.  My career has spanned rural, residential and commercial from sorting stately home repairs to leasehold enfranchisement of big London residential blocks through to millions of square feet of build to suit warehouses.  The variety has been awesome and has also led to all sorts of random experiences such as helping to put out a grouse moor fire and during my time at John Lewis, working in their Oxford Street store. 

PW : And what do you dislike most about it?  
Sally : The lack of diversity is of concern.  We must do more to make people aware that the property industry is a career pathway.  

PW : What barriers or challenges do you feel you have overcome? 
Sally : Growing an occupier book of business from scratch at Savills was challenging at times.  I achieved it though and the projects were rewarding and I met some great people. 

PW : What are you most proud of in your career?  
Sally : The portfolio and team I built during my time as head of real estate at Amazon UK & ROI.  In the early days in 2010 few had heard of Amazon and the commercial terms the company was looking for were ambitious and sometimes unusual (think German meets US property law!).  It was a hard but fun challenge to assemble the network of Fulfilment Centres and Delivery Stations.  When I joined there were just five properties in the network and seven years later, over 100.  Eventually the Day 1 magic that comes with a pioneer business started to change so it was time to leave.

PW : What’s your biggest career mistake or regret? 
Sally : Early in my career I inadvertently sent an email to a colleague criticising their performance.  Whilst initially awkward it forced me to resolve the issue face to face, and I’ve adopted this approach in my business dealings since. 

PW : What advice would you give someone starting a career in the property industry? 
Sally : Don’t put up with accepted ways of doing things if they’re outmoded or don’t make sense.   Also follow what interests you, and try to have fun.  

PW : Who do you admire most in the property sector? 
Sally : Anyone who goes over and above to give something genuinely meaningful back to society. Some of the Covid initiatives I saw in the PW awards were impressive and went the philanthropic extra mile.  I also have a lot of respect for property professionals who author text books. 

PW : One film/television series and why you like it: 
Sally : The Wire, the police drama set in Baltimore, I was transfixed and learnt a lot of slang. 

PW : One book and why you like it: 
Sally : The last book I read was by Agatha Christie – the Murder of Roger Ackroyd.  I’d read that it’s the most impossible crime to solve and was utterly outwitted.

PW : How would you spend a million pounds? 
Sally : Quickly. 

PW : Which celebrity would you most like to spend an hour with and why? 
Sally : Alan Turing, I would say thank you, you shortened the War by two years and in the future your life choices will not be judged in the same way.  

PW : If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? 
Sally : The power of flight to change up my commutes to Solihull and London. Though I do love trains…