Meet The Only Solo Female Founder Of A UK Property Brokerage

By the time 2023 rolled around, the real estate brokerage industry offered artificial intelligence valuation models, agents selling properties on TikTok and virtual building tours. 

What it didn’t have was a woman who cut her teeth at one of the big agency firms running her own brokerage — until Natalie Lelliott changed that. 

Lelliott left Colliers two years ago to set up her own firm, the only operating agency founded by a solo female. The Lelliott Group, which advises office owners and occupiers on leasing across London, now counts six staffers and is looking to do things differently than the big agencies and niche firms traditionally founded and run by men. 

“Being a woman in the industry has, throughout my entire career, had its highs and lows,” Lelliott told Bisnow. 

“Like anyone, I've had moments of self-doubt, wondering if I was good enough, if I belonged in the industry, or if I was taking too big a risk setting up my own business. But instead of letting those doubts really take over me and derail me in any way, I've used them to my advantage.”

Lelliott spent eight years at CBRE and later set up the Colliers City office in 2017. Like many women in real estate, she ultimately found working at a larger firm  frustrating. 

Data from Real Estate Balance found that despite diversity becoming more prominent in the real estate conversation, the proportion of women in senior roles in the industry has actually fallen in the last decade from 32% to 26%. The decline comes even as the industry is becoming more balanced at the entry and middle-management levels. 

Lelliott said she enjoyed her time in the corporate world, though the opacity surrounding how to get promoted was difficult to navigate. 

“I got fed, at the time, the corporate reasoning behind whether I should or shouldn't be promoted and what they felt was justified or not,” she said. “And I think that just became more of a reason, in terms of push-and-pull factors, for me to move on with my career. I didn't feel I got the recognition that I deserved.”

Women often don’t get the same amount of recognition as male contemporaries when they achieve the same thing, she said. And too often, she added, women in the industry see each other as competitors rather than collaborators.  

Large agencies can also stifle innovation. Because leadership is centralised, new ideas, strategy pivots and business lines are often either not adopted or implemented after the opportunity is gone, Lelliott said.

That is something she hopes to avoid replicating at TLG. 

“Ultimately, because we're a boutique team, we can be a lot more nimble and agile,” she said. “That's what I love about running a boutique business. We can adapt immediately to either changes in market conditions or new innovations such as AI.”

While Lelliott is not looking to create an exclusively female team, she is trying to put diversity at the forefront of TLG's hiring strategy, offering opportunities for talented professionals from any background to advance. 

As for advice to others looking to start their own firms, Lelliott is clear: Forget about perfection, it’s impossible. It’s all about trying to find balance, especially between work and parenting. 

“I’m someone who's gone out to run their own business, but I’m also balancing being a mum as well. And I'd say that some days I do it well, and others, not so much,” she said. 

“I've learned to let go of perfection and be present. Whether that's when I'm in a client meeting or reading bedtime stories, it gets my complete attention. I want my daughters to grow up seeing that ambition and motherhood can go hand in hand, and that you don't have to choose between having a family and chasing your dream.”