Name: Mike Darby
Job title: Co-founder and CEO, Demand Logic
What I do: Fundamentally, I am an engineer. I’m also CEO of a cleantech company – Demand Logic – which I co-founded with some awesome people who are now my brothers in arms fighting to clean up real estate. We save over £20m every year for our customers and more importantly, 90,000 tonnes of carbon.
Why I got into the property industry: At school, I set out to be a civil engineer but pivoted into building services. I was fascinated by the idea that coding could actually make big machines work harmoniously, and also about the (probably obscure) similarities between the natural world and the workings of a building. Over time, it became clear that buildings needed far more TLC than they were getting and that tech could play a crucial role if they were going to be fit for purpose.
How I did it: I somewhat rashly gave up my A Levels and became an apprentice building services engineer. While I wouldn’t encourage anyone to bail out of full-time education early, unless they’re absolutely sure it’s right for them, this was absolutely the right move for me – I loved the combination of the hands-on, practical, real-world aspects of being an apprentice coupled with the opportunity to continue my academic studies, all while being paid. It’s great to see that degree apprenticeships are taking off. They present an excellent opportunity for people who are more practically driven to get straight to work while not sacrificing their academic ambitions, and seeing in real-time how theory is put into practice. I think it’s crucial for young people going into work to understand that their efforts must have value.
My first proper job: Define proper! I had various part-time jobs from the age of 12 – paper rounds, washing up and waiting tables in a restaurant, working in a lawn mower repair shop. I strongly believe that working early in your life really accelerates your personal development. These jobs helped me develop a strong work ethic as well as an early appreciation of the importance of communication, diplomacy and inter relational skills. They really helped me to recognise the value of human interaction in any job and I think set me off with a head start into my career. So I think any job is a proper job if you’re providing benefit to someone, developing yourself, and paying the rent (even if it’s to your mum and dad).
My first big break: I was working for a BMS systems integrator as a commissioning engineer when that company made a decision to branch out into mainland Europe. I was asked to head up the projects team for this new department, which was a real coming of age. Something of a baptism of fire (it nearly killed me!), but I came out of that much more well rounded.
My inspirations: My wife and my kids, my fabulous colleagues, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Joseph Bazalgette.
The biggest challenge I’ve encountered to date: Frustration! Seeing with such clarity the impact that buildings are having on climate change but needing to disrupt an industry which is very set in its ways and reluctant to change. Driving change is tough.
My greatest achievement/proudest moment to date: When the co-founders and I first started hatching the idea of DL and what it could be, I had a vision of a really nice office and being surrounded by a team of people working, whether there at their computer or at home, all with a shared passion for sustainability and working together to make a real impact. Sometimes I look around at my colleagues and it feels like a dream, I am constantly amazed by the fantastic team we have. More personally, no moment can ever beat the birth of my two kids!
The biggest misconception people have about the property industry: That beautiful, shiny, new, state of the art buildings are working well – they aren’t. The average new build or refurbed property is responsible for 4x the carbon it was designed for, and once you’ve seen the inner workings of these buildings you can’t unsee it. You need to fix it. It’s critical that more people are given this transparency to push change.
Why I am so passionate about DE&I: Because we should live in a world where it shouldn’t be a topic for discussion and where equality is a fact of life. So we have to battle personally and institutionally to make this the case.
My biggest bugbear about the industry/the one thing I would change about the industry: The diluted responsibilities for the impact that the buildings have on the environment, whether it is occupants, the management agents, facilities management, engineers or the owners; these diluted responsibilities leave many with the sense that sustainability is someone else’s problem.
Where I’d like to be in five years time career wise: I’d like to consider starting a foundation where I could help high impact start-ups at their difficult first stages when no one believes in them.
Who I’d invite living or dead to a dinner party: Leonardo de Vinci, Joan of Arc, George Monbiot, Frankie Boyle and Mo Mowlam.
What I do in my downtime: Walking, music and travel – though oddly my brain is always craving an engineering problem to solve. It seems to find them therapeutic.
The job I’d be doing if I was not doing this: Building a genuinely sustainable community, including construction, energy tech, micro agriculture and most importantly fairness in reward for effort.
My advice for someone just starting out: Don’t be daunted (easy to say), try to understand what really needs doing and where your own ambitions can fit in with this. Be prepared to do any work that helps either in some way and don’t feel entitled, make sure you are providing value.
My motto/mantra: Both stolen: Go placidly amidst the noise and haste. For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
