Alex Carter, Estates Surveyor, reflects on his first 100 days at Potter Space.
It was quite a leap of faith to move from a multi-disciplinary firm, covering all aspects of building surveys for numerous clients, to join a family business on the client side.
However the role at Potter Space presented an excellent challenge, as the job is more extensive and provides me with new skills, as well as helping towards qualifying as a Chartered Building surveyor.
In addition, this is a family business with an excellent track record enjoying great success for over 50 years, having recently operated as an award-winning logistics firm.
I was joining at an exciting time as the company had announced ambitious plans to invest £25m over the next five years and, as it had sold its logistics activities, had repositioned itself as a commercial property company with the launch of ‘Potter Space’.
I certainly hit the ground running, with the first few weeks taken up touring the strategically located business parks in Ripon, Droitwich, Selby, Ely and Knowsley. There is plenty of activity happening across the five locations and I was quickly introduced to a number of projects which I now manage, from smaller tasks through to large, new-build projects.
There was never a dull moment in my first 100 days and I have learnt something new almost every day, whether it was a site specific detail or a skill that I can use to develop as a building surveyor.
One of the first jobs I was given was to design a heated chemical storage area for a customer who wanted to relocate to another part of the park.
I am currently working on a 27,000 commercial unit under construction on our Ripon Business Park for an existing long-term customer Primary Diets, to enable it to expand its operations on site.
I have had some great fun too, with one of the highlights being invited to Twickenham by the management team to watch England versus Scotland. Having been a rugby fan all my life I can now tick this off my bucket list.
It is great being part of a much smaller team than I have been used to, as you really do feel like you’re part of the family leading to a great working environment.
Judging by the first 100 days it has been an excellent career move for me.
