Lilly the gig goer

Lilly is the Head of Project Management at Cast and Project Management Director of the Regent House redevelopment on Edgware Road.

1Can you explain your role in one sentence?I work together with Native Land to progress the safe, timely and cost-effective delivery of the new Regent House redevelopment.

2How long have you been doing this job?I’ve been a Project Manager since 2001 but have been working on Regent House since the project was acquired by my client in April 2017.

3Did you find yourself in this role by accident or by design?By Accident, but a happy accident. I have a history degree, but I took a job working on the construction of the Gherkin one summer and that ignited my excitement and passion for buildings. At the end of the placement, I asked them how I would go about working in the industry and they ended up hiring me. I saw the Gherkin through all the way to completion.

4What’s the best part about your job?It’s a mixture of being able to meet some amazing people and having a physical thing at the end of project that you can say “I’ve helped build that”. Being from London, it’s very gratifying knowing that I am partly responsible for its prosperity, future and diversity. Working on Regent House with Native Land is really a combination of the two.

5What’s the strangest thing that has ever happened to you on the job? I’ve worked on a lot of super prime residential properties and the items buyers request in their homes and buildings are on another level. The strangest was an aquarium for electric jellyfish.

6What do you enjoy doing when you are not at work? I love live music and going to different types of gigs from large pop stadium acts like Lady Gaga to intimate indie gigs. Also, I’m a born and bred Londoner and I take advantage of everything London has to offer – cinema, galleries, restaurants, pubs, everything.

7What do you like about this area – Marble Arch area? It’s changed a lot throughout just my lifetime. It’s exciting to see it change and become more welcoming whilst maintaining and celebrating its diversity. That diversity and culture is something that is innately ‘London’ – you wouldn’t experience that anywhere else. It’s also wonderful how close you are to Hyde Park and Selfridges, which is my favourite department store.

8Where’s your favourite place to go for a meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) in the local area? The Pickled Hen. We have a lot of our project meetings there and that makes for a much more relaxed meeting environment.

9Who is YOUR hero and what is it about them that inspires you?I’m very interested in politics, especially US politics and I find both Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton inspiring. Whatever you think of their politics they have both achieved amazing things in the face of diversity and are positive role models for women and girls.

10If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be? I would love to go back to Japan. I’ve travelled to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and into the mountains, but the culture is so different and unlike anything else I’ve been to. It’s an amazing mixture of futuristic and historical. In terms of something new, Russia is on my list. As I studied history, visiting Russia would be very intriguing.

Lilly the gig goer
Lilly the gig goer
Lilly the gig goer
Lilly the gig goer