Episode Details

James Craig, Co-Founder of Oval Real Estate, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast this week.

 

We discuss James's journey from surveying to running a diversified real estate investment business. He reflects on pivotal career decisions, key deals, and the thinking behind Oval's sector-agnostic strategy.

 

James shares lessons from launching Oval in a down market, building high-trust partnerships, and navigating complex development and regeneration projects. He also gives his view on current market dynamics, the role of public-private collaboration, and what it takes to build a successful, enduring real estate business.

 

If you're interested in real estate entrepreneurship, platform-building, public-sector partnership, or value-add investing, this episode is for you.

 

Key Topics Covered in This Episode:

 

·       Betting on Fit Over Convention

·       Why he walked away from his APC and corporate surveying path early, in favour of an entrepreneurial property trading-led environment.

·       Skill stacking – how he learned to originate, manage, and exit deals across Europe

·       Reality of trying, (unsuccessfully) to match deals with capital, and the lessons learnt

·       Oval's origin story, approach to business, investment thesis and partnership p