Lettice Swan answers our questions

The Branch Chair and Founder of our Future London Branch Lettice Swan answers our questions.

How did the Future London branch get started?
Setting up the branch was suggested to me by previous National Chair Andy Harper-Rowe. He thought given other cities have more than one branch, that there’s definitely room in such a huge city such as London to have two or even more. I’m responsible for the new business at my firm so of course it’s a great way for me to meet new contacts and entertain my own clients

Who can join the Future London branch?
In theory anyone from within the industry could join the branch. Having said that we want to feel like a fairly exclusive group where members know one another well so that we can best help each other form new connections and share knowledge.

I’m the youngest member of the group at 35 and we go up to mid 50s. None of our members are towards the end of their career, everyone is at the top of their game or certainly heading that way and are experts in their particular fields.

Everyone spends a fair amount of their week in London however we have members who are actually based in Nottingham, Lancashire, The Cotswolds and Oxfordshire.

How many members do you have currently? Are you looking for more members?
We started with 10 members and took on three more at the start of this year. We’d probably take on another couple next January but only if they were the right fit as we want to grow organically.

We never have more than two members from any discipline and its essential that members have the contact base to bring developers as guests. This requirement gives all of our members the maximum opportunity to meet potential new clients.

On a practical note, we really love the two restaurants we bounce between and their private dining rooms don’t hold more than 24!

What are your future plans? Any events coming up?
We have two more lunches scheduled for this year, one of which will follow the usual format where each member brings a guest with them. We ask that guests be a developer or client – someone who is a decision maker in their organisation so that we are introducing our members to the most useful contacts.

The other event is our Christmas event and the plan is for each member to bring 3 guests:
– One guest that they’ve bought to a lunch already this year;
– One new developer or client; and
– One Rising Star from within their own company.

I’m excited about this format because it allows us to form great connections with people we have already met, make new connections, and help more junior people in the industry to develop their networking skills in a supportive inclusive environment.

Given the size (potentially 52 people) it may be more of a buffet format than a sit down meal!

Have you had any recent events that went particularly well? Any tips for other branch chairs?
Every event has been fantastic, and that’s not just me being biased, we’ve had so much praise from guests.

However the lunches since I’ve returned from maternity leave in January 2024 have been the best, not just because I could drink at these ones(!), but because we upgraded our restaurants to much more exclusive venues which made the event feel more special.

My tips would be
• Organisation: Get planning more than a month in advance and send diary invites out to all your members;
• Chase members for their guest’s dietary requirements and menu choices as early as possible as it stops them forgetting to ask someone!
• Don’t let the introductions go on too long… I’m thinking of employing a timer and buzzer!

About Lettice

Lettice is Associate Director and responsible for looking at New Business Opportunities for MDA Consulting.

MDA are an international Quantity Surveying and Project Management firm that work across the build sectors.

Lettice says it’s a predominantly fun role where she spend most of her time networking and meeting with others in the industry so Interact is a great forum for Lettice to do this.

Contact Lettice

Email: lswan@mdaconsulting.co.uk
Tel: 07834339271
https://www.mdaconsulting.co.uk/people/consulting/business-development/lettice-swan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/letticeswan/?originalSubdomain=uk