Q&A: Five minutes with Tritax Big Box Developments MD Jonathan Wallis

How did you join the property industry?

My interest in property was piqued while studying geography at the University of Birmingham. Thanks to the father of one of my housemates – a partner at Young & Butt in Southampton – I bagged some work experience, which prompted me to undertake a masters in land management at the University of Reading. Thirty years later, my son Oliver undertook the same course. After my stint at Reading, I was offered a place on DTZ Debenham Thorpe’s graduate programme.

What does your job entail now?

At Tritax Big Box Developments (TBBD), we source land, guide it through the planning system and subsequently develop large-scale warehouses averaging between 2m sq ft and 3m sq ft per year. I became managing director on 1 October 2025 and now have responsibility for the strategic and operational leadership of the business.

What do you like most about the industry?

What we do matters – we deliver critical infrastructure. The role logistics plays is fundamental to the economic success of this country, especially post-pandemic. We need to continue to highlight the importance of our sector at a local and national government level.

And what do you dislike about it?

I’ll sound like Jeremy Clarkson here but, without a doubt, it is the planning system, which is in serious need of reform. The delays won’t get any better while local governments tussle over different devolution options. There is a huge opportunity to streamline the process to bring forward sites for development at pace and drive much-needed growth for UK plc.

Land is our raw material. We have 4,500 acres at various stages of planning – more than any other logistics developer in the UK. We need to instigate five-year employment land targets – just as for housing – coupled with accountable local plan review timescales.

While I’m on a roll, understaffed local authority planning departments need adequate funding to be able to recruit.

What are you most proud of?

That’s easy: the team we have built at TBBD. And I don’t just mean the developers. Every person working here plays a crucial part in creating, sustaining and growing our business. We work hard and push ourselves to achieve, but with an eye on a good work-life balance and office dynamic. I really believe this is the cornerstone of our success.

What challenges have you overcome in your career?

I joined Miller Developments in 2008. As a result of the global financial crash, I watched us go from 90 people to 10. That was tough on many levels. But you bounce back, which is exactly what I did by joining the now TBBD team in 2017.

What advice do you have for others in the sector?

I can see my children rolling their eyes already because I say it to them all the time: make the effort to talk to people in person or pick up the phone. Nowadays, everyone hides behind emails or texts. It is just not the same as being face to face. Recently, I travelled for three hours to meet an agent before submitting a bid on a site. He was impressed and said we were the only company to have made the effort. Let’s hope we get it now I’ve said that.

What TV series do you enjoy watching?

Clarkson’s Farm. It is a hugely entertaining programme, but it has a serious message at its heart. No one has done more to put the difficulties of the farming industries – and the planning system for that matter – in the limelight.

Do you listen to any podcasts?

I love rugby and The Rugby Pod. I look forward to a weekly fix of Big Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode chewing the cud on my commute.

What is your number-one travel destination and why?

It is not about the destination for me; it is about who you are with, so I’ll say anywhere with my wife and our three sons. We feel extremely lucky that the boys still want to come with us as they are all in their twenties, often bringing their girlfriends, too.