Accepting change in unprecedented times

Beautiful young woman

I am continually hearing that we are living in unprecedented times.  This is certainly true.  As we all made a resolutions at the start of a new decade, no-one would have thought we would be dealing with a global pandemic and lockdown as the daffodils just started to show.

Not only is this unprecedented, the situation is uncertain.  One certainty we have is that we must adapt to a rapidly changing landscape.  As a creature of habit, I am not a fan of change and I embrace my routine.  Every morning I have my coffee in “my” mug, get ready for work and head to the office.  Confronted with “WFH” I felt myself starting to panic ‑ even the acronym bothered me!

Nearly a week in and I’m realising this is not so bad.  I am putting new routines in place and I can still work productively and effectively (if not ergonomically) from home.  Change can be a good thing and we will certainly have to get used to more of it.

When this is over (whenever that might be) we will need to adapt to a new normal.  During the second world war, women were called to work in factories and jobs that they never would have been considered for before, whilst their male counterparts fought on the front.  After that upheaval a great many of those women wanted to stay in the workplace and perhaps without this we would not be where we are now with gender equality.

I firmly believe that there will still be a place for offices and office workers at the end of this.  We are after all social creatures and whilst “virtual” office drinks on a Friday is novel it does not quite replace that camaraderie of being next to someone all day.  Perhaps the need for office space will be less but maybe what we will need will be more flexible spaces with breakout areas and more “hot” desking.

We may well also adapt our shopping habits even further to the online model needing more warehousing space.  Finally, as we realise how dependent our supply chain is on workers across the world, maybe we will bring industry and manufacture closer to home – leading to an increase in the need for industrial space.

We do not know what the future holds but we will adapt and in the meantime, we’re in for an interesting ride!

Share

Tamzin Mandelli

Partner, Commercial Property

Prior to joining Hart Brown, Tamzin had worked for a local authority and for both regional and national firms. Tamzin is a Partner with over...

Partner, Commercial Property

Tamzin Mandelli

Prior to joining Hart Brown, Tamzin had worked for a local authority and for both regional and national firms.

Tamzin is a Partner with over 23 years' experience and she is based at our Woking office. Tamzin specialises in all aspects of commercial property including the sale and purchase of shops, offices and restaurants, landlord and tenant matters (from granting the new lease, through to the various licences for works, transfers and so on) and dealing with the eventual termination of a lease. She is also experienced at dealing with development work including option agreements and acquisitions.

Hart Brown is recognised in the Legal 500 2024 edition for real estate work in the South East and the entry states “With substantial experience in sales and purchases of properties, landlord and tenant matters and development agreements, Tamzin Mandelli 'provides a high level of service’ and ‘is able to deliver what is needed’.”

What do Tamzin's clients say about her?

"We have just worked on a commercial transaction together, which was by far the most challenging case I have dealt with (for a variety of reasons). Tamzin was extremely efficient and salvaged the transaction multiple times... I highly recommend her!"

“Thank you very much for all of your help and support. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you and hope to do so again in the future!”

"...thank you for your support with X, it's been good fun. Wish you were handling a commercial purchase for me! … lesson learnt, will place with you next time!"

“The service I received was efficient, professional and the members I dealt with both past and present have been helpful…and very personable.”