About Stacey

In my first week at Estates Gazette, as a fledgling writer, I had to preview the Property Computer Show North, attend a Gazeley driving day in Southampton - which involved reversing an HGV and steering a tank - and interview agents in Bradford for my first Focus feature. It was a baptism of fire but I survived and here I am 11 years later and Focus editor.

Some things have changed considerably in that time - driving days are certainly a rarity now - but others haven't; sadly Bradford still hasn't got the much needed extra retail that I wrote about back then.

I've written about most parts of the country at some point and visited nearly every city (I think Sheffield and Aberdeen are the only two I haven't) and a good handful of towns.

It's been great going back to places and seeing developments germinate from proposals into fully formed schemes. Bristol's Broadmead, or Cabot Circus as it is now known, is an example as the city's retail market was the subject of my second ever Focus feature.

My particular patches now are London, Hampshire and the South West, except when I go to MIPIM when I cover everything outside London. But I think my knowledge is probably best described as 'know a little bit about a lot of things but not much about anything in particular'.