An interview with... Paul Murtagh

An interview with...

PAUL MURTAGH - Assistant Director of Barbican Estate & Property Services

At 17, Ella Ashton is our youngest apprentice. She joined the City in November 2018, the month Paul moved into his new position of Assistant Director of Housing & Barbican. Ella is often overheard saying she’s after the top job, so we had her sit down with Paul to interview him about his new role and his time with the City.

I’m 17 and at the beginning of my career, can you tell me about your career and how you got to Assistant Director for Housing & Barbican?

My career started way back in 1980, I left school with A levels and intended to spend 3-4 months fishing. My mum wouldn’t have this, saw a job being advertised in Liverpool and put in an application for me. I came back from fishing one day and she told me I had an interview. This is exactly how it happened. I got a job in the maintenance team and spent eight years working in Liverpool. This was during the time of the riots, it was a frightening and humbling experience.

In 1989 I moved to Stevenage Council, to a new team dealing with maintenance and refurbishment. During that time, I completed an honours degree in Building Surveying, becoming a Chartered Surveyor. For some odd reason, my next move was to a private company. Ironically, I worked in private housing carrying out maintenance improvement works for social housing, so I was still involved in social housing. It didn’t really fit, I believed I was better suited for public sector. So, I was back to social housing at North Hertfordshire Homes as Assistant Director, then Director. After 12 years I was ready for a change when I saw a job advertised at the City of London. Since 1989 when I first moved down south, I had hardly been to London at all. I was slightly nervous, but the job looked interesting. I was appointed Assistant Director of Barbican and Property Services at the City of London and have been here since January 2016. Next year, it’ll be 40 years that I’ve worked in social housing, so somehow or another, I’ve never done anything other than social housing.

What is your favourite part of the job?

My favourite part of the job is working with the City Corporation and being surround by such diverse people, especially the residents. Not one day in the City is the same. Just when you think you have seen and heard everything, something else happens, I enjoy the challenges. My role is split between managing the private Barbican Estate (dealing with actors, politicians etc) and the social side of our housing stock with 13 estates spread across London. Although my heart still lies within social housing, it’s more of a variety and mixture now.

What are your biggest challenges in your new role?

My biggest challenges can be the residents - they are very challenging and quite rightly so in many ways, because they pay for the services we deliver. Also, the politics in terms of dealing with the Members and being able to manage their expectations. I suppose another frustration is that there are many policies, processes and procedures that need to be understood, followed and adhered to. In my previous Directorships I had more freedom and fewer protocols to follow. The other challenge is the location of the City itself; this can be problematic when procuring services. Because of our location, we pay a premium and I find it hard that, sometimes, we pay more for the services that I’m used to in my previous roles.

Compared to previous roles that you’ve had within housing, what do you think is different for City residents?

As mentioned previously, expectations are high and totally different in relation to timescales and delivery of projects, but that isn’t a bad thing. We face many challenges to get things done, whilst striving for value for money for our residents where costs are concerned. There has been a lack of investment by the City over the last 10/12 years, which we are now putting right and we have a busy programme of works to ensure that all estates are being left in a good condition.

Being young and still living in the family home, my future housing options are a concern. What do you think the future of housing will be for the younger generation?

This is a real problem and I think that everybody recognises there’s a serious shortage of properties for younger people. More and more young people like yourself are tending to stay at home for longer. I left home at the age of 18 with a family. That’s more difficult to do nowadays. The government’s target to build over 3000 more houses in the next 4-5 years is never going to catch up with demand and for younger people, it’s a real issue. I think we need to have more commitment towards this. We’ve been trying for the last three years and have been failing. I think the target number needs to be increased significantly, simply because there is more demand. And for young people, like yourself, saving money to buy a home is a real challenge. Unfortunately, I think this issue will only get tougher.

I see you working in your office and rushing to meetings, but this is only your working side, how do you relax?

I love golf - love my golf!! However, I don’t play half as much as I used to, I just don’t have the time. As much as the game is frustrating, getting out on the golf course and just trying to take my mind off things is a good way to relax. Sport, for me, has always been a good way to let off steam, even from a very young age and always at a pretty high level.

Looking back, with your many years of wisdom, what advice would you now give the 17-year-old Paul Murtagh?

I must be honest, at 17 I didn’t really have a clue about what I wanted to do. At the time I was still at school doing my A levels. I really didn’t give too much thought about what I wanted to do. My advice would be don’t be afraid to do the unorthodox!