International Women's Day 2020

Antonia Burgess discusses women in Real Estate

What attracted you to the Real Estate industry?

I initially thought I wanted to be a media lawyer, yet itwas my time in the property team at the firm where Itrained that introduced me to the world of real estate.

The female Partner, Diana Cornforth, was fun andinspirational. I learnt so much from her. I also discoveredI loved doing property deals and have now worked inthe real estate industry for over 25 years.

If you had one key piece of career advice for women,what would it be?

I wish my younger self had known that as a woman youdon’t have to be serious to be taken seriously!

If I can provide a second piece of advice it would be topush yourself to take on challenges that place yououtside your comfort zone. Whether it’s speaking inpublic or applying for a promotion, you will achieve agreat sense of satisfaction and perhaps surpriseyourself.

How can businesses level the playing field to createan environment in which everybody thrives?

The key is creating a flexible working environment thatsupports individuals to deliver the best they can be; andalso support their home circumstances.

How can our male colleagues be allies for equality?

My experience, working in both London and Jersey, hasalways been positive. The focus needs to be oneveryone, no matter who they are, being encouraged topromote equality and inclusivity. Opportunities shouldbe open to all, and everyone has their part to play inproactively developing and encouraging talent at alllevels.

What do we need to do to see meaningful changebeing made in the corporate and property world?

I think this question ignores the great efforts manybusinesses are already making. What businesses needto explore and pinpoint are the “unintentional barriers”.Personally, I’m not a fan of “Breakfast events”. They’renot family friendly, especially as in many householdsboth parents work (sometimes in the same industry!)and one parent needs to take children to school so theymiss out on attending. Whilst I appreciate “Breakfastevents” suit many professionals, they also have theunintended consequence of excluding a key section oftheir target audience.

"I wish my younger self had known that as awoman you don’t have to be serious to betaken seriously!"

Antonia BurgessSubstantas, Independent Non-Executive Director

International Women's Day 2020

Antonia Burgess

Independent Non-Executive Director

Antonia is a Jersey resident independent non-executivedirector with considerable experience of acting as adirector on real estate, private equity real estate anddebt structures with assets in the UK and Europe.

Antonia has held senior leadership roles in legal andfinancial services businesses for over 25 years. Shepractised as a lawyer at Hogan Lovells in London,before relocating to Jersey in 2005 when she joinedMourant International Finance Administration (MIFA). AtMIFA she led a European real estate team with fundassets under administration of over US $60bn and wasa member of MIFA’s executive management board priorto the sale of the business to State Street. Antonia hasacted as a Jersey resident director since 2005 andbecame an independent non-executive director in2013.

Antonia graduated in law from University CollegeLondon (UCL) prior to qualifying as a lawyer in Englandand Wales. She a Member of the Institute of Directorsand is regulated by the Jersey Financial ServicesCommission.

Stephanie Workman

Crestbridge, Manager

Stephanie has over 12 years of real estate and fundadministration experience. She is responsible for a largeportfolio of UK and European real estate holdingstructures for a number of prestigious corporate clients,predominantly based in North America.

About Crestbridge

Crestbridge provides global administration, trustee,accounting, management and governance solutionsthat are shaped to our clients’ needs wherever they dobusiness.

We recognise that our success and that of our clients isdown to the quality of the people who work here atCrestbridge. So our focus is squarely on attracting andretaining individuals who have outstanding experiencein their field and share our values as an independent,forward-thinking business.