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1st Friday

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VOYAGES OFDISCOVERY9 Six surveyors travelled the world this summer through a global internship scheme. Christine Eade hears their experiences in the latest in our series of monthly 1st Friday articles for young people in property

PARROTT’S FASHION: LIZZIE PARROTT, SAVILLS, NEW YORK

Nothing illustrates the e� ectiveness of Sociable Surveyors as well as the good fortune that befell Lizzie Parrott (pictured, winning her placement in July).

After a week in Savills’ New York o  ce, she came back to London and down to earth with a bump last month. There was no job to go to after gaining a 2:1 degree in real estate management from Oxford Brookes University.

Then, on 27 September, the call came: Savills’ London headquarters had heard about Parrott’s work in New York and o� ered her a two-year training contract. She arrived at the Grosvenor Hill o  ce in Mayfair the following day.

Parrott, 22, does not understand why she was not selected earlier to work in a surveying � rm to go through the assessment of professional competence (APC) — she thinks that there must have been something missing from her CV.

But that was overcome by her prize-winning video, which outshone 120 other candidates who wanted to work in Savills’ New York o  ces — the most sought-after placement.

Hurricane Irene delayed the start of her adventure, but eventually she arrived last month at Savills on the 36th � oor of 599 Lexington Avenue. She was immediately put

to work researching for a new o  ce development in New York, one so con� dential that not even she was allowed to know the location.

She looked at the general economic background, using data published by Jones Lang LaSalle and CBRE. But she also used online property search engine PropertyShark.com and newswire Bloomberg. She

transferred the information to spreadsheets and it was

incorporated into the main report.

All this was done under the watchful eye of Guy Benn, the former City investment agent who heads cross-border investment for Savills in New York.

“Guy arranged for me to go out with agency

Stribling & Associates for the last couple of days, so

I was taken around the high-end residential

developments in New York,” she says. “I was looking at apartments

worth between $1m and $3m, but I had to pretend that I was shopping for my very rich father. I don’t think they let just anyone around.”

Parrott’s father was, in fact, a surveyor for Lloyds TSB, before the HBOS merger in 2008.

The week taught her that in New York, brokers are the big money earners, not investment agents as in the UK.

Savills paid for a week’s stay at the Yotel New York on Times Square in Manhattan. She reports that, although there was sometimes a drink after work “everyone went home on time, and they don’t mix business with pleasure”.

earth with a bump last month. There was no job to go to

degree in real estate management from

contract. She arrived at the Grosvenor Hill o  ce in Mayfair

transferred the information to spreadsheets and it was

incorporated into the main report.

All this was done under the watchful eye of Guy Benn, the former City investment agent who heads cross-border investment for Savills in New York.

to go out with agency Stribling & Associates for

the last couple of days, so I was taken around the

high-end residential developments in New York,” she

says. “I was looking at apartments

The stories of the six students who won a week’s work in the overseas o� ces of developers and agents, through a project called Sociable

Surveyors, will be told for years to come.When the students settle into permanent jobs,

they will be able to enthral colleagues with stories of constructing a luxury apartment for dogs in Monte Carlo, listening to a contractor pitch for work with 16 gira� es close by, lunching with colleagues in Paris where the bill is €150 a head or breaking an arm in a Shanghai tra� c accident.

The students are now ambassadors for the project and will talk at universities to persuade others to follow in their footsteps next year.

Sociable Surveyors was set up in May by two Kingston University graduates, Sebastian Abigail, who is now on Knight Frank’s graduate scheme, and Elliott Sparsis, who is studying for a masters in real estate at South Bank University.

Although the paths of Abigail and Sparsis have diverged, they will run a Sociable Surveyors’ competition next year.

To enter this year’s scheme, 300 students recorded videos of themselves. Employers chose the best submissions and gave selected students an all-expenses paid trip for a week’s work. Flights were paid from the £10 each student contributed to enter the competition.

Here are their stories.

Abroad appeal: Abigail (left) and Sparsis set up Sociable Surveyors to provide overseas placements for their peers

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ANALYSIS

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PARIS MATCH: STUART BRIDGE, KNIGHT FRANK, PARIS

Stuart Bridge (pictured) should have returned to Oxford Brookes University last month for his � nal year for a BSc in estate management.

But when his week ended last month with Knight Frank in Paris, the � rm liked him so much he was o� ered a further fortnight in London.

Last week he worked with Knight Frank’s healthcare team, valuing care homes in Worthing and Brighton, having spent the previous week working with the West End o  ce agency team.

Bridge, 29, came late to property after working in recruitment consultancy.

Knight Frank chose him out of 85 other students who wanted work experience in Paris.

“This was a great opportunity,” he says. “I am not from a private school background, and I have the impression that the larger consultancies look for private schools on a CV.”

Bridge arrived in Knight Frank’s o  ce in Place Vendôme, near the Ritz, Chanel and Bulgari. The 50-strong o  ce is headed by Philippe Perello.

Bridge’s � rst assignment was to look for a 10,000 sq ft o  ce in business district La Défense for a retained client.

“It was a great opportunity to look around La Défense, which is twice the size of Canary Wharf,” he says.

Bridge admits his French is spoken at a schoolboy level but, although most of the sta� are French, 80% speak English. They wanted to help him, too.

“Priscilla Charrey, one of the head o  ce’s agents, really looked after me and introduced me to everyone in the team.”

The meetings and viewings were conducted in French, but photographs are a universal language. Knight Frank was pitching for an investment sale instruction and, as part of the presentation, Bridge was sent out to take iconic pictures of Paris for the marketing brochure for the prospective client.

He also went out to value a townhouse leased by a � lm company, and realised the tenant breaks at the third, sixth and ninth year depressed the investment value.

“It was very social, but it was a lunchtime thing,” says Bridge, recalling a leaving party lunch. “We went to a very high-class restaurant with the whole team. The bill was €150 a head. I’m glad I wasn’t paying it.”

Paris, the � rm liked him so much he was o� ered a further fortnight

Last week he worked with

Knight Frank chose him out of 85 other students who wanted

Défense mechanism: Bridge navigated his way around Paris’s business district during his placement

Rich pitch: Parrott viewed high-end apartments in New York under cover

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FRENCH TWIST: GEORGE LIVERSIDGE AT BOUYGUES AND HAMMERSON, AND SOPHIA BELL AT HAMMERSON, PARIS

George Liversidge (pictured), 22, was chosen by the Paris o� ces of both Bouygues and Hammerson. The Nottingham Trent University student attributes this double success partly to his French mother, who insisted he became bilingual.

She would never have guessed her son would one day negotiate a cleaning contract at Parc Zoologique de Vincennes in French, for Bouygues.

“I wasn’t in the o� ce at all, but on site every day,” he says. “They are redoing the whole zoo, and they had started clearing the site. All the animals had left last year, apart from 16 gira� es and some ostriches. The gira� es were going to stay because there were quite a few of them. I was dealing with the cleaning contractors to � nd out what the best price was and then going back to the site manager for him to make the � nal decision. It was a really great experience.”

It was also a long working day, which began at 7.30 am and � nished at 7 pm.

By contrast, Liversidge’s work experience at Hammerson was with the asset management team, looking at a range of shopping centre development sites.

He worked with Sophia Bell (above), 21, a student of economics and French at Durham University, and both � nished their Paris trip on 30 September. Bell and Liversidge examined the business plans and the economic models for the proposed centres. Language was no problem for Bell either, because she had just completed part of her degree in Aix en Provence.

Liversidge returns to Nottingham Trent to continue to study quantity surveying for his � nal year. He will then consider doing a masters, before � nding a � rm at which to begin his APC.

Bell, who was an intern at Savills for two months, plans a masters degree in real estate, and thinks her true interests may lie in residential development.

George Liversidge (pictured), 22, was chosen by the Paris

guessed her son would one

contract at Parc Zoologique de

Tall order: Liversidge, with Sophia Bell in Hammerson’s Italie shopping centre in Paris (right), negotiated a cleaning contract in French at a Paris zoo, where only gira� es remained

Shanghai knight: Mantell’s heroics on a Chinese street meant he broke his arm during his trip to Shanghai

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SHANGHAI FAN: TOM MANTELL, SAVILLS, SHANGHAI

Few had prepared longer for their adventure than Tom Mantell (pictured) who, on graduating from the University of Reading, won a week in Savills’ Shanghai o� ce.

Mantell had studied with a personal Chinese tutor for 18 months, and had taken a two-week course in Mandarin at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

It made him the perfect candidate to work with Savills’ 60 sta� in Shanghai.

He was amazed by the opulence of serviced apartments for expatriates, and marvelled at the sheer size of the shopping malls.

He worked in the commercial research department with James Macdonald, an associate director, and one of the few Englishmen in the o� ce.

However, disaster struck early on.

“The drivers are quite maniacal there,” he explains. “A woman was clipped by a car, and, in trying to save her, I fell and broke my arm.”

Although getting hospital care in China could seem a little daunting, the team helped out.

“The next day I went into Savills and asked where expats get treatment, and they were really helpful,” he says.

Mantell ¢ ew home and has since had surgery on his arm. He now works as part of the real estate team in Zurich, but will compete again next year to return to Shanghai.

Englishmen in the o� ce.However, disaster

struck early on. “The drivers are

Although getting hospital care in China could seem a little daunting,

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1st Friday

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CAPITAL ASSETS: KATE SPARKS, GC2, LONDON

Two of the six students who won a week with a London employer experienced life working with a sole principal, rather than large multi-disciplinary practice.

Kate Sparks (pictured), who is now in her � nal year at Oxford Brookes University, worked for a week at GC2, the South Bank � rm based at the Tower Building set up by George Copeman.

Having previously taken part in work experience at Savills, Sparks says working for Copeman on his own gave her a di� erent

insight into working in a surveying � rm. As Copeman is an APC supervisor, he knew

what would interest Sparks.“I worked on a development appraisal

in Battersea, which was really useful because that’s what I am doing in one of my modules,” she says.

She also carried out market research in connection with agency acquisitions.

She is beginning to look for graduate jobs in surveying while completing her

degree. Simon Ambrose, winner of the 2007 BBC

television show The Apprentice, set up his own development company last year, and chose Rachel Goodwin, a Southampton University student, to work for him for a week.

The others who won a London placement were: Gary Dracott of She� eld Hallam University, who worked at Hammerson’s London o� ce; Claire Chambers of Glasgow Caledonian University, who spent a week at DTZ in London and will also work in Knight frank’s Brussels o� ce; Danielle Moyles of Cambridge University, who spent a week in Hammerson’s London o� ce, and Sam Salloway of Reading University, who worked for a week in Savills’ London o� ce. 9

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT:JAMES PAUL, BOUYGUES, NICE

James Paul, who graduated this summer with a � rst from Edinburgh Napier University, after a four-year BSc in quantity surveying, worked for a week in Nice for Bouygues.

He could not resist popping over the border to Monaco to witness Bouygues’ development through its subsidiary, Richelieu, of a rich man’s fantasy in Monte Carlo.

“It was absolutely incredible,” recalls Paul. “It was a mixed-use development of small o� ces and � ve apartments, but there was a triplex for this man and his dogs. He had brought in animal psychologists to design things for the dogs to play in and a swimming pool for them.”

Back in France, Paul witnessed lavish construction in Antibes, where a €110m seven-storey development had parking excavated to a depth of 50 metres.

His job was to shadow the chef du chantier (quantity surveyor) and the chef de treveux (construction project manager.)

“Ninety per cent of the work is in pure French, which was a steep challenge for me, as I am far from professionally ¢ uent. There was a lot of construction terminology and jargon.”

Paul, 27, said goodbye to Edinburgh in June. He now lives in London and is applying for places on graduate schemes run by the big London practices.

for Copeman on his own gave her a di� erent insight into working in a surveying � rm. As

Copeman is an APC supervisor, he knew what would interest Sparks.

jobs in surveying while completing her degree.

Simon Ambrose, winner of the 2007 BBC television show

JAMES PAUL, BOUYGUES, NICE

Monaco to witness Bouygues’

subsidiary, Richelieu, of a rich man’s fantasy in Monte Carlo.

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London practices.

Marina life: Paul got a taste of Monte Carlo (pictured) when he visited a Bouygues construction site

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Battersea home: Sparks worked with sole princpal and APC supervisor at GC2

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