7. From Builder to Co-Founder: James Coulsey on Developing Differently

7. From Builder to Co-Founder: James Coulsey on Developing Differently

In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest sits down with James Coulsey, co-founder and director of Trigon DM - a B Corp-certified development management consultancy helping clients cut through complexity and deliver projects with clarity, precision, and confidence. James' journey into real estate is anything but conventional. Starting out as a civil engineer on site, he spent a decade building offices, residential schemes, and more before making a pivotal transition into development - taking a chance, asking bold questions, and learning to understand not just how buildings are built, but why they exist in the first place. In this conversation, James and John explore: - The sliding doors moment that took James from site engineer to development professional, and the developer who took a chance on a builder with a lot to learn - What sets great development managers apart, and why curiosity and holistic thinking matter more than asset class experience - The Trigon story, how James and co-founder Andy combined their backgrounds in construction, development, and ESG to build a business that works across sectors from logistics to co-living - The regulatory challenge, why layering regulation on top of regulation is stifling innovation, and what a simpler, outcomes-focused approach could unlock for UK development - Public vs. private sector collaboration, and why the industry needs to get better at telling a positive story about what development actually delivers for communities - What excites James most, from partnership models and GLA policy shifts to regenerative building materials like mycelium, hempcrete, and self-healing concrete If you enjoyed this episode, please like, share, and pass it on to a friend or colleague in the industry.

6. Jonathan Smales, Executive Chairman at Human Nature

In this episode of Development Diaries, John is joined by Jonathan Smales, founder and CEO of Human Nature - the sustainable, community-focused developer behind Phoenix, a 685-home neighbourhood in Lewes, and one of the most unconventional figures in UK real estate. Jonathan's route into the built environment began not in a surveyor's office or a lecture theatre, but at Greenpeace, where as Managing Director in the late 1980s he oversaw membership growth from 40,000 to nearly 400,000 - and, almost by accident, commissioned one of the UK's first green commercial buildings. That act of making, rather than campaigning, changed everything. What followed was a decade leading the Earth Centre, reclaiming two South Yorkshire coal mines as a world centre for sustainability, before founding Beyond Green — a consultancy advising government, pension funds, the Olympics, and major new communities across the UK. The frustration of watching vision erode between the drawing board and the ground eventually led him to become the principal himself. Human Nature was the answer. The conversation covers Jonathan's circuitous but coherent path from the civil service to Greenpeace to brownfield regeneration; why real estate has both an ambition crisis and an identity crisis; what it really takes to push genuinely innovative placemaking through a system that wasn't built for it; and why the industry's greatest challenges - climate, nature, social division - are also its greatest opportunity. Jonathan also answers Chris Fleetwood's question from last episode on how the industry attracts the next generation of talent, and leaves a question of his own for the next guest.

5. Chris Fleetwood, Chief Operating & Sustainability Officer at Redevco.

In this episode of Development Diaries, John is joined by Chris Fleetwood, a man whose route into real estate began not in a lecture theatre but at a careers fair, in a 45-minute conversation with a chartered surveyor whose name he never caught - yet who changed the course of his life. Chris takes us back to his Birmingham roots and a moment of genuine inspiration that set him on the path to a real estate degree and his first job navigating a deeply hostile early-90s market. What followed was a career that took him through Jones Lang Wootton, J. Sainsbury Developments, Parkridge, and ultimately twelve years at Landsec - where he served as Development Director across a portfolio that included landmark mixed-use regeneration, retail, PBSA, and the long-haul decontamination of a 30-acre brownfield battery site in his hometown of Birmingham. Now at Redevco, Chris operates at a genuinely pan-European level across urban regeneration, logistics, retail warehousing, and a growing debt platform. The conversation covers the leap from agency to development, what it really takes to absorb complex deals fast, the realities of cross-border working, and why the UK real estate industry needs to do a far better job of showing young people - from all parts of society - what a career in the built environment can actually look like.

4. Sunny Johal, Development Director at Glenbrook: From Building Sites to Boardrooms

In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest is joined by Sunny Johal, Development Director at Glenbrook and fellow podcast host - a man whose route into real estate is about as far from the traditional graduate scheme as it gets, making his story all the more compelling for anyone who has ever felt like they don't quite fit the conventional mould. Sunny takes us back to his Birmingham roots, a grammar school he didn't want to attend, A-levels he freely admits he bombed, and a decision at 16 to start sweeping floors on a building site rather than heading to university. What followed was a decade of hard graft in trade and construction - labouring, ground works, site management - before a Taylor Woodrow apprenticeship opened the door to main contracting at scale with Vinci and Long Cross. Curiosity did the rest: a part-time degree, a Masters in real estate investment, and eventually a chance approach from a recruiter led him to Argent and the world of front-end development at King's Cross. Now at Glenbrook, Sonny brings that rare combination of construction depth and development breadth to some genuinely complex mixed-use schemes. The conversation covers the practicalities of viability, the frustrations of the UK planning system, and why the country needs clearer rules of the game to attract competitive international capital.

3. Simon Harding-Roots: Regional MD at Muse: Brownfield Opportunity & Public-Private Partnership

In this episode of Development Diaries, host John Guest is joined by Simon Harding-Roots, Regional Managing Director for the South at Muse, and formerly Managing Director of London at the Crown Estate and Executive Director for Major Projects at Grosvenor - a career built on navigating complex urban regeneration, placemaking, and public-private partnership across some of the UK's most significant real estate organisations. Simon traces his path from a teenage temping stint in the planning department of Elmbridge Borough Council - a genuine sliding doors moment - through a geography degree, an RICS qualification at Drivers Jonas, and into the highest levels of estate management and strategic development. He reflects on the contrast between working within long-term custodial organisations like the Crown Estate and Grosvenor versus the sharper commercial pace of private development, and what each taught him about patience, partnership, and getting the most out of complex urban land. The conversation explores Simon's deep belief in brownfield-first development, the transformative potential of infrastructure investment like the Elizabeth line, and why - despite the very real viability challenges facing the sector - he remains a committed optimist.