In conversation with Amran Nagra and Tiahna Joshi, Montagu Evans
Please note that this article was published prior to the new brand name of PREACH Inclusion® on 25 April 2024, so you will notice references to BAME in Property.
Amran Nagra and Tiahna Joshi, Montagu Evans.
To kick off Race Equality Week 2024, we caught up with Montagu Evans’ Amran Nagra, a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) and Tiahna Joshi, a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor (MRICS & MRTPI), both based at the partnership’s headquarters in the City of London. Although Amran and Tiahna are in the early years of their careers, they have achieved an incredible amount to date. From travelling and studying abroad, to passing the demanding Chartered qualifications, both are oozing with ambition and determination to excel in their respective fields.
Amran and Tiahna share what it’s like to work at Montagu Evans or ‘Monties’ as they know it (!), a planning and development consultancy, with great opportunities. We also discuss their views on the importance of diversity and inclusion, which in their opinion, is fundamental to innovation.
Finally, we round off the interview with some insights from Warren Stapley, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Montagu Evans, who shares his priorities for the organisation and how this can support the best and most diverse talent to thrive.
Grab a cuppa and dive in!
Property influences from a young age
Both Amran and Tiahna were fortunate to have property influences in their life from a young age.
Amran has fond memories of learning about property through his stepdad, who worked in development. From meeting colleagues in the office to strapping up in high vis to walk around development sites and even being dragged along to the odd planning committee, this exposure was hugely powerful in supporting his career aspirations and strengthening his relationship with his stepdad, who remains a key role model in his life today.
“My drive to pursue a career in property started around the dinner table. It wasn’t just being around people to have these conversations that was important, but when I had them, I felt valued and listened to. People always made time for me, which stimulated my interest in the property sector.” - Amran
Amran always found different places interesting and more specifically what sets them apart from each other, both culturally and by design. He was intrigued by the impact of the built environment on people’s lives, both to incite positive change and on the flipside, its potential to exacerbate disparities.
Eager to pursue a career in placemaking, he fuelled this interest into a Planning degree, which he undertook at Bristol, UWE, followed by a master’s at Manchester University.
For Tiahna, her passion for property came primarily from her father. He started his early career as a Junior Negotiator in an estate agent at age 18 and then spent the next 40 years working his way up the ladder. She also noted that both her grandfathers immigrated to the UK in the late 1960’s as construction workers – the property connection is inherent.
Throughout her childhood, Tiahna was influenced by her surroundings; she loved drawing houses and fondly shared her memory of having a doll’s house. Following in her father’s footsteps, she also worked at an estate agent from the age of 16. Having initially aspired to become an architect, it was a conversation with a Planner, who coincidently worked at Montagu Evans too that sparked her interest in Planning and Development.
“This was the first time I’d met anyone who worked in this industry. This conversation inspired me to study Urban Planning at The University of Sheffield.” - Tiahna
During her Undergraduate degree, Tiahna spent a year abroad in Australia, where she made her first network of international friends, each with diverse cultural backgrounds. During this time, she travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali, Malaysia and Dubai where she was inspired by diverse approaches to planning and development. Following her graduation, and through her enjoyment of learning languages, Tiahna went on to study Italian in Florence for 3 months.
Overcoming adversity
Following university, and in light of the limited job opportunities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amran started his career in planning at a private consultancy firm in Sheffield. Moving to a new city without knowing anyone was naturally challenging, compounded by the changes to the workplace during the pandemic – there was a lot of working from home, at a time in his career when being in the office would have been beneficial to making connections, hearing conversations and learning outside of the usual project work.
Any reservations on moving to Sheffield quickly disappeared and he thoroughly valued his time this city. However, eager for a new challenge both personally and professionally, he moved to London and joined Montagu Evans in September 2021.
At Monties, Amran sat his APC earlier, due to his previous planning experience, which came with its own challenges.
“Sitting earlier, meant I was not with my usual cohort, so I was having to rely on motivating myself, as I couldn’t discuss it with my peers as much. Regardless, this was something I was committed to achieving.” - Amran
He felt proud to pass the APC and shares his top tips for future candidates.
“Start working for it early because time is important… talk to as many people as possible for advice, even those outside of work. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – not just technical, but general wellbeing too.” - Amran
For Tiahna, a big moment in her life was during her master’s degree at UCL, when she sadly lost both her mother and grandmother within 24hours. From that moment, she became determined to take on any challenge and make them proud.
“Losing my mother and grandmother was extremely challenging and traumatic. It reminded me that life is short, and encouraged me to seize every day and every opportunity. I really just threw myself into my studies as a coping mechanism. Graduating from the Bartlett School with a First Class Honours degree was my proudest moment. I did it for me, but I also did it for them.”
- Tiahna
Tiahna then focused on dual accreditation, becoming both a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) and Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor (MRICS) in 2023, a huge achievement.
Life at Monties
Both Amran and Tiahna agree that Monties is a great place to start your career. There are lots of different people in a range of disciplines and there’s ample opportunity for career progression. A nice office also helps!
Having been in the company for two years now, Amran has already had the chance to work on several major projects, including town centre regeneration projects, senior living schemes, and supporting a public consultation for a film studios campus, which will be the largest of its kind.
“You need to be able to empathise with people to really have a meaningful conversation.” - Amran
More recently, Amran’s work has been within Planning’s Commercial team, working on industrial projects and doing sequential assessments for out-of-town retail, which has provided opportunities to visit a variety of towns and cities across the country.
Having spent three years working for a small private planning consultancy firm, Tiahna joined Planning’s Housing and Land team at Monties in September 2023. She has since been involved in a range of workstreams from assessing development feasibility, advising on ways in which to re-purpose existing assets, and collaborating with other areas of the partnership including the viability, land and agency teams to provide comprehensive residential development advice to clients.
She’s also welcomed the opportunity to combine her personal interests in health and wellness with her work.
“I am passionate about the mental health benefits of yoga and so I completed a yoga teacher training qualification in Goa, India. During Wellness Week, I ran a yoga session for colleagues in the office, which was received well.” - Tiahna
The importance of diversity
As two ethnic minority individuals carving a career path in a typically non-diverse sector, Amran and Tiahna had plenty to say on why diversity matters in Planning.
“We need planning committees to be more diverse and to reflect our communities – and this is all aspects of diversity – gender, ethnicity, race and more." - Amran
“People from different cultural backgrounds have different perspectives, we see things through various lenses. Diversity is key to innovation." - Tiahna
“If the inputs are diverse and culturally rich, you would hope the outputs are too. I firmly believe that with some simple tweaks, we can truly drive positive change within our industry." - Amran
Within organisations and indeed in the property industry as a whole, there is a need for greater BAME representation at all levels, particularly senior.
“For BAME individuals in the workplace, one challenge may be a fear of speaking out on underrepresentation”. - Tiahna
“Networking and social events can sometimes seem exclusive and push people away.” - Amran
In terms of moving forward, both echoed the importance of having role models within the industry that you can look toward, having open and honest conversations, and educating young people of the various career opportunities available to them to help create a more diverse workplace.
An EDI focus at Montagu Evans
Both Tiahna and Amran welcomed EDI initiatives at Montagu Evans, currently led by Warren Stapley. As such, we took the opportunity to catch up with Warren too and learn more about what’s in store for ’24.
As a ‘systems-thinker’, Warren is fairly adamant in his approach to the necessary equity mindset.
“I’ve always centred anti-racism and anti-oppression in my DEI practice. However, factoring it into wider training and coaching programmes is not enough… if we really want to improve racial and cultural inclusion, we need to talk openly and honestly about our identities, our privilege and the barriers faced by minoritised employees… Only by addressing the root causes of inequity and exclusion can we effect real change.”
- Warren
Warren is also a strong advocate for ethnicity pay gap reporting (something the built environment industry is currently not exactly known for), recognising that sharing this data will identify where to make changes, as well as sending a positive message to those who may consider joining in the future – that the company is open about pay gaps and is actively taking measures to reduce them.
Ultimately, as Warren paraphrases the well-known quote which relates to feminism, his version is:
“My DEI will be intersectional, or it will be b*llshit.” - Warren
No beating around the bush here, he’s got some serious changes planned.
A huge thank you to our rising stars, Amran and Tiahna for sharing their stories with us and to Warren for inspiring real EDI change at Montagu Evans.