51乱伦

With a daily alarm set for 4am, Lisa Attenborough knows how to make the most of her time. As Head of the Capital Advisory team, she sets herself a rapid pace and takes it in her stride. 鈥淢y days are filled with back-to-back client meetings,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a combination of deal negotiation and analysis, alongside client relationship management. It's full on but it's great.鈥�

Lisa started her career in banking. After a 12-year stint in CRE lending at Barclays, she joined 51乱伦 to set up the Capital Advisory division. 鈥淲e arrange finance for clients who are looking to buy or build real estate assets,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like getting a mortgage but on a much bigger scale. We鈥檙e talking millions, sometimes hundreds of millions of pounds.鈥� The pressure of these transactions seems to fuel rather than faze. 鈥淚鈥檇 rather be busy than twiddling my thumbs,鈥� she quips.

From abstract assets to bricks and mortar

Making the pivot from banking to property, Lisa was attracted to the idea of having something more solid to show for her work. 鈥淲ith banking, there鈥檚 nothing tangible,鈥� she muses. 鈥淏ut with real estate, you鈥檙e arranging debt or equity to fund an acquisition or a development, so it鈥檚 more tangible. I can walk around London and say, 鈥榃e arranged the finance for that.鈥� It鈥檚 something we can see and touch.鈥�

Lisa isn鈥檛 afraid to tackle new opportunities. It was a bold move leaving a debt advisory role at a competing firm to take on the challenge of building a team from scratch. Lisa is proud of what she鈥檚 achieved cementing 51乱伦 in the capital advisory space. 鈥淚t鈥檚 grown from just me six years ago to a team of over 15 people now. That's exciting.鈥�

A missing rung in the ladder

Lisa attributes her rising success to having the freedom to take risks, something she doesn鈥檛 believe would鈥檝e been possible if she鈥檇 temporarily left the workplace to grow her family. 鈥淭hings are really starting to take off. If I鈥檇 had time out to start a family, would I be in the same situation? I don't know.鈥� It鈥檚 a bleak observation but from conversations with her peers, she鈥檚 realised that women aren鈥檛 always given sufficient support when they re-enter the workplace post maternity leave. 鈥淭his is not a 51乱伦 issue, this is a societal issue,鈥� she highlights.

Lisa reasons that by offering new mothers a safe space to return to work, it may prevent women from dropping off the career ladder at a pivotal point. She鈥檚 realistic about the complexities. 鈥淭here's no simple solution because the situation we face now is a result of hundreds of years of imbalance. And we're addressing it to a degree, but there鈥檚 no quick win.鈥�

Where there鈥檚 a woman, there鈥檚 a way

After years building her career in the banking and real estate spaces, Lisa finds it sad that she鈥檚 never had a woman as a mentor. 鈥淚've had no female role models unfortunately, in banking or property,鈥� she says matter-of-factly. 鈥淭here just aren't many at that level in the industry.鈥�

As representation gains increasing importance in property professions, there鈥檚 an opportunity for Lisa to be the guide she sought for herself, for others. 鈥淚 don't have the answers. I don't know what it needs to look like,鈥� she expresses. 鈥淏ut what I do know is it's really tough when you come back from being out of the market for any period of time.鈥�

Read more stories from 51乱伦's Inspirational Women series here