Diary of a Commercial Property Girl - Gail Emms

Welcome to my new diary blog. It’s been 12 weeks since I walked into the Search Office Space offices in Mayfair and (amazingly) I’m still here. A new world, a new role and a whole new journey for me. Before I took on this opportunity, I had no idea about offices. I have worked out of my home all this time, so I’ve never worked from an office and even if I did want or need an office, I would have no idea how to go about obtaining one. But now I do ;)

If you’d have asked my friends and family what area of work I would be involved with now, they would have all said ‘Sport. Definitely sport. Gail only knows about that.’ And I would have to agree with them. Except I’m not in sport. I am in commercial property. But sport was the reason how I ended up here though…

It all started before Christmas and I was at a party. I knew no-one there but met two guys who immediately started telling me about the wonders of padel tennis. I’d never heard of it. And after a few drinks, I started getting competitive and challenged them to a game. I stuck to my word, had a game, and lost. Badly.

One of those guys was Richard Smith, CEO and founder of Search Office Space and it was his idea to bring me in to the business. I was unsure at first, because (obviously) of my lack of knowledge in the area, but seeing and hearing Richard’s passion for it, convinced me to give it a go. I have always loved a challenge. Whether it is in elite sport and winning medals or climbing mountains for charity, I think it is important to push yourself. Learning on the job is scary and at times I feel out of my depth because I have never used the words ‘serviced offices’ so many times in my life, but I know I can bring the energy, the enthusiasm and the lessons that I have learnt from my Olympic training days.

So thanks to Richard, I now feel like Joey from Friends when he buys that encyclopedia on the letter V and everyone is talking about something else ;) I am a commuter 3 days a week and wear trainers with my office wardrobe for the walk to work. I moan about tourists in London, the tube, train timetables and the cost a G&T at the local pub to the office. I am every cliché that I never thought I’d be.

However, there is a buzz… an excitement about coming into the city to learn, to develop new skills and to meet interesting people. My office is a mix of characters, from the younger members who think they can beat me at badminton, to the more mature members who love taking the mickey out of me for ‘only winning silver’, but it’s a team and it’s something that I have missed being a part of. I have set up the very popular ‘Monday Lunchtime Running Club’ which would be packed but everyone seems to forget their kit, so it’s great I can have such a positive influence…

I’m now signing off from the office world, but you know who you need to contact for all your serviced office needs ;) [email protected] See you next week!

Gail x