“Young people today have such a tough time, on every level. If people have a roof over their head, everything shifts for them.” Lorraine Thomas is a risk-taking, change-making, life-enhancing visionary. She took a leap from a successful career in business development for the legal sector to property development, where one of her key focuses is […]
View From My Window
because of not inspite of
Property with a Purpose
WELCOME
Opportunities do not come gift-wrapped. Of course, it would be nice if they did. Many believe they never come at all except to the lucky few. But I believe we can all make our own opportunities.
I grew up in a household that believed in saving for a rainy day, not spending or investing. And let’s face it, there are many rainy days in England. Life in the safe zone… Safe it may be, but there were no thrills, no excitement. I could have steadily plodded along this way forever… safe …comfortable. A grey safe boring life.
But I learned I had to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself. I saw the possibilities to change my future. I took a leap from business development for the legal sector, to property development for myself. I learned to negotiate, buy, build, renovate, manage, develop and sell properties. My world took on its own colours, and I have chosen four of these to showcase my brand.
Last year Lorraine joined the F:Entrepreneur #ialso100 2020 – A Hall of Fame of 100 female founders who were recognised for their inspiring stories, business journeys, and the multi-dimensional, fast-paced lives they were living to the full. To find out more click here.
About
Lorraine Thomas is a giant thinking, risk-taking visionary. She took a leap from a successful career in business development for the legal sector to property development for herself. Not a path she chose. It was a path that chose her. Today she’s on a journey where others are welcome who want to maximise bricks-and-mortar opportunities and realise the view from their window.
Over half of the investment property that Lorraine is renovating at present has a social element attached to it. She is a strong believer in helping young disadvantaged adults get on the ladder and have a decent place to live. That basic need of shelter is key to development and stepping up. Lorraine with her business partner focuses part of her business on renting solely to young people at an affordable rent to give them a start.
Latest Blogs
Challenges of Young People today – good news in tough times
View from my window is all about lifting others. It provides Property with Purpose putting a roof over the heads of those some landlords would run a mile from. We are proud to say that amongst other disadvantaged groups; we accommodate young adults who are going through a tough time and often looked after by […]
Becoming an entrepreneur
To tie in with International Women’s Day last month I was lucky enough to be invited by @TideBank to be a panellist in their Masterclass series alongside three other amazing women @fentrepreneur @thefloatspa @bambooclub @Tidebanking as a bank have a mission to support women into entrepreneurship. That recording is attached. Reflecting on my quote above I […]
A year ago (March 2020 pre-Covid) Delores and I were invited to speak to the Property Hustle about getting our 9 unit development in Croydon,Fountain Gates CR7 off the ground. Now six weeks off the project completing we look back at what we said then. A lot has changed! At the time of making this […]
Choose to Challenge
On International Women’s Day, I had the pleasure of speaking alongside @michelleoveens Baroness @tannigreythompson @matthancock @powellhowardalexis to the amazing F:Entrepreneur #ialso1002021 group of women that own amazing small businesses. The event was a celebration of greatness, gumption, and gutsiness. There was no doubt why these women had been selected this year by F:Entrepreneur. In that […]
Moving on
So this was me in December 2020 sharing with influencer extraordinaire @nsbremner a fellow property investor; mum, sailor and friend my thoughts for 2021. I got to share a bit about me; the things I’m passionate about, what I stand for as a business and as an individual, my thoughts on the property sector amidst […]
All we need is love
So it’s arrived. The month of lurve. Three days in and already it’s slipping by. February is a month I love for many reasons: January is over It’s a short month It’s Valentines Direct Debit renewals for appliances and insurances all done New Year’s resolutions are a thing of the past (and if not, happy days)! However, […]
What does BAME actually mean?
The Business of Black room number 3 on Clubhouse yesterday did not disappoint. Yet another insightful discussion. I may even go as far as to say that it was the best room we’ve had so far in terms of numbers and content shared. The use of the terms ‘BAME’ and ‘POC’ were discussed. As you […]
Does alerting people to their unconscious bias help or hinder?
The Business of Black does it again! Following another productive conversation on Clubhouse yesterday evening on unconscious bias, I wanted to round up some thoughts. If you are not on the Clubhouse app and missed it this is for you. So what is unconscious bias? Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form […]
Tokenism or Diversity?
Yesterday I hosted my first ever Clubhouse room alongside the amazing @Marina Conway-Gordon. The Clubhouse app couldn’t have come at a better time in my social journey (normally a laggard) as the nature of it allows for effective, open conversations and this has been one of our main objectives for the series. So, we kicked […]
Panel Talk: The London Housing Market
On Monday I was invited onto the NRLA London: Housing Market in London panel. The webinar was a lively discussion about the state of the London housing market. I was grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts on what I believe we can expect for 2021 in the property market following Brexit, Covid, the stamp duty […]
GOOGLE: The State of Black Women UK Summit 2020
Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at Google’s event entitled: The State of Black Women UK Summit 2020. In 2018, Google launched this campaign internally in order to promote a sense of belonging for black women within their organisation. Clearly Google recognised that we are not all equally represented, particularly black women. This without doubt […]