Meet the Techspace Team — Programme Manager James

In this week’s blog we have changed the focus back to our diverse Techspace team — to showcase the range of skills we house to help make the cogs in our wheel run smoothly.

James Youle, our Programme Manager at Techspace is responsible for ensuring that all of our development projects are delivered on time and on budget. It’s no small task, and we’re certain the new Luke Street space is keeping him very busy ahead of our planned July launch.

So James, we hear you started off working on construction sites?

Yes, before I graduated from the University of Brighton, I worked on construction sites as a General Labourer. My Dad works in construction, in the trade side rather than the management side, so I’ve always been around it. With my skill set it felt like a good place to go for my career.

So what did you study at university?

The course was Project Management for Construction — so pretty direct in where I was aiming to go! I graduated right in the middle of the financial crash and so construction really slowed down in the UK.

I applied for some wild card jobs in the Middle East. Within a week I had got a job as a project engineer and was flying out to Dubai to live!

Did you enjoy living in Dubai?

The glitz and glamour made it really exciting. It’s such as sociable place because of the large expat community — and was a great place to live in my 20’s.

We worked with the developers of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa and our consultancy managed a number of buildings around it. It was an exciting place to be! I worked on some of my biggest projects in the Middle East, worth up to the £100m mark.

What did you do next?

Well, I started off as a project engineer and then moved on into a project management role within commercial real estate in Dubai, and then when I came back to London I took a job in programme management at a corporate real estate consultancy.

There was lots of travel involved, as part of the work managing programmes for a couple of big global companies. I still like travelling but it’s nice to keep it to just holidays — I’ve seen too many airports in my time!

What changes are you seeing in the industry?

Commercial real estate and internal design is in a real transition period at the moment and especially in London we’re moving away from structured workplaces towards agile and flexible working.

Employers are focused on designs that enable their staff to work smarter, and are giving them what they need. It’s so important for attracting and retaining talent to have a good, vibrant and fun workspace.

What attracted you to the role at Techspace?

I liked the more relaxed vibe and the real focus on community — it’s really not emphasised so much within corporates. We’re a young workforce at Techspace so it’s really sociable and we do things together in the evenings — you feel more part of the culture than perhaps in a corporate.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m managing the day to day projects including any onsite works, budgets, timescales and programmes at our sites. I started on the day we signed the lease for the new Luke Street space in Shoreditch. The design was complete and the onsite phase was where I came in — managing contractors and budgets and making sure it all flows well.

The new Techspace site is a really exciting new building in the heart of Shoreditch. It’s got a really industrial feel to it — and we’re making really good use of the space. It’s certainly a an exciting time to be at Techspace!

Want to know more about our talented team? Catch our interview with Matt Blewitt, Software Developer at Techspace in our recent blog here.