Name: Patrick O’Gorman
Title: CEO, Bywater Properties
What I do: I am a co-owner of Bywater Properties alongside Theo Michell, Richard Walker, and Sumitomo Forestry. Bywater is a UK-based real estate developer and we aim to have a positive impact on people and the planet through creating places and prosperity.
Why I got into the property industry: Real estate is a great sector. It involves a lot of creativity, both in design and deal making, but is also an industry that is based around people. I realised during Covid how much enjoyment and satisfaction I get from interacting with all sorts of different people. When you look at how you can make a positive impact, on the world and in real estate, it all comes down to people.
How I did it: Not knowing that much about the real estate professional world, I started in a graduate job at CBRE which gave me strong professional training and a better insight into how the real estate market worked at the highest levels.
My first proper job: Separating rubbish at a recycling plant in my home town in Wiltshire as a summer job. It is amazing what people throw in their bins! But it was a pretty tough job.
My first big break: Becoming head of central European capital markets at CBRE as a 26-year-old when my immediate boss quit. It was a fantastic experience to lead the growth of a team within CBRE – a global power house of business – from a small team with a tiny revenue to a team of 30 people and a revenue of £5m pounds per annum.
My inspiration(s): I want Bywater to grow, to become a long-lasting major UK development company that leads the way in low carbon design and has a positive impact on people’s lives; both those who live and work in our buildings and the people that work for and with Bywater.
The biggest challenge I’ve encountered to date: The last seven years have been considerably challenging with Brexit, Covid and now the large inflationary and interest rate changes. But I would say that Covid really wins the prize as the greatest challenge of all, with such drastic changes to both family and work life and adapting to the impacts it would have on our projects. However, we have managed to come out of Covid with no vulnerable legacy projects, leading into the higher interest rate period that we are now presented with. That difficult patch has enabled us to be in our very privileged current position as a developer with money to invest in impactful projects.
My greatest achievement/proudest moment to date: I am extremely proud of my family, my wife, two sons and one daughter. Having a young family and having experienced some recent deaths of our senior family members has really put a perspective on what is important in life. Life is there to be enjoyed and savoured, and while we’re around we should be trying to leave some long lasting positivity on the people around us. I’m also very proud of completing the Marathon Des Sables in 2013. During the highs and lows of the six marathon race across the Sahara, I really learnt about how to push my own mental limits and I also made the decision to leave CBRE and move to Bywater!
The biggest misconception people have about the property industry: It is led by greedy people. I think the new generation of property professionals have a profoundly different view on their jobs and lives. They want to feel like they are part of a true purpose and making a positive difference in the world.
The one thing I would change about the industry: Speed. Real estate is a very slow industry to be part of. Clearly building anything takes time, but there are plenty of aspects of buying, designing, planning and construction that could be sped up considerably. I think we have already started a journey of improvement but I expect this to accelerate with the increasing use of and familiarity with AI.
Where I’d like to be in five years’ time career-wise: Bywater is a life time commitment for me. So hopefully we will still be providing inspiring roles for people, and creating incredible places for people to work, live and play, that only have a positive impact on the planet.
Who I’d invite, living or dead, to a dinner party: I love learning from people. I am sure that people sometimes think I am interrogating them when I am interested in how they have become who they are. But that is a hard question to answer. I am going to go with David Beckham right now – obviously the Netflix series has come out. But I found it fascinating and actually quite inspiring how he has managed to move so successfully from one stage of his career to the next, despite so many people feeling so negative about him over the years.
What I do in my downtime: Downtime…?! It doesn’t really exist with a business and three young kids, but I love playing with and coaching my kids at sport at the weekends. I also love a Friday evening at Kingspan stadium watching Ulster play rugby with a pint of Guinness.
The job I’d be doing if I was not doing this: Owning a water sports centre on a beach somewhere. That has always been my plan B.
My advice for someone just starting out: Just get stuck in. I am a big fan of just going for it 100%, whatever you choose. If it doesn’t work out, then you will find another direction and will have learnt from the previous experience. Worst case, you can just start again. You’ll be a better person for it.
My motto/mantra: Be strong, be focussed, be kind.
