Why is YADA the coolest Architecture Event in the UK?! And Where Can I Get a Cheeky Beer?!

Why is YADA the coolest Architecture Event in the UK__ And Where Can I Get a Cheeky Beer?
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Stephen Drew: Hello, hello. It's Monday. We're kicking off the week. There's so much stuff happening. If you're at home right now, that's okay. But I'm going to drag you out this Wednesday and Thursday. You don't know what's coming. And we're going to talk about the coolest event. And I love it. All right, 20 seconds.

Christmas beers are coming. You're going to learn all about the coolest event. All right, 10 seconds. excited.

Hello, everyone. We're almost there. Christmas is coming. And that means that we Get to cause trouble. We get to do a little bit of Revit, but you know what, everyone's [00:01:00] loosening up. And what that means is a great time to meet people and relax, have a bit of fun. And on that note, I want to touch upon something about one of the coolest events that I've personally been to in architecture, if there was an awards.

These guys would win it and I'm, what am I talking about? I'm talking about Yarda, the Young Architects Develop Alliance. Develop. I've already had some beers as well. It feels like that. Now I've got Benny and Gareth here who can correctly tell me the name of Yarda. Cause what on earth is Yarda about?

And then we'll go into it. But first of all, Benny and Gareth, how are you today?

Beni and Gareth: Hello. Good. Thank you. Thank you so much for having us today. It's a real pleasure to finally be on the show. I've seen so many of the episodes and now we've made it, so we're definitely famous now.

Stephen Drew: You have made it and Yada is the best event. Now, I think it's the Young Architect and Developers Alliance. I was just tripping up over my words. It [00:02:00] was a tongue twister for me, but I love these events. Benny, first of all, before we talk about Yada, you know how excited I am. First of all, tell me about you two.

First of all, who are you guys for anyone that's not met you?

Beni and Gareth: So I'm a I'm an architect. I qualified back in 2016 and I'm currently a project director for Scott Browning. So I work in the DDU department. Yeah, and I'm Gareth. I run my own small sort of architectural business and I qualified just after sort of 2000. 17, and yeah, and we're both board members of IANA.

Stephen Drew: Amazing. Thank you so much. And Benny, I'm glad that you're here at Gareth as well. So you mentioned the board. Now, Yadda's a pretty cool event, right? So what happens on this board? I'm dying to know in a bit, but let's hit on the head. What on earth Yadda is first and foremost? Can you tell us about what, who, what Yadda is?

Beni and Gareth: So it's a, essentially, it's a networking [00:03:00] organization for young architects and developers. So it's just trying to offer an alternative event to traditional networking. It's not planned, it's completely free to attend, and it's just trying to get lots of people in the room talking, conversing, meeting each other, and hopefully developing relationships to grow into their careers.

And ultimately the goal is to try and create a better built environment by working closely together. So that's what we're about. And yes, there's lots of drinks and canapes and funky venues but yeah, that's the second part to it. It's networking that's built by young people for young people and so it's just there to have fun and just a good bite testing place for young people to network.

Thanks.

Stephen Drew: it. And so there's two things. We're going to unpack what that means to network. Cause at first, when I was like a part two, I'd be like, Oh my goodness, I got a network. Does that mean I've got to go out and speak to someone who's a director and I'm going to be scared? And they're going to look [00:04:00] down at me and go, who are you?

You're just a part two. And that's not what this is about. This is the yard. It's a cool event. Everyone's friendly. I've had lots and lots of fun and speaking to the camera, honestly, and none of the things that we do on here are sponsored, right? This is the coolest event, full stop, and I love it. And I've been to a few of them, which, and Gareth's going to rumble me on that front as well.

Now it's up to you too, because. You've curated this beautiful presentation. So rather than me butchering this, mumbling this, and screaming at the camera about how much I love it, which I do, it's true, it's the best event in London. Okay, gotta calm down. Would you like to go through that now and so people can see it a little bit about what it's like?

All right, here we go.

Beni and Gareth: Yada, very much came, the name really came from Yada, which is what we like doing, talking, conversing, getting to know each other. It also tend to fit [00:05:00] quite well with the young architects and developers, and then by the alliance point we got a bit, is it alliance, is it allegiance, is it something else?

Association. Association, could be whatever really, but it's the point of talking and conversing and. Meeting new people. So we started back in 2016, August. So the idea for Yada came really by two people coming together, having a conversation like we are right now and those were Jane Duncan, who was the RIBA President at the time, and Martin Evans, who's a Creative Director for UNI.

So they came together they all invited us in a meeting at the RIBA. So it was a bit of a weird setup. It was a call to action, almost a war room meeting of how we get young architects and young developers together. So it was, yeah, it was quite a, and I think everyone on the board was quite new to this, we were all like 25, 26 at the time, and had no idea how to run events, but felt there was this enormous pressure to then [00:06:00] perform in the halls of the RIBA and try and pull it all off.

Yeah, and I think probably not many of us have been at the RIBA at that point. So the kind of idea of working in this like grand office with a round table, sitting down, almost like King's Arthur's Knights of networking. Jane's Knights of the Table. Yeah, should have gone for that name instead.

But yeah, but there's us. So that's Martin and Jane. And then that was the Original eight, if you like, that started. So there was four architects, four developers, all kind of similar age. Some of us knew each other before. I think generally in architecture, you tend to know everybody because you've either gone to university with them at some point or worked with somebody in the group.

So we knew each other beforehand. And then and then really we just started talking about what's networking, what's the current format, and I think we all felt that traditional networking was very exclusive to a [00:07:00] few, and they were all paid events, so unless the company really went out their way to take you with another director, to invite you to socialize, to meet new people.

Stephen Drew: yeah,

Beni and Gareth: It wasn't really accessible for kind of under 30 year olds at the time. I think there's a, also with developers and architects, I think they had different issues of networking with architects. Maybe historically not actually being even invited to the meetings until they were 50 years old or they've got their own company or something.

Developers were perhaps being invited but feeling like they couldn't really express their own mind because they're with their directors and with their multi year staff. Yeah, so we wanted it to be a place that felt more inclusive and that people could just talk openly and honestly about, their frustrations at work.

And try to build a sort of mutual understanding between the two professions. Yeah, and then I think I think we started brainstorming, what kind of networking events do people [00:08:00] go to? And then Martin said, Thirsty Thursdays. And everybody was like, what that? That sounds so it started off with that seems like a cool format, but that's also very exclusive and by invitation only.

So we were thinking we're going to do the same thing, but reverse it and it's free for all. There's no like membership, no like exclusivity. And it's just about everybody going into a room, sharing a drink. And I think the first event we did which was in a, Fire station. I think we all thought oh, maybe we'll get some beers round and there'll be like 40 odd people and then 500 signed up for a ticket and everybody was like, oh my goodness, what are we gonna do now?

We actually have to put it together properly So that's how it started and then I think we've done what 14 events now

Stephen Drew: wow,

Beni and Gareth: And they've all been, like, really well attended. So they tend to be anything from 150 up to 500, really, depending on the venue. But the format is quite simple. So we get because we're building on this [00:09:00] relationship between architect and developer, we normally get the architect to design the venue and the developer who owns the venue to come together put some money towards drinks and food.

And then that's how we run the event, and there's always a story behind the project, behind how the two came to work together, what was the collaboration what were the ups and downs, so it's really trying to share an honest story. For others to learn from and, inspire the next generation to try and do something similar.

Stephen Drew: I love it. I think I've been to three of them now, and I'm gonna, I was looking at the pictures earlier, and I wasn't, I couldn't see myself, but yes, here we go. So I wasn't at, but it looks cool. This looks like the fun palace, if there's any Cedric Price enthusiasts here from before. I think it's yeah.

It's amazing. But tell me, so this was the first one. You mentioned about getting it going. Now I wouldn't know where to start, [00:10:00] Gareth and Benny. Like you said, I'm like do we get some beers and go down to the park? That's like the extent of my party event repertoire. So I almost need to learn from you.

So tell us how this one came about then.

Beni and Gareth: Yeah, so this one we you and I, who Martin works for as a creative director, they kindly gave us the venue and sponsored it alongside the architects of the project. And yeah, we really didn't know, back then, I don't think we knew how much. It cost to file this stuff and like how the event was going to go and I think even the first time we had, security and we had all sorts of stuff like this because we had no idea inviting 500 people into a building what was going to happen and buying, beers by the crate and uh, not crates, actual pallets of beers and moving it and how do you get them cool and all things like that.

So it's a big learning curve for us all as a group. I guess it's all the things that happen in the background that you don't think about the insurance and liability and what if this happens and that happens, [00:11:00] doing a risk assessment, notifying the neighbors that you might get a bit loudy and noisy.

Until later and that kind of stuff. And I think the memory I have from this one is so at the time there was something going on with Harry Potter, because it was the whole craze of like owls and stuff. So as we were walking to this like fire station with big fire trucks. Really cool place.

And then on the side, there was this guy that had loads of owls that you could pet and have on you. So it ended up being this like crazy event that people thought we'd arranged for the owl man to be there as an entertainment. The fact was he was just there doing a beautiful character. It was completely random, but there we go.

So they kicked off with this idea of a bit of like You don't know what you get. It's like a box of chocolates. It could be like sour, it could be like to try and keep it a bit random and so you have unique things and not be too traditional networking and just have a bit of fun. At this event, we ended up it became a tradition from this event that if you're a director and you want to come to the event, [00:12:00] you have to work behind the bar.

So we had some of the top directors of all top architectural companies and development companies working behind the bar, and I think a lot of people didn't realize that at the event, but actually if you really wanted to get the best connection in the room, it was probably the people behind the bar. And I don't think anyone actually realized it after the first one.

But it was

Stephen Drew: it's brilliant. Now I must confess that since the first one I've been to the one I've recently been, I've was at very comfortable in the bracket, which he was aimed for. And now I'm just over.

It's important to emphasize everyone can get involved. The key bit is that you wanted to get young architects and developers earlier in their career together, isn't it?

Because I remember my directors in the architecture practice going, Oh, we're going to movers and shakers this morning. And I'm like, what the heck is movers and shakers? Why can't I come along. So just to reemphasize that again, while everyone's welcome, it is about, it is the event that [00:13:00] like, if anyone was nervous about, oh, I need to go to an event.

I think this is the most chilled out one to go to with some friends and meet people, right?

Beni and Gareth: I think, it's always good. You can go with your colleague, turn up and just find some of the board members. We're usually wearing a yard of badges. We'll just introduce you to people. It's casual, people just seem to have fun and not I think inherently when you've been to a couple of the events that you get a crowd that, that's just very open and wanting to speak to each other and talk about what's going on in the industry, but also just getting to know each other for, future development of your careers together.

And I think we made a point about, I think, because you mentioned about directors and stuff, I think sometimes when we've gone to events naturally people always like stare at the tags. That you're wearing and like just trying to look at what position you have in what company and how important you are.

So we've tried to make a really big deal about not having any of that. So what we do is we have like dots, so [00:14:00] like we have two, we pick two colors for each of the events. And then if you're a developer, you have one color, if you're an architect, you have another color, so we tend to do like red and green or whatever.

People always say, why is developers getting the green dots? Is it because they got loads of money? No, it's completely random. It's not that well thought through. It tends to be like actually matching colors of like people's like logos and things like that. But it really opens up the discussion because the point is to go and speak to somebody in a different color dot.

And try and create like a relationship and actually when you remove the titles and the positions, it naturally happens a lot easier. Yeah,

Stephen Drew: I would get nervous speaking to the idea of a director, Oh, what am I going to say? However, everyone's just people, isn't it? So actually, I think by just going, Hey, how's it going? Then you get to meet totally different people.

And my tip for everyone is that, when you're at a networking event, you're always thinking, Oh, God, [00:15:00] What's So how do I start speaking to someone? My tip is always be near the bar, and there's, because you can go, hey, how's your evening? Oh, hey, do you want to get one? Oh, sorry, I'm in the way.

And then you break up the conversation. And as you can see in this picture, you definitely have a few drinks and non alcoholic ones as well. It's not all, it's everyone's, it's 20, 20 free. But I think that it's a very easy chilled out environment to be in. But I wasn't at this one though.

I was at Poultry Street, I think, downstairs. That's the first one.

Beni and Gareth: so after the, so this is actually from the one that everybody's seeing on the screen is the cold drop. So that was before King's Cross opened. So the one with the curry fancy. So that was in the artists and we were incredibly lucky to get that one because At the beginning, one of our board members, Jen, who still works at Argent, was actually the development manager for this building, so we managed to get the space, [00:16:00] and it was almost like a sneak peek, so we had a really good turnout because it was There was a lot of things in the news going on about the event and this crazy roof that was being constructed and everybody wanted to know what it is, and we managed to get the space.

So sometimes it's also about trying to give people a little bit like a little bit like open house, but not so formal as well, which tends to attract a lot of people just interested in architecture and the buildings and, have a conscious game as well. And they have a good talking points as well for people to discuss the architecture and the sort of the environment around them and what they like and what they don't.

Yeah,

Stephen Drew: I love it.

Beni and Gareth: and and then we have Biscuit Factory as well. I think, when you were asking earlier about what goes in planning these, I think my most memorable element of this one was trying to hire Portaloos. That was the one time where we felt like At the time we were like, oh yeah, we're up for any space.

And then it was like, there's no electricity, there's no toilet. So there was [00:17:00] like a whole load of other stuff that went into planning to the background of that one, but it turned out really well. And we managed to get some food trucks as well. So that was quite cool. And it was very different because previously we'd always pre ordered and we had canapes and things like that.

Whereas because of the setup, this forced us to have more like Stools and a village fed kind of setup rather than something a bit more pre organized. Yeah,

Stephen Drew: well, ordering port a potties. It's almost like a festival, isn't it? That's all you got to do is now with the green and the red badges, we get some little stick, some glowy sticks and we're ready to go. But, I love it. Oh, and what's important, what's quite cool about this is all the venues are quite different, aren't they?

I don't think, have you ever done one of the same venues yet, or are they totally different pieces of architecture?

Beni and Gareth: they're all completely different. We tried to find sort of unique development sites, ideally. We've also had a lot of architectural companies who've got [00:18:00] amazing offices that have opened themselves up as well. So we've had a mixture, but a lot of the ones we started off with were Kind of construction sites that they allowed us to have before they, the end user gets in there and it's quite nice to see behind the hoardings and and just show people what's going on with these sites.

We've also done we've also done collabs as well. We'll talk a little bit about our next event in a bit, but we have worked with. So we did a joint event with the RIBA, which was for Ben Darbyshire's presidency. So that was the, that was his launch party, which he just said do you know what, I want to be like slightly different.

I want to bring loads of like young people, want this to be part of my legacy. So why it's come and run it for me. And that was really cool. And we've similarly done stuff with London Festival of Architecture and and NLA as well. So we try and, I guess we try and accommodate everything and everyone.

So a lot of times people come to the events, have a thought and are like, Oh my God, this would be really cool. Would you be up for doing a talk or would you be up for coming and co hosting [00:19:00] this with us? So we have done those as well. And yeah, so far everything's been. New and fun and yeah, very different.

Stephen Drew: It's been brilliant. Now, this is the event I was in, so I was frantically looking earlier, like, where's Wally? And I couldn't find myself, but if any viewers afterwards find it, I will buy you a few drinks at the upcoming event where you can meet. Benny, Gareth, and me, which is at London Build Expo this week.

Now, while we were talking though, we've got an extra guest who's going to be joining us as well, who is parachuted in, put away his business for a few minutes to join us. So I'm really glad he's here. I'm going to bring him onto the stage. It's just, so it's the third guest tonight. We're very happy he's here, who is Ben Richards.

So Ben, I'm going to bring you on the stage now. Ben, you're live.

Ben Richards: Hello.

Beni and Gareth: Hello.

Ben Richards: are you doing?

Stephen Drew: you sound good. We can see you. You're, you were the [00:20:00] first person who's joined mid show successfully on the Architecture Social.

Ben Richards: No tech issues, hopefully. Hopefully that stays the same. Yeah. How are you doing?

Stephen Drew: Yeah,

Ben Richards: Sorry I'm late.

Stephen Drew: Don't worry. It's all good. I was just saying, I'm in this picture somewhere, Ben. So who knows? Maybe I'm there at some point. We'll find it. But

Ben Richards: I was actually in the BBC when you did it in the BBC HQ, or was it White City? I realized that I actually came to that event six years ago and actually didn't realize until you sent the slides to me.

Stephen Drew: there you go.

Ben Richards: trying to do the same and play, where's Wally, where's Ben?

Stephen Drew: Yeah, that's it. Ben, while you're here, though, while I know you and I've seen some of the awesome architecture you do, also you do a little bit of development. You've got a few things going on. Very entrepreneurial. However, for the guests that don't know who you are, can you just quickly tell us about yourself before we carry on?

Ben Richards: Yeah, cool. So actually I studied architectural engineering back in the days over in Cardiff [00:21:00] Uni. So I spent four years doing that went on a slight detour straight out of uni into actually a completely separate Industry, or whether you can call it industry or not, but I played poker for a living, so that's probably something for another time.

But after that, I went back and got a proper job with an architectural practice, worked there for four years, and then decided to go from sort of small scale refurbishments and small housing developments up to big beasts of schemes with the Berkeley Group. That's actually where I met Benny, actually Originally through one of the schemes that Scott Brownrigg were designing that I was the technical manager for.

So yeah, worked in the sort of corporate life for six or seven years and then decided to build my own property or do my first property development and as a sort of side venture working for the Berkeley Group full time, managing the site on evenings and weekends. And then when I'd finished that, realized that was really what I wanted to do in life.

So quit the Berkeley Group, literally refinanced. The house I'd built went in the next week with [00:22:00] a letter of resignation and saying, this is what I want to do. Really? Sorry, I'm off. And that's where I started my architectural practice. So I've been running Aura Architecture and Interiors for the last six and a half years now.

And shortly after that set up a property development business called XP Property. And now there are a few. A few other businesses alongside those that we call our ecosystem that all kind of feed into each other, all in the property industry, all in the architecture and design space and property development space.

So it's been a busy six years.

Stephen Drew: wow, you've done really well. I'm gonna, now, on that note, no one play against Ben on gambling at a Yada event, because you will lose.

Ben Richards: I'm very rusty.

Stephen Drew: You've rumbled yourself. That could be a cool, that could be a cool evening. Now, I've got a quick question, and then a bigger question. First of all, Ben, we talked about, you've got to have a red or a green badge, so you're an architect or developer.

Which badge do you wear, or do you wear both when you go to a Yada event?

Ben Richards: I typically wear both if I'm

Stephen Drew: Oh, you're using all the [00:23:00] badges up, but now do you know what You are both.

Ben Richards: Not lying.

Stephen Drew: I know, I'm just teasing you here. You actually can wear both you, you have walked both flight. So you mentioned that you went to an event earlier and I'm really glad you're here to talk about this event now, but tell me about how you got into Yado, especially when you got all this stuff going on.

I'd love to know how you got involved. Yeah.

Ben Richards: ago when I went to the BBC event, it was when I was out networking probably three or four times a week, just trying to get to understand the lay of the land, who's doing what networking events there are, and I remember coming out of it thinking that was amazing.

And then actually got so busy and wrapped up in building the businesses that it wasn't really until Probably six months ago that I went to the latest one and it rekindled things with. So getting back into to understanding that network, speaking to Benny and remembering how good it is.

And I remember walking into the [00:24:00] room of probably 400 plus people. I could barely hear anyone over the noise. I could barely hear anything. But, nine 90% architects, probably 10% developers. And it was just amazing going around the room and hearing everyone's stories. And the one thing that they would all say to me typically when I said, oh, I do both.

Most of them were architects and most of them were saying, oh my God, yeah, that's really what I want to do. I want to, ditch the clients and, develop for myself. And to be honest, like the things that I would say to them is are you ready for that? Are you ready for that risk?

Because it's very difficult. And I think when you're an architect on this side, on that side of the table, and you see potentially all of the money that's being made from the nice designs that you've created and the schemes that you've optimized and all that sort of stuff, you think, oh my God, I want to be that side.

And I always give a really big risk warning because it's really tough. And a lot of people don't realize The design and the construction and the architecture side of it is only one small piece. Finding things, structuring things, financing [00:25:00] things, the sales and marketing, building teams, it's very hard.

Yeah but Yard has really opened my eyes to, I think, helping Certainly young, aspirational architects and developers that want to grow into the space. It's, I'd love to get more involved in doing the mentorship and helping people through the process that I've been through and opening people's eyes to the true reality of it.

And I don't know if you've touched on the London Build Expo yet, but I'm really looking forward to the speed mentoring session that we're going to embark on in two days time.

Stephen Drew: Yeah maybe we can jump to that really quickly. What I'll do is I'll quickly bring up the website. So keep your presentation there one second. Sorry, Benny and Garrett. I'm destroying the order, isn't it? But maybe that's a quick. Segue to talk about

Beni and Gareth: organized chaos, it's fine. Yeah.

Stephen Drew: that's my kind of event, right? But while we're on that note, because if you want to go to your first, taster of a Yarder event, you get to feel the energy in the London Build Expo.

You can [00:26:00] see everyone here. So I've got it up on the screen now. Should we touch upon that event? Because Ben, you're right. It's coming up on, isn't it Wednesday? Isn't it? So everyone.

Ben Richards: Yeah.

Beni and Gareth: Yeah, so it's something that we we got a lot of feedback over the COVID period of people saying that there's a bit of a lack of mentorship and within the industry and that a lot of people would like that as part of what we do. So we took notes of that and felt that there was a lot of directors wanting to come to our events because they're cool.

And we thought we could use them. Rather than just be behind the bar, we can try and use them to inspire the next generation of people. And we've had a lot of. It's been very popular with people wanting to be mentored by people and we've managed to get some really good names, mainly from Jane and Martin hunting down people and getting them to Sign up to be mentors and yeah, promising free drinks and God knows what else, but yeah, I think it's about like hearing other people's [00:27:00] stories and I think, for we mentioned earlier for all the events, we try and partner up with some sponsors and I think when we started thinking about this one, the first person that came to mind to both of us was Ben because we both was Ben.

Ben does like an amazing live show going on every Friday, a bit of competition for you Stephen there, but some really interesting topics. So we've had all this like positive feedback about this person that, great boss great, like architecture does surveys, does this, does that.

And it was that's the kind of person that we want to showcase and that's the person that people want to hear from that's similar age then that's like doing his own thing, something he's really passionate about. So it was almost like the perfect match. Yeah. And of course he was kindly available at the time as well.

So we thought, why not? And see how it

Ben Richards: of no brainer for us and what sort of Benny's talking about there is a sort of third business that my business partner and I set up about three [00:28:00] years ago. We were outsourcing our measured surveys to external parties and getting fed up with the speed and the reliability of those parties.

So true to entrepreneurial spirit, we set up our own business called XP Surveys. So we do measured surveys and topographical surveys in London and the home counties at the moment, and we're aiming to go, a lot further with that. So the opportunity to sponsor, a group of young architects and developers for.

A service that, is fundamental to that process was just too much to give up on, really. Yeah, we're super happy to be sponsoring the events and getting people drunk on the on the booze and feeding people for the few hours that were there. But it's, yeah, a very exciting proposition and we're looking forward to it.

Stephen Drew: Fair enough. On that note, while we're talking, because if you're doing all that, we're going to bring up your, we're going to bring up all your businesses and all this stuff as well. I'm going to bring up,

Ben Richards: You didn't prep me for this. I hope the website doesn't crash.

Stephen Drew: no, the website's fine and we love your work. I'm going to bring, I'm going to bring up the stuff there as well.

Now [00:29:00] I'm going to get the link in a little bit to your other business as well. You mentioned the XP, right? XP property. Now I'm going to have to get that link because it's not you. That's not prepared. It's me, I think it's brilliant that you can showcase all the work you've done.

And I think there you go. What a fitted match because you've done the architecture. You do the interior design and you do the property development. While we were chatting though. Ben, Matt says, what are the risks? You mentioned there's risks going into property development and stuff. Now you can get the expanded answer in London Build Expo, where they can meet you in person.

However, in my experience, I think, And I want you to tell me if I'm right or wrong. I think sometimes grass is always greener and we look towards what development thinks. We don't see all the details and sometimes, like you said, design's one facet. Sometimes, moving away from architecture development.

You're not designing per se anymore. You design coordinating and [00:30:00] therefore I think some architects go to it, miss that aspect, and can even come back. In your experience, Ben, why then? Is it risky?

Ben Richards: Yeah.

Stephen Drew: a caveat on the move from architecture to development? Wow.

Ben Richards: risks in property. At the moment we're battling against, interest rates that we haven't seen for, um, 10 plus years. We've got a site which six units is completed. We've sold one of the six, but we haven't really even had a sniff on two of the units in terms of viewings.

That site is costing us 4, 000 a week. And that is the type of risk that we're dealing with. Every month that goes by, our profit margin is getting slimmer and slimmer. It's a good job. We bought the site. We added value through that architectural process to give us that buffer. But I think a lot of people don't see.

They don't understand how sites are often structured in terms of the development finance that comes with that. The personal [00:31:00] guarantees that people give, and this is something that is not spoken about enough. When you take a loan with a first charge development lender, most of the time they're going to want a personal guarantee, which means they're going to look at your assets and liabilities.

They're going to, if the site And, there's not enough equity in the asset itself to pay down their debt. They're going to come after your personal wealth. They're going to come after your assets. They're going to come after anything they can to recoup those, that finance. There's a lot of variables in property development and some are completely outside of your control.

And that's really what makes it high risk. It's very volatile. Not a lot of things have to go wrong for it to all fall down. Now, structuring and finding opportunities that stack up and give you That buffer and that margin is really what you're looking for. We always stress test our deals.

So we look at a drop in gross development value by 10%, a bill cost increase by 15%, and then a [00:32:00] overrun of the program by six months. Now we also look at that on a doomsday scenario. So what happens if all three of those things fail? Now we don't make our purchase price offer. Where the doomsday scenario doesn't make a profit or break even.

So our purchase price will always be, we'll run the stress test. Doomsday scenario, this is the value that we need to purchase the property at for us to break even or make a small profit on that doomsday scenario. And that will be our purchase price. And we've missed out numerous times on buying assets because we've not bid high enough.

And that's absolutely fine because from a risk perspective. We, we stick to our figure and that's where it stays. Now, the amount of times, and Jack Holt, Jack, my business partner, always says, about three sales fall through, three, three sales don't even get to exchange. One in three, sorry.

So what happens is he's the first person on the phone when it breaks down and we pick up opportunities quite a lot. properties and developments that we've purchased. We pick up a lot of [00:33:00] sites that have fallen through and Jack's just been basically ringing the agent every day to understand if it's fallen through and then we've picked up the contract and moved forward at the level that we were, ready to offer and buy at because at that point the seller's often more motivated.

Three months with this other person who hasn't been able to complete. And we are a safe pair of hands in terms of our track record. We've often got a good relationship with that agent and when we can buy well. There's a lot of facets throughout the whole development life cycle that is high risk and you know it's too difficult to say this is the one risk in development because there are so many and a lot of them are out of your hands so it's high risk but it also can be very high reward and ultimately you know that's the name of the game it's de risking it for you as much as you possibly can adding value where you possibly can and that's what we try to do and that's what we hope to have done over the last five years but we haven't lost a we haven't lost any money on any projects yet you know there's been some that have sailed close to the wind that we haven't made.

Half as much as we thought we [00:34:00] would but touchwood. Yeah we've made money so far.

Stephen Drew: Very good. And I love to hear it. Now, I did bring up some links again, and we're going to run through them all at the end. But hats off. And I think all that information that you said, in this case, because Matt asked about it, we in your here, You're, we've talked about it, but all this information, as you quite alluded to before, how the heck do you find all this stuff?

And I think that's the whole point about getting out there, going to these things, going to these events, speaking to people, getting to know people. I heard the other day that you should surround yourself by people who are doing similar things or entrepreneurial things or meeting people because you learned the lessons, the Architecture Social is my third business. The first one was a fail. The second one was a fail, and this is the third one, and I'm happy to bore people to death with a beer in my hand at

Talk about it. I joke around, but it's the kind of cool thing that you [00:35:00] learn in these events.

What do you all think? Oh, is that right? Or,

Beni and Gareth: Yeah, I think it's important to I think in architecture, especially, you can quite often developers don't always tell you all of this information, it's not necessarily needed to design buildings. And so quite often you'll have conversations where you're not seeing the full picture. And it's always, I think it's always good to know the reasons why, you might not be able to have the most expensive brick or you might not be able to do this or that.

And you've got to try and work together a bit better than this.

Ben Richards: Oh, no. Radio

Stephen Drew: disconnected it. I said there was a slight risk that might happen,

Ben Richards: Ah, I'm sure they'll be back. Yeah I completely agree with you though, like surrounding yourself with a network that is, you know, doing it out there. That's what I've been doing for the last six years. A member of very, where I've come from today in such a rush is it's called the Developers Club.

It's A series of, the group room today was probably 16 developers, young developers under the age of 40 that are out there doing stuff. And this is one boardroom group of two. And [00:36:00] they're there to support each other there to, we're all in the trenches together.

It's what are you doing here? You've got cashflow issues. Oh, I've got cashflow issues. You've just gone through this issue in this borough of of London with your planning application. Okay. Won't make the same mistake over here. So surrounding yourself with people that you can sponge off of is.

is just so important. And I think there's so much free available information nowadays. That's why Jack and I do our Friday lives. It's half an hour of this is what's happened this week.

Stephen Drew: I'll watch them after

Ben Richards: Yeah, I we love doing it. Like it's typically seven to 10 key things that have happened in the week that we've either learned achievements that we've gone through.

We've just completed on a a site in Muswell Hill on last Monday which is one of our biggest schemes to date. We talk a little bit about that. Talk about business. We talk about business growth, how we've built teams, how we hire, how we. All of the sort of key important things that happened that week, we just bring to a half an hour session on a Friday afternoon.

And it's now a podcast as well. So we've taken the information taken the video, compressed it down into a podcast and it's getting some good traction and it's free [00:37:00] information from people out there doing it. And yeah, hopefully people like yourself can share it and we can

Stephen Drew: Gareth

Ben Richards: bigger.

Stephen Drew: I love it. We'll be on there. And thank you. Ben, you're right. Benny and sorry, you had the heart attack scenario then.

What happened

Wasn't it? There was that millisecond

Beni and Gareth: if everybody is still here and paying attention.

Stephen Drew: Don't worry. We talked about it before, so it's no problem. I just had the millisecond of, oh no, has my internet gone?

But we're all good here. But yeah, so what I was going to say is these events are on now. They're really good. I don't know, Gareth and Benny, if you want to bring up your slideshow because one or two more near the end were quite funny and comical and all that stuff again, but you would need to reload it now because We crashed the system, we broke the matrix, or I messed it up, or whatever, who knows what happened.

Then, let me bring it up here.

Ben Richards: Can I just ask, what's the bell for? What have I missed?

Stephen Drew: have got a bell because [00:38:00] okay, I'll say it like, so I saw someone online have the bell, and I've got a soundboard, but the soundboard was a bit too much, right? But then this bell, I just think, I don't know. It just breaks the whole, I don't know, the vibe. So I used to call it my Bartlett bell because I started with it because one podcast, as someone was talking about their experience at the Bartlett, and I was going like that like, oh, here we go again.

And now I've kept the bell. But Ben, you, for your podcast, what, maybe you got a gimmick you're a bit more tasteful

Ben Richards: need something. Yeah, we do need something. Every time we change topic should be something, a foghorn or something. Yeah, I don't know. I did actually get my marketing guy at some point to do some, because this is StreamYard. Yeah, this is this platform is StreamYard. Yeah, you can do like GIFs of you, dancing or

Stephen Drew: that's right.

Ben Richards: Have you got some?

Stephen Drew: I've got some. So

Ben Richards: I've been too nervous to do them,

Stephen Drew: you can quick, you can quickly critique it. So my, my favorite one, I've got a few though, but this was quite relevant [00:39:00] circa 2021, even though I'm not a big politician myself, and then I've tried memes.

Ben Richards: We need some of this.

Stephen Drew: Yeah, so I've managed to get Frank Gehry in The Simpsons, that were thought that was quite architectural.

How his little thing becomes A little masterpiece.

Ben Richards: to share StreamYard tips, I think, because I'm missing out here, I feel. I'm nice.

Stephen Drew: bit of Zoolander. Sorry, I'm digressing now. This is why you can't let me run the other event. I can just be there. See, that's the bell going off. And they're working from home. That is the best. That's probably me today, but you're right. I have got a few gimmicks and stuff, but I think it's about having a little bit of a laugh.

And I think that's why I think that, that's why I enjoy Yarder as well, because we can be professional. One of the things I would say, and I've always. Yeah, we, okay. Disconnected earlier. So what? So what? We're all just learning. We're having a bit of a laugh. And I think that sometimes one of the curses of [00:40:00] some of my architectural friends is we worry about things being perfect.

And I always think like when you're networking or you're making impressions, if you build this thing up in your head Oh, I've got to make the perfect impression and all this stuff, then you create this impossible scenario. Yet most people are really quite nice and approachable. You just got to say hello or break the ice or whatever.

And that's why I like it a little bit rough and ready or people this guy, cause I think it adds to the realness and the other, the only last thing I'd add on that is when you see. When you see crits in schools, people write the script and they go, and, my project is, and then, and I think some people think about that kind of approach in network and they go, hi, my name is Steven and I'm a part T architectural assistant.

And just forget that all. Go and have a laugh. Be approachable. The worst case scenario is nothing. You're there. You get to know and you've just gotta go in the moment. And that's what I love about ya. Debt as well. So I got

Beni and Gareth: Yeah, I think that's spot on, [00:41:00] to be honest, because I think, ultimately yes, you can do a really good pitch to win work and everything, but the reality is I am a strong believer that ultimately people work with people they like and if you get along, With all this stuff that we do, whether it's like being an architect, being a developer, ultimately we're all passionate about building environments and creating spaces for people.

And if you can't be yourself, that reflects on the end product. If you can't get along throughout the process, where it's going to be a miserable, four, five, six years, however long this building space takes to be completed. You're not going to enjoy it, the other person's not going to enjoy it, and the end product's not going to look great.

And I think it's about those like moments of understanding each other, being able to be in the other person's shoes and working towards something together. And I think sometimes that gets lost in, whether it's like contractual elements or, like bosses talking about this and that and whatever.

But [00:42:00] ultimately, it's about People getting along and doing something they both believe in.

Stephen Drew: yeah. Said. Exactly. You got to get along. Yes, being a professional means you got to do some professional work, but you can have a laugh along the way. That's what my dad says. You can be friends as long as you deliver. It doesn't mean you can't be friendly. You can get along and have a drive.

Now, I was, oh, I know what's coming. Yeah, I know what's coming. The week off,

Beni and Gareth: yeah, this was last Christmas. So we always try and do like a Christmas yard event. So this was kindly hosted by JTP and that was The first one we did after the pandemic, so I think it was really popular because we had this big gap and then we didn't do quite a lot of like online things because I think we all felt that we're a lot about people physically meeting and talking and shaking hands and having a laugh and all of that so yeah, that was really good and then we did London Festival of Architecture, which is the recent one that Ben went to as well.

You were behind the bar on

Stephen Drew: yes. I was

more

sober in this

Beni and Gareth: by age, by [00:43:00] choice, shall I say, you don't need it to be behind five.

Stephen Drew: nah, definitely by age and choice, right? I'm, I am now. In the bar camp but yes, I was more sober in this one. Not that I was a state in the other one, but I had to do some work. Although, my colleague Hannah was working harder than me. I was trying my best, but maybe I would just go and walk around with the wine.

I'd have a chat, but I had to, yeah, I had

Beni and Gareth: And that was it. Yeah.

Stephen Drew: me in the top left working. Now, on the right, here's me at

Beni and Gareth: Hannah's behind the bar, you seem to be on the side, just talking. This

Stephen Drew: Oh hang on. I was checking if someone's getting their top up or whatever, right? But yeah, I'm on the right one. It was the other event. And

Beni and Gareth: Steve serving, where it was like, Hannah, go behind the bar and serve the people, I'll just take a bowl of wine, and it's one for me, one for you, two for me, one for you.

Stephen Drew: You know what? I tried my best, right? But you know what? I'm gonna Oh next time. I'll be a bit faster. I'll be a bit faster. Now, this [00:44:00] event on the right, you can see in the top left Top start of the evening, I'm, professional. And then on the right, a few drinks have kicked in, the bottom okay.

And then, the bottom left is when I'm with Akrae Lowry, with a chicken on my head, and I've had a lot of drinks. But it was such a good evening, I loved it. It was amazing.

Ben Richards: We're going to see a repeat of the same thing this year.

Stephen Drew: potentially, but I've got a lot of things I'm doing at London Build Expo. So maybe at the next 100 percent Yarder one, but the collaboration, I've got to be on form.

And there's a lot of really cool people, including you going there, Ben. So I don't want to be like, causing a ruckus.

Beni and Gareth: we've got different props for this year, so we've gone away from the chicken, so we're going to try something different, but the thing is he doesn't have to know, so otherwise it's not going to be spontaneous, so it's just like leaving the props there, leaving some drinks, and then he just goes and does it himself,

Stephen Drew: yeah. Yeah. And listen, and one quick thing, I went to this event. Okay. When I was working around the bar, I [00:45:00] was working at the bar. It was a good laugh. But the other end, I went on my own and I bumped into people I had known from before. But even if I didn't, I met some new people there.

I met some people at JTP's office, and this is the point. You've just got to go to these things. And that's what I'm saying is I'm not lying. This is a good event. It's the best of that. Go to it. Look at me, okay. Don't look at the

Beni and Gareth: We've got a really good community as well. A lot of people end up coming and then they'll try and come to every single event and you just, you meet people and you build that little community of people to help each other out and sharing of knowledge and it's, yeah, it's just about growing together in your career and having fun with it.

It's about there's lots of difficult things in our industry, but sometimes it's good just to build that relationship and know that, in a couple of years time you might phone that person up and ask for some advice or Yeah, so

Stephen Drew: lot of ground right now. What I want to do is there's a little bit about the future, but there's the immediate future, which is hint, everyone should go to the London Build Expo and [00:46:00] say hello. But just before we put the links where everyone can find Ben, and Benny and Gareth, but what do you when you see the future of Yada going, I'd love to know.

Beni and Gareth: We're we're looking to do four events a year in London and try to make those events really rather than do lots of events, trying to stick it to the four events, make it the big event every three months where we'll have speed mentoring, which is something we were trialing at this first London Build event and have talks there and just make it a good, just.

So that's the sort of fun to come to come to the event and there'll be lots of interesting things going on with lots of really creative people, interesting people from the industry to just inspire you just to, to come in and just meet the nicest people you can in the industry and come out of it really inspired to, push your own career or your business and just make them, the top event to come to and make it a really inclusive environment for everyone.

Stephen Drew: I

Beni and Gareth: I think also trying to go beyond London. I think that's always been an ambition of ours. I think, we're all [00:47:00] based in London. Organically, everything we do has been London. But, Stephen, we've both gone to Manchester. Up the North, that's the next stage but I think it's just finding other people that are passionate about doing it trying to establish links North, South, wherever it may be we'd love to be international, maybe, who knows, maybe after London Build we can do don't they do other places, New York, Chicago, I'd love to do that but yeah, I think it's just trying to grow it and every region different kind of collaborations, different people that operate have different models, so I think long term we definitely want to try and go beyond London as well.

Stephen Drew: Excellent. I love it. I've been to them. You've seen my turkey heads, knocking around and all that stuff. It is a really cool event and I love that it's run by people passionate and you're right. I think it will turn globally, but you need people to get involved. And I think if you are in London, you should definitely keep a track on all the events going.

So I'm going to bring it up one last time here while we're [00:48:00] talking, because you can come down. to London Build. Now I put this big Eventbrite link, but basically if you go on Eventbrite or you go to Yada's website, and on Eventbrite if you type Yada, if you go to Yada. builds for all your listeners as well, you can basically find the link to The event at London Build Expo and London Build Expo is free.

So that's free and the other tickets free. So what better way than pop them down. You can tell your boss you're doing some work. It is a work event. You're actually going to learn a lot and you're going to have a bit of a laugh. Spend an hour or two, come down, all that stuff, and enjoy Yada. I think it's brilliant, and you get to meet Ben, and Ben's got lots to talk about, and he sponsors it.

So when you're having a cold beer, you need to remember Aura Architecture and XP Property. I will. I don't know if I can drink, but

Ben Richards: And XP surveys,

Stephen Drew: Yes, XP Surveys and XPC and it's got so much going on. I love it. But you [00:49:00] gotta come down to it. The other is a great event. I'm sure there's other cool ones as well.

It's one I've been to and I think is amazing, but quickly on, I put the link up as well, Benny and Gareth, before we, before we wind down, is there anything you quickly wanted to ask me? Throw the fire bats.

Beni and Gareth: What's your favorite thing about ya? What do you think we can do better and make it? We're always looking to

Stephen Drew: better. Oh, this isn't a crit. I think it's pretty good. I think just got to keep going. The national thing will come. I think can't lose essence of what is, what I love is that unscripted feel. There's maybe a little bit of a talk, but it's all about the conversation.

All about who you can meet in the room. It's all about providing good conversation, facilitating a place with this awesome chats. And of course, it's okay to talk a little bit, but it's like CPDs. You don't want to be locked in with a sandwich and listen to something for an hour. The best thing about Yarder is you can bring people, you can meet people, and that's what I love.[00:50:00]

So as long as you keep that in its core. And I would like to see the percentage of developers going up as well. I like that it's got architects, and I think that I think there's something for that. There's a piece here for developers where it's really valuable, and I think getting that message out is really cool.

I think that will, I think that will be the, is the, is your challenge always, isn't it? It's like how. How, because actually architects have an enormous amount of value, and I think a lot of developers know that, but how do they recognize it in the event? That's how it was mega big, in my opinion, because there is the.

Ben Richards: think it's an incredible place as a, as an employer, actually going to these types of events and seeing the type of caliber of people that are there. It's a hotbed for us as both architects architecture practices and developers, because you're in a room full of industry leaders.

That maybe not be now, but in the future, they will be because they're attending these types of things, as soon as you walk in the room, the type of caliber of [00:51:00] people in that room are going to be a set above the rest. I, I had on the image that you sent that you had out with your chicken, turkey on your head,

Stephen Drew: Oh, yeah.

Ben Richards: the one in the top, top now I've forgotten her name, but at the last Yarder event, she came up to me and said, Ben, do you remember me?

I was like,

Stephen Drew: Yeah, I remember.

Ben Richards: I recognize the face, but I can't put the name, but she said, you offered me a job in XP Property three years ago. I turned you down for something else and I regret it instantly. I've been watching what you've been doing. I've really loved what you where you come from and, those types of, she was great.

And I remember making her the job offer. I would have loved to have to come inside a development business from an architectural background because I want that kind of that design understanding. Somebody that can then learn the sort of more commercial aspect of architecture and development to put the piece together because I do think the development space is missing more of that, more of people that are interested in both.

He

Stephen Drew: Yeah, I love it. And that's the point, isn't it? You keep in touch with each other, you meet, and then at different [00:52:00] points, maybe in the professional careers, maybe that conversation happens again.

Ben Richards: he off to Australia.

Stephen Drew: Ah,

Ben Richards: want to work

Stephen Drew: maybe not that one, but the sentiment

is

oh, yeah, she can start that. Then you got to set up another foray of companies out there and learn everything else again, but I am confident you can do it.

And I love to learn stuff like that. Although I don't want to gamble against you, Ben, because now I know your secret, so that's out. However, Casino Royale Night or something like, Yada. That is cool, man. It's just a little bit of, I don't know,

Ben Richards: be keen for a, yeah, a poker, charity poker event. I'm trying to actually push that with the developer club that I'm part of.

Stephen Drew: poker.

Yeah, exactly. Doesn't need to be big, serious money, but just a little bit of skin in the game,

Ben Richards: it's all for charity.

Stephen Drew: Yeah, exactly. Now, I don't want to get Yada cancelled gambling and stuff, because I don't know the gaming regulations, but I think it's a great idea. Thank you Benny and Gareth for being here.

I love y'all there. And Ben, thank you for [00:53:00] coming on as an architect, developer. We need that. It's the endorsement from both sides. And last time, if people want to get a hold of you, where can they find your stuff online?

Ben Richards: Yeah, allourahomes. co. uk, xpproperty. co. uk, xpsurveys. co. uk. We're all over LinkedIn all the social media platforms. But the big one I would say is head over to YouTube and look for XP Property. I think it's actually Ben and Jack. Business, Property, Entrepreneurs. We do a Friday live every Friday at 5 p.

m. It's all the ups and downs of both architecture property development, property investment, business in general. And yeah, we've had a lot of great feedback from those events. It's now a podcast called the Property Experts Podcast. And yeah we, once you start following us, we should follow you around everywhere.

Yeah, once, once you click one link, you'll be, we'll be all over it.

Stephen Drew: My goodness, you sound like me. I just float around everyone and they're like, Oh, that Welsh loud man again. Oh my goodness. But thank you for that. And thank you, Matt, for putting me in questions and being the [00:54:00] fourth guest on this episode. I really appreciate you all being here. The let me get the right link.

That is an important link. They're all very important, but don't forget to register and check out. Yada build. I will be there. If you're nervous, come talk to me, but don't be nervous. Everyone's super cool and friendly. Check it out. There's going to be four events every year. I love them. I'll be working behind the bar.

Not very effectively as you've learned, but I will be there and you can come chat to me as well. So do check it out and thank you all for being here as well. I'm going to end the live stream now and I'll see you all this Wednesday. Thank you so much guys.

Ben Richards: See you Wednesday. Look forward to it.

Stephen Drew: All right. Take care.

Ben Richards: Cheers, everyone.