Insights

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is changing how employers across construction, real estate, infrastructure and engineering manage their workforce. Maria Sinclair, Managing Director at Cobalt Recruitment UK, explores the key reforms, implementation timelines and practical steps employers should take to prepare.

Cobalt celebrates 25 years in business, from its beginnings in London in 2001 to an international group spanning multiple markets, brands and specialist recruitment services.

Updated August 2026 with the latest Savills and UBS data. Methodology and full sourcing at the end. Discover the world’s 10 most expensive cities to buy property, how the ranking has changed since 2019, and what rising property costs mean for employers hiring and relocating talent

Maria Sinclair, Managing Director UK at Cobalt Recruitment, explores why the built environment skills gap goes beyond recruitment, examining retention, career awareness, AI, apprenticeships and what the industry can do to build a stronger talent pipeline.

Diversity in the property sector is improving, with gender pay gaps narrowing and greater transparency emerging. However, representation at senior levels, psychological safety and inclusive leadership remain critical to achieving lasting progress across real estate and construction.

How can Facilities Management as a profession attract and retain staff by tackling potential and actual mental health challenges within it? See in this piece, part of a wider feature in the Facilities Management Journal.

First came the Northern Powerhouse, then the Levelling Up agenda – and now we have The Great North. Here we explore how changes in policies have shaped the built environment, what they'll mean for the sector over the next decade, and what skills are in-demand and where across the property lifecycle as a result of them.

While planning, projects, and partnerships were standout themes of UKREiiF 2025, people emerged as a fourth, equally crucial pillar, as without the right people, progress in any of the other three areas is limited. See the skills most in-demand from our conversations and the talks at UKREiiF 2025.

From large-scale infrastructure to local regeneration schemes, the energy at UKREiiF 2025 reflected a shift in sentiment. See our roundup of how the common themes from it - planning, projects, partnerships and people, will form the backbone of growth in UK real estate over the coming years.

At this year’s UKREiiF, we saw a focus on the development of three key areas: housing, alternative assets, and ESG as a trait running through all areas of the built environment. Find out what this means for recruitment in these spaces.

See our facilities management case study recruiting for a General Manager for an A-grade trophy building on behalf of BNP Paribas Real Estate.

In what has traditionally been a male-dominated sector, the tide is beginning to change for women in facilities management. See inspiration and insights from women in FM roles and their allies here.