A passion for places and a talent for collaborating to make them better has propelled Jo Barnes to the forefront of Sewell Group’s property-focused interests. David Laister spoke with the new Sewell Estates managing director.
Jo Barnes’ all-embracing attitude is as welcome as some of the key projects she has been involved with in the two decades in which she has made Hull home.
She’s even picked up the East Yorkshire accent, to the mock-dismay of some of her red rose relatives. It will come as no surprise to many though, having spent so much of that time talking to people who have the area’s identity running through their own DNA.
Prior to joining one of the area’s foremost ambassadors in construction entrepreneur Paul Sewell in 2008, she had been a key part of regeneration projects in the city.
“I've always been fascinated with changing places and working in regeneration and property development, because there is nothing like driving around a city or a town that you have been involved in and seeing what used to be a muddy industrial site now is a fantastic school, health centre on commercial building - where people are employed, people are receiving care or being educated. Being brought up with economic development I am obsessed with keeping the pound local.”
From Colne, Lancashire, she headed to Newcastle to study economics, and her chosen career path quickly became apparent.
“Part of the course was looking at urban development and I got really interested in that rather than the economic modelling and statistical analysis. How you need to change a place to encourage prosperity and increase life chances - I loved it.”
Fife in Scotland offered that opportunity with the economic development team in the local authority serving Dundee, before a move back to her native Lancashire with Pendle Borough Council.
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It saw her involved in derelict land reclamation schemes, working with developers - and she loved the property side of it.
Next she headed east on the M62 to join the River Hull Corridor Programme with City Vision, and found herself feeding into the city masterplan alongside the local authority and regional development agency. It saw urban regeneration firm City Build formed, and from it spawned the Fruit Market, Humber Quays, St Stephens and Quay West.
She takes pleasure in a 75 per cent success rate with major projects there - with hopes for the latter still harboured.
“I’d always dreamed of running my own business, and the opportunity came along with Citycare,” she said of her introduction to Sewell Group. “It was not my business, but I was allowed to run it as if it was - that’s what Paul promised me, with NHS colleagues in the public/private partnership.
“We did more development in the first four years than I'd ever done previously, an excellent public-private partnership model. We also did advisory work and through that I decided I was ready for a change, and I was encouraged to do it within the group. I set up Shared Agenda, we asked the NHS if they wanted to be a partner, and they said yes. Shared Agenda was born.
“I am continuing to be managing director of Shared Agenda. That was one of the things I wanted to do and I'd had discussions about that when taking this role.
“I've got a fantastic team, a growing team - it has increased by 50 per cent over the past year - and we acquired another really exciting young company recently. There is some really exciting work, a lot of which is in acute sectors - education, health and care. I didn't want to stop moving that forward. It is fantastic work and feels quite valuable when you look at some of the solutions we are finding for our customers.
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“We have made promotions in that team, people have matured and stepped up, which has helped create space in my diary for the broader role.”
So how did that role come about. Mr Sewell, who released his autobiography in the first lockdown, has told how he has intentionally stepped back to allow the “top team” to thrive.
“We have been working together as a leadership team for some time,” the married mother-of-two said. “Five years ago, five of us became shareholders in the business, as well as directors. My style is collaborative anyway, and it naturally evolved.
"A decision was made before Christmas that I was the right person for the job, and it feels like a continuation of some of the things we have been doing already. I've led a lot of group-wide external things, a lot of our partnership boards - not just with the public sector but the commercial collaborations we have too. I've been involved in strategic direction, and now I'll be leading that team. It is evolution rather than revolution.”
She feels her position as a customer of the construction and facilities management entities with CityCare gives her a unique perspective on the board, coming from a procurement perspective with that strong public understanding. And she’s humbled by the way the news has been taken.
“It has been reassuring to see the goodwill for the group, and what we have got to do is not let people down,” she said. “We can get better at what we do, listening to our customers and helping them to improve. Our people are our biggest strength, it has been said many times before, but our people have ensured we have had a very good year in a very difficult year - they worked like stink, all of them.
“Quite a lot of our people are classed as key workers, they have been critical to what has been going on - particularly in health - and we have been working away throughout the last year in the background, supporting what people need and we trust them to always do the right thing. These people are with us because they have the right cultural fit that's non-negotiable. We mandate that, to have the ability and freedom to do the right thing.”
It is reflected in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For accolade, with Jo now responsible for 220 of the group’s 460 employees - with the retail Sewell On The Go element falling out of her new remit.
There’s to be more emphasis on the new talent - and those elsewhere too.
“I will look for further opportunities for innovation and development,” Jo said. “New recruits come at projects from completely different perspectives. We have got to be open to these ideas as it is a big help in tackling new challenges, to have these bright minds alongside our experience.”
Outside of the doors of the Geneva Way HQ, Albion Mills in Willerby and various site offices too will also be a focus.
“I think we have a duty as business people to really watch out for the areas we are working in and give a little back. It is who I am, and Paul has always been a massive believer in that - and I cannot agree with it more, particularly when you look at the last 12-months with so many young people having had a rotten start to education or careers.
“We have a duty to be good corporate citizens. I'm sure we will do something as we start to come out of the other side of this. I really feel for these people.”