Gary Scagell is an Employers Agent with a focus on residential affordable housing schemes. Based in the London office, he works closely with a talented team that includes Khadija, Moyo, and Welling Partner Alex, bringing their collective expertise to deliver quality developments, from inception to completion, all across the city.
What is one valuable thing you’ve learned in your career so far?
The value of mentorship. This helped me immeasurably, particularly at the start of my career.
What’s your work background?
Unsure of my direction after college, I decided to defer my university degree for a year. During that time, I started working as an administrative assistant in housing maintenance and soon had the opportunity to move to a small main contractor within the same organisation. There, I spent four years as an assistant Quantity Surveyor on new-build residential housing projects. To support my development, I enrolled part-time in a BSc at Solent University in Southampton and graduated in 2022. In 2021, I transitioned to the client side, where I’ve since worked in various consultancy roles.
What do you love about your role, and what are your hopes for the future?
I genuinely enjoy the fact that each project presents its own unique set of challenges and, as a result, there is so much variety in what we do. I take pride in collaborating with the multitude of professional disciplines across the industry to find solutions to problems and deliver exciting projects.
There is always opportunity for professional development within this industry, and this is something I feel is truly encouraged and supported at Welling. My next goal is to become MRICS accredited.
What are your key topics/areas of the business that you focus on?
Quantity Surveying, Project Management and Contract Administration.
What was your first ever job?
Whilst I was at school, I used my paper round as a way of advertising ‘gardening services’. As I had no clue what I was doing, it sadly never really took off as a business, but I did manage to pick up one repeat client that provided work for several months – most likely out of sympathy!
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was never really sure what I wanted to do, but I can confidently say that “Quantity Surveyor” wasn’t exactly on my radar—mostly because I had no idea what one was! It wasn’t until the opportunity to train as one fell into my lap that I discovered it. To my surprise, I’ve actually ended up enjoying this career far more than I ever would have expected!
What are your personal hobbies?
Running, and going to live music and comedy events.
Do you have a claim to fame?
I’m currently the feature of an ‘Are You Smarter Than a Scagell?’ quiz round running at a pub in Stockholm – 18/30 to beat!
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
Sunday roasts!
And finally…What’s your ideal holiday?
Multi-stop trips, covering as much ground as possible – the type of holiday where you come back more exhausted than when you left!
I’d say the best place I’ve visited so far has got to be Brazil, back in 2019.
