In conversation with: Lauren Gill
Lauren’s team are responsible for growing Octopus’s real estate business, keeping their impact and sustainability mission at the heart of what they do.
What’s your role and what’s the best thing about it? I’ve been at Octopus for nearly 10 years and I sit on a Corporate Development team, who are charged with growth of the business. It’s a very open remit. Octopus’s innovative approach to customer experience is what stands out for me. I’m working on an affordable housing strategy and I’m rarely in a discussion where benefit to customers is not the most important thing.
What’s your main purpose in your role? To concentrate on the impact of our work; challenging the BAU processes to embed impact and sustainability. I’m often the one in a meeting asking if what we’re doing is meeting a certain criteria or metric. We’re a B Corp, so our decisions have to give equal consideration to the environment, customer, community, shareholders and employees.
What motivates you personally? Within affordable housing, it’s the scale of the housing crisis and how much noise it’s not receiving. Housing associations are under extreme pressure to deliver energy performance, fire safety and more homes all at the same time. There is a systemic issue as the wait list for affordable housing grows but the delivery of new, quality homes is not meeting the demand. Hopefully we can make a dent.
Why is purpose important? The first thing is changing the market. The new generation is not satisfied with just focusing on money. We’ve seen impact funds perform better and more resiliently throughout the pandemic. There’s a sea change in people being far more engaged with what’s going on in the world.
Second is employees. On a rainy Tuesday in November, how do you and the people you work with keep driven and motivated? People come up to me in the kitchen and ask me about the affordable housing fund and the difference we’re making because they’re passionate about making a change. When people you work with buy into what you’re doing, you create a community motivated for change.
Third is consumers. We’re in a cost of living crisis and as private entities we’ve got a responsibility to do better. There’s no choice but to have a purpose and deliver it meaningfully, not just be seen to be doing good.
What are you listening to? I’m in a phase of nostalgia for my dramatic teenage years: Evanescence, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy.
What’s your destination of choice? I just went on a sabbatical — which is a long-term service award from Octopus — and spent four weeks away, largely in Asia. It was the trip of a lifetime!
Finish this sentence: I need more… Time. There’s so much to achieve and we make the biggest change by working with other people, expanding and creating a network. I’d love more time to do that so we could make more difference.
We make the biggest change by working with other people, expanding and creating a network. I’d love more time to do that.
This is an excerpt from our latest book Purpose: Built, it’s all about making change happen and designing a brighter, better future. If you’d like a copy of request one here.
Magnetic is a design and innovation company that helps design better futures. We’ve worked with global businesses to build capabilities, products, services and transform organisations. To find out more get in touch: hello@wearemagnetic.com.
