Name: Adrienne Howells
Job title: Senior development director at GLP Europe
Why I got into the property industry: I joined Lidl UK as a graduate store manager. I wanted to work for a large organisation with career progression opportunities, and ended up working from one of the regional property offices. This gave me the opportunity to see what the retail property team did day to day and I soon realised that was the job I wanted! When a vacancy came up within the team I jumped at the chance to join them.
My first proper job: Having completed my undergraduate degree in Rural Economics and Food Marketing, I took a job with a small family-run hospitality training company as a marketing co-ordinator. I worked there for three years and got a really good grounding in the world of work, but left as there was no career progression available to me.
My first big break: Being offered the head of warehouse acquisitions job at Lidl. Prior to my appointment there was no department for warehouse acquisitions so I was instrumental in setting up the department and then acquiring the sites they needed to allow the retail side of the business to expand.
My greatest achievement/proudest moment to date: G-Park Mammoth 602 in Doncaster is a development I am extremely proud of. It is one of the biggest and most sustainable logistics buildings in the North of England. It was built to Carbon Net Zero for construction and BREEAM Excellent. We also designed it with a gym and leisure area within the building, and externally in the wider common parts area, we included surfaced paths so employees could have a walking around the attenuation lagoons, to encourage employee wellbeing and physical activity. My favourite part of the whole development though, was the creation of a ‘Tiny Forest’ which is an area the size of a tennis court, densely planted with native fast-growing trees. It is an initiative run by the charity ‘Earthwatch’ and I am very excited to see our Tiny Forest grow and see how many animal and plant species we can attract to it over the years to come.
My biggest bugbear about the industry: The lack of diversity within the industry.
When I became interested in ESG: I have to credit GLP’s commitment and long history of ESG initiatives for educating me and providing the opportunity to help shape positive change in our future developments. We built the first Carbon Net Zero for construction logistics building, and being involved in that process really opened my eyes to what can be achieved when you challenge every aspect of the development.
Why I’m so passionate about DE&I: I was overlooked twice for promotion, despite having stepped up to the role in an informal temporary capacity. Both times I lost out to male candidates who were automatically considered to be stronger. Needless to say it didn’t always work out for the best – one of them left after two months as he was completely unsuitable for the role! I have also walked into meetings and have people not shake my hand despite shaking hands with the men in the room, and the classic assumption that I will serve everyone tea and coffee in the meeting because, of course, it’s a ‘female job’ and I’m the only female in the room! I don’t ever want anyone else to feel degraded, uncomfortable, overlooked or excluded in the ways I have experienced in my career.
What I do in my downtime: I am a keen showjumper and like to spend time training and competing my horses across warmer European countries!
The job I’d be doing if I was not doing this: I’d like to re-train as an equine physio.
My advice for someone just starting out: Ask as many questions as you can, people love to share their passion and knowledge.
