Ed Thomas | Head of Community Experience, The Collective

06/25/18 • 37 min

At the heart of Space-as-a-Service is the concept of community; an intangible benefit that extends beyond functional service provision and which will ultimately lead to customer happiness and therefore potentially higher retention rates and ultimately returns for investors.

Ed Thomas views the central ethos of co-living as bringing community back into the heart of the home. When he joined Reza Merchant's The Collective in 2016, he was tasked with exactly that; creating a sense of community within the pioneering 546 bed, co-living development in Old Oak, West London.

Ed believes that strong communities equate to happy members at The Collective, a belief founded in the fundamental principles of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. After shelter and security, humans next need relationships to thrive. For the individual, the benefits of community range from improved wellness, greater avenues of entertainment, networking opportunities, shared learning experiences and, perhaps most importantly (in a city where 60% of 18-35 year olds report feeling lonely), less loneliness. Ed believes that technological changes have altered our relationship-building patterns in a way which places a greater-than-ever importance on "real" communities in big cities.

For the property owner / developer / manager, meeting this most basic of human needs can lead to higher occupancy rates and rents and higher retention rates, as well as an array of cross-benefits across mixed-use sites.

In our interview, Ed explains how he's used a mixture of intricate building design and planning, combined with technology and, most importantly, human direction to help build community at The Collective, Old Oak. He explains the importance of enabling communities to self-develop rather than trying to force anything on members within the development. This needs to be done within a framework of rules, however, to ensure that all members are pulling their weight equally - the skill lies in being able to navigate the path between facilitating and pushing ideas on community members. Apple's concept of Fearless Feedback is an integral part of Ed's ability to adapt seamlessly to his members evolving needs and demands - communities are fluid concepts and there's no one-size solution.

We discuss the role technology can play in helping both owners and customers build communities, as well as the issues that technology is bringing to individuals as they seek to build relationships in new cities or environments.

Finally, Ed gives his thoughts on the emergence of co-living as a sector, the direction of travel for The Collective and emergence of competition to the brand.

Ed's favourite building is The Collective, Old Oak - unsurprising when you hear the thought he's put into it! His favourite innovation is The Collective's Library of Things; the embodiment of the shared-economy / community ethos through a tech-enabled solution.

Finally, Ed gives his thoughts on the emergence of co-living as a sector, the direction of travel for The Collective and emergence of competition to the brand.

Previous Episode

Shain Shapiro | CEO & Founder, Sound Diplomacy

Dr Shain Shapiro is founder and CEO of Sound Diplomacy , bridging the gap between music and the world of policy and urban planning.

Sound Diplomacy is the leader of the Music Cities movement, which sees culture built into the urban environment through an integrated music policy.

Music is a universal language. While we all have individual tastes and preferences, it's an experience common to everyone. It can aid with early development, rehabilitation and healthy ageing. It's personal benefits are therefore indisputable.

A well curated and executed music policy can help attract & retain capital and talent, help build the nigh-time economy and improve tourism. Shain argues that Music Cities need more than just a a policy though; they need someone to promote the cause within the local authority to ensure that it is being thought about & that policy is being enacted. The efficacy of this can be seen in London; Shain believes that the decline of 35-40% of music venues in the capital over the past decade has been halted, (at least in part) due to the appointment of the Mayor's night-czar, Amy Lamé.For developers, music is yet another piece in the puzzle of creating a sense of place that will make the development more deliverable and therefore valuable. For build-to-rent's model, music's role in community building should definitely be considered further.

It's important to remember that music (like all arts and cultures) requires a full ecosystem to flourish. Headline acts come from grass-root venue beginnings and those venues need to be encouraged and cultivated. Shain believes that venues with capacity of less than 500 will need to look to multi-use in order to be sustainable as business models. The plurality of buildings could emerge as community centres, tech incubators, yoga studios or many uses. Tech solutions, such as Vanessa Butz's District, could really help with this mixed usage of buildings.

If you're interested in learning more about the role of music in the built environment, please visit Sound Diplomacy or explore Music UK's website.

Shain's favourite buildings are the Grand Place in Brussels and Alexandra Palace.

Kerb is Shain's favourite innovation within the built environment and whatt he aspires to emulate in a music context.

Next Episode

Mark Robinson | Owner, Ellandi

As e-commerce continues to disrupt bricks-and-mortar retail, the story of the retail apocalypse or death of the high street has been mainstream news and this isn’t a phenomenon unique to the UK. I talk to Mark Robinson of Ellandi to see if we can find out: a) whether the situation is as dire as it is presented and b) what is the future of mainstream retail (i.e. everyday shopping, as opposed to destination retail).

Mark founded Ellandi in 2008 and it is now now the UK’s leading investment manager of Community Shopping Centres. Mark is president elect of REVO, the retail property industry body, and one of the more outspoken commentators in the sector.

We start by discussing the categorisation of shopping centres and the polarisation towards either destination or convenience centres, versus the traditional (and probably defunct) prime & secondary definitions.

Interestingly, we soon hit on the concept of community - a running theme in recent episodes – and its importance in creating a sense of purpose and identity for local centres. In the traditional categorisations of shopping centres, there’s no appreciation for this idea and yet, this is clearly an increasingly critical driver of footfall and thus retail performance. Mark’s centres have created data to prove this point out.

Mark’s view (and he’s not alone) is that the retail apocalypse is over-stated; what we’re seeing is the death of poor concepts and badly managed operations. He uses the current example of Poundland as a case-in-point. That is not to say that the sector is not entering a period of profound change; just that some retailers are adapting better than others. Of course, this applies equally to property owners; those who aren’t capable of adapting their own business models in-step with their more forward-thinking tenants are going to struggle and will probably add to the problem.

So, who should be sorting out our struggling town centres out? I think our conclusion is that it’s situation dependent. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s public or private-sector led, the importance is driving ideas of collaboration (both between landlord-tenant and landlord-local authority & other stakeholders), innovation and community. To this end, the argument as to whether or not Local Authorities should be using their access to the Public Works Loan Board to fund town centre regeneration becomes moot; the key is that they’re using the funds to invest in their own built environments, rather than speculating in the wider asset class.

Cripplingly high & out-dated business rates, upward only reviews and misuse of the CVA process are all other complex problems facing property owners and retailers at present. We try our best to cover as many areas as possible and see where the solutions lie!