Coming from a family of key experts in the industry, she has always had a keen interest in property and development. 

Her uncle was the managing director at John Sisk & Son, which was the biggest contractor in Ireland, and she also grew up with another uncle who was a developer in the West Ireland. 

Even her husband and brother work in construction at TSL in London.

“I love seeing the process from a bare site to a development of family homes, or the transformation of a city centre office block to stylish apartments,” she told DFT. 

Orla spent the first nine years of her career at Allied Irish Bank, which gave her a good understanding of banking and credit. 

“I knew I needed to specialise in one sector in order to really climb the ladder and become an expert in my field, so property development was an obvious option for me,” she added.

According to Orla, she has worked with some of the “best development BDMs in the industry”, and references Jonathan Nail, UTB’s property development director, as someone she looks up to. 

For Orla, watching and learning from these people, mirroring elements from their approaches, and then making her own style has been paying off for her. 

“I knew I would need to go in at a supporting-role level in order to gain the experience and confidence I needed, and thankfully the job at UTB provided me with this,” she shared.

UTB has given Orla the opportunity to grow in the position and encouraged her to progress to a senior director role in the bank, where she now manages a team of BDMs while running her own portfolio.

When it comes to diversity, Orla recalled the changes she’s seen within the bank and in the wider property development sector over the nine years she’s worked at UTB: “It has employed more women in senior roles, promoted women from within, and taken measures to ensure women have the same opportunities and career support as men – especially within the property development team.”

She’s noticed that women are more visible on sites working in the traditional trades; women run successful development companies and are prevalent throughout the various professions which support the construction process, such as quantity surveying, valuing, planning consulting, architecture and, of course, finance.

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“The biggest obstacle is overcoming the bias which still exists in many parts of the construction industry.”

When Orla arrives on site for the first time, she shared that many developers and contractors initially (and wrongfully) think, ‘What does this blonde know about development?’ 

“Once we start talking, however, and we start discussing the type of foundations they are proposing, or if there are any potential Right of Light issues or party wall agreements needed, any preconceived notions disappear,” she divulged.

“I have a great working relationship with all of my clients, and I have a very high retention and repeat business count.”

Orla expressed there were still barriers in all industries which had been traditionally male dominated: “This is probably more so in construction and development, and I think women can sometimes be intimidated by this.”

“It’s up to employers in the industry — from lenders and surveyors to electrical and plumbing contractors — to ensure their recruitment policy encourages diversity across the board, and that everyone has equal opportunity and is paid in line with their skills and knowledge rather than their gender.

“It has got better since I started working in the industry, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Orla acknowledged the need for getting the right person for the right job; a person should not be given a position just to bolster a company’s diversity numbers. 

However, sometimes it is simply about taking a different approach. 

“A number of my contracting clients have said the impact of having women on site is huge, the culture changes [it brings is] a breath of fresh air.”

Orla encourages women who are thinking of pursuing a career in development finance to do it: “It is so much fun; one day you can be on site in your muddy boots and the next you can be at a black-tie event in a swanky city hotel.

“It’s really exciting and rewarding, and the relationships you make with your customers and brokers are amazing.

“You become part of the development team, trusted and valued by the borrowers.

“I don’t know if all my colleagues feel the same way, but I enjoy the feeling of inclusion you get in the midst of a project, and I feel a kind of ownership of the development and great satisfaction seeing another successful project taken from its inception on paper to the buyers moving in.”

While there’s no quick fix to attract more women into the development finance sector, Orla said having a diverse workplace can make it less intimidating for them to apply.

“It has started at UTB, and I hope it’s a trend we’ll see spread across the industry.”