Meet JM, Ed, Matt and Karen. They鈥檝e made it to the top of their professions at a ludicrously young age, thanks to talent, ambition, luck and smart clothing. But what route did they take? And what has it cost them? Vikki Miller and Sarah Richardson found out
Ed Bartlett
Director of International PPP, Cyril Sweett
Career path
22 Started his career as a with Shepherd Construction
24 Moved to research group BRE as a research analyst
28 Made an associate director of Faithful & Gould
30 Joined Cyril Sweett as director of consulting
33 Made director of International PPP and a board director of Cyril Sweett Holdings
Ed Bartlett feels he has paid a high price for his swift ascension to the top. 鈥淚 was working 60-hour weeks and quite a few weekends,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 take my full holiday and didn鈥檛 see enough of my friends and family.鈥�
The reward was being made a director of consultant Cyril Sweett at 30, after focusing on PPP/PFI projects, including work on the controversial St Bart鈥檚 and the London hospital project. But last year Bartlett made a decision to change his lifestyle. He is now trying to work more sensible hours and, following his marriage in February this year, he moved back to the north-east of England where he is setting up a Newcastle branch of Cyril Sweett. He is also using his experience to advise younger members of his team about how to find a sensible work鈥搇ife balance. 鈥淢y advice is to work as hard as you can but keep a watch on issues outside of work,鈥� he says.
Bartlett鈥檚 path to the top surprised his colleagues. He failed his assessment of professional competence because he was too specialised and to this day he鈥檚 still not chartered. He has also job-hopped every two to three years 鈥� Shepherd, BRE, Faithful & Gould 鈥� leaving at the peak of each to pursue something new.
The best thing about being a director, he says, is the quality of people and projects he now works with. 鈥淚鈥檝e been accepted into the premier league,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 working with the top clients on the top projects.鈥�
His long-term ambition is to try his hand at being a client and then, ultimately, to run his own consultancy business. His advice to others reaching for the top is not to be too cautious about taking risks.
鈥淭he industry is in short supply of good people,鈥� he says. 鈥淧ush for promotion. If you don鈥檛 get it, don鈥檛 be afraid to look elsewhere.鈥�
JM Erasmus
Partner, Davis Langdon
Career path
I was working 60-hour weeks. I wouldn鈥檛 take my full holiday and didn鈥檛 see enough of my friends and family
Ed Bartlett, Cyril Sweett
23 Joined Arthur Andersen Consulting鈥檚 corporate finance department as a graduate, initially in South Africa
25 Moved to Davis Langdon as a non-cognate project manager
29 Made a partner in Davis Langdon鈥檚 business development team
If you told JM Erasmus five years ago he鈥檇 be a) in the UK, b) working in construction and c) a partner at a cost consultancy, he would have said you were delusional. But last May, the recently married South African was made a partner at Davis Langdon in London in the business development team 鈥� at the age of 29.
Erasmus claims he is not the youngest partner ever at Davis Langdon 鈥� 好色先生TV鈥檚 Hall of Fame entrant Paul Morrell takes that credit. 鈥淚 think Paul pipped me by a year, or maybe he was the same age,鈥� he says. 鈥淗onestly, I鈥檝e never checked,鈥� he adds, hastily.
Erasmus ended up at Davis Langdon by accident. He came to England five years ago to pursue a job in the legal or finance sector with Arthur Andersen but when the firm imploded after the Enron scandal in 2002, Davis Langdon took him in. His colleagues have taken his rapid rise in good humour, but his larger pay packet means he鈥檚 often coaxed into getting the beers in.
His success has come, he claims, as a result of hard work and knowing his skills. He says he is determined to climb higher still and has no plans to slow down now that he鈥檚 a partner.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 afford to take your foot off the accelerator. It鈥檚 not an environment where you can relax,鈥� he explains. 鈥淢aking partner is the result of hard work but it鈥檚 not a result in itself. I have to keep on working hard. On the flip side, I also have to work hard to relax and switch off.鈥�
To cope with the pressures of the job, he deliberately keeps his professional and personal lives separate. He says he is usually home by 7.30pm to spend time with his wife and makes sure he finds the time to play squash and the occasional round of golf.
Erasmus looks surprised when asked if he plans to work less as he gets older: 鈥淓arly retirement?鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat would I do?鈥�
Matt Hawkins
Partner, EC Harris
Career path
22 Joins EC Harris
27 Made an associate
30 Becomes a partner, with responsibility for the London commercial team
By his own admission, Matt Hawkins never had a burning desire to be a QS. He fell into the role when he became disillusioned with his first degree 鈥� history and politics 鈥� a year into the course. 鈥淚 had a friend at Reading who was studying quantity surveying and was quite enjoying it, so I joined up. I think most people there would be lying if they said they took the course because they really wanted to be a QS.鈥�
Despite this initial indifference, Hawkins has risen to be one of EC Harris鈥� youngest partners. Having joined the company straight from university, by the age of 30 he was made responsible for the London commercial team, working with leading clients including Land Securities, More London and Chelsfield.
I have walked into meetings and been treated sceptically because of my age. But after a while, they stop seeing you as young
Karen Gidwani, Fenwick Elliott
Hawkins did not have an ambition to be a partner from an early age, but says he worked hard because he enjoyed his job. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think thinking like that at the age of 21 would have been right,鈥� he says. 鈥淓verything I did at work probably was a step on the way, but I didn鈥檛 wake up every day thinking it.鈥� He puts in long hours 鈥渨hen required鈥�, but says that it isn鈥檛 the norm. 鈥淚 have a work hard, play hard philosophy,鈥� he smiles.
Hawkins believes that he stood out as a potential leader because he was clear about what he could offer the firm. He says: 鈥淧lenty of people work hard, but a lot is about having a real understanding of what it takes to be a partner in the firm you鈥檙e at.鈥�
He also feels that his age offered EC Harris an easy way to bridge the gap between older partners and site-based workers: 鈥淏eing younger does mean you have different things to offer. I can empathise with the guys on the ground, and with clients. It鈥檚 not unusual for clients to be under 30 years old.鈥�
Hawkins doesn鈥檛 feel that he has sacrificed much during his rise. He has a long-term partner and an active social life, and is a season ticket holder at Arsenal. The one thing he may have missed out on is travelling. 鈥淟ooking back, I maybe could have taken the opportunity to travel a bit more when I wasn鈥檛 working,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 slightly harder when you have to persuade people you鈥檙e entitled to a really long sabbatical.鈥�
Karen Gidwani
Partner, Fenwick Elliott
Career path
24 Qualifies at law practice Sharpe Pritchard after studying at Oxford and joins construction department at Titmuss Sainer Dechert.
25 Moves to Fenwick Elliott
26 Promoted to associate
30 Becomes a partner
Oxford-educated Karen Gidwani makes no secret of the ambition that drove her rapid rise to partnership. 鈥淭here would be no point in doing my job without the ultimate aim of becoming a partner,鈥� she says.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 do specialist law just to hang around.鈥�
Five months ago, her ambition reaped its reward when she was made a partner in the firm she joined five years ago. Although she studied law at university, it was only after qualifying that she made the decision to specialise in construction, driven by childhood memories of her father鈥檚 job as a civil . 鈥淗e worked on Docklands for George Wimpey,鈥� Gidwani recalls. 鈥淚 was excited by construction. We don鈥檛 get to do enough site visits as lawyers.鈥�
Gidwani鈥檚 rise was boosted by the fact that she works for a small, niche firm that recognised her talent quickly. But even with the close support of the partners she has not always found progression easy. 鈥淣obody just sails through, and there are pressured moments,鈥� she admits.
One of these is the reaction she faces from some clients as a young woman. 鈥淲omen tend to look younger than men anyway, so I have had to be quite careful,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 have walked into meetings and been treated sceptically because of my age. But after you鈥檝e been working with someone for a while, they stop seeing you as young and just see you as their lawyer.鈥�
Despite this, Gidwani says she wouldn鈥檛 have done anything differently. There is little time for friends and family, particularly for those who live outside London, but she says that (so far at least) people support her choices. 鈥淓veryone I鈥檓 close to has a job which requires a lot of energy and thought, so I wouldn鈥檛 say my career has a negative impact,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll of us are under pressure, but we are still a close knit group of friends and we are happy for each other.鈥�
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