Ung i Næringseiendom, where Salman Saeed (Managing Director Bonum Utvikling) is chair, has reached 1,000 members

Ung i Næringseiendom has passed 1,000 members in just under three years

The association for young people in commercial real estate has become a well-known player in the industry, and today the network consists of professional property players, from developers, commercial estate agents, investors, advisers, investment banks and syndication players, authorities and media houses, all working towards commercial real estate. The range of roles extends from accounting staff to directors.

Chair of Ung i Næringseiendom (UiN), Salman Saeed, is pleased that the association has now reached 1,000 members.

"We observe with humility that our initiative has now achieved a major milestone, namely 1,000 members. It is three years since five of us started this network, with an ambitious goal of creating a forum where young, like-minded people who worked with the same subject matter within the property industry could meet to exchange experiences, share expertise and build a network," says Saeed, who was also one of the initiators.

He started the association together with deputy chair Henrik Botten Taubøll, Henrik Baardsen, Daniel Løken Høgtun and Daniel Bjørn. At this time, Saeed worked for Linstow and was himself invited to all sorts of events. Here he would often meet partners and managers from the industry who were all a few years older, but rarely got to meet those he would actually be working with in a few years' time.

"Those who are in your own age group and with whom you naturally have more in common, they were not invited, as they did not represent the business externally. That is precisely what we wanted to do something about, by creating a forum where being young should take precedence over title and experience," he explains.

Saeed believes, however, that the industry has gone through a generational shift, which has also led to greater participation from younger people.

"It must be said that the industry has changed a great deal in recent years, and we see that there are increasingly younger people from the industry at the various events in the city. This is probably not a result of UiN, but we like to think that we have had some influence. Many of the 'pillars' within the industry who in many ways have elevated and created the conditions for the industry we have today have also retired in recent years," he says, listing: Petter Groth (Aspelin Ramm), Christian Joys (Avantor), Paul Lødøen (OSU), Per Bomann Larsen (Selvaag Eiendom), Erik Lund (Høegh), Per Håvard Lindqvist (Linstow), Håvard Øye (Mustad), Knut Halvor Hansen (Anthon B Nilsen Eiendom), to name a few.

"This has opened up for new types of leaders," he points out.

Increased proportion of women

Over time, the network has seen a natural development in terms of diversity, with a high proportion of women.

"We believe this is natural as every industry should be a reflection of the diversity that exists in society at large, this has not previously been the case in real estate. Among our 1,000 members, over 30 per cent are women, this proportion should become even higher," says Saeed, continuing: "In three years we have now become a significant and recognised player, as carriers of the voice of the next generation of decision-makers within the industry."

On 5 October, the 11th UiN meeting will take place at Entra. As always, places were fully booked in just a few minutes. Earlier this year, meetings have been held at Haavind and Aspelin Ramm. The network has also been on a study trip to Berlin, where the Berlin-based Norwegian property developer Erling Schjerven was responsible for much of the professional programme. Furthermore, UiN organises and facilitates a range of sporting activities such as joint football training every Monday, group PT sessions with Andreas Thorklidsen, and a golf tournament in collaboration with NRP.

"In October, UiN, in collaboration with MESH, Linstow, Norsk Eiendom, Aspelin Ramm and Stor-Oslo eiendom, will organise Norway's first dedicated proptech seminar. Here we have invited 100 leaders from the industry, 50 participants from UiN, and 50 players from the start-up, venture and technology industries. We have much that is exciting on the programme," concludes Saeed.