NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK COMMENT Like many school-leavers, I was excited to start my journey into the world of work, but I was not sure exactly what that would look like.
I’m a practical person so for me, real estate just made sense. It is bricks and mortar, it exists, we can see it. Most of us live in homes, some of us work in offices, at the weekend we might wander around a shopping centre and – if we’re lucky – we will spend some time in a hotel every so often.
Undertaking an apprenticeship at CBRE covers all of those things, and more. Since I started my degree apprenticeship three years ago, it’s been an opportunity to launch my career in real estate and to gain exposure to senior leaders in the business.
Intense and rewarding
Once you are on the scheme, you’re learning on the job, plus studying at university. There is no doubt that it’s a lot to take on and I’m glad that the perception is shifting on just how intense – but rewarding – an apprenticeship is.
Over the duration of the four-year process, an apprentice gains an Assessment of Professional Competence completed on the job to qualify as a chartered surveyor, as well as a university degree and valuable work experience, contacts and market knowledge. As a result, undertaking an apprenticeship really sets you apart – particularly within a competitive jobs market.
Undertaking an apprenticeship has given me the opportunity to get the practical work experience that supports the theory of a university course. It’s not a case of apprenticeship versus university – it’s both at the same time.
This is a great option for people who feel like they’re suited to working and studying part time; you learn the ropes, build a network and get paid too.
I have worked in rating and taxation, property management, hotels valuation and now I’m with CBRE’s hotels investment team.
Evolving office spaces
In studying these spaces, I’ve seen an opportunity to develop and become an expert on the ‘hotelification’ of our office space, which is essentially the idea of making office space more aligned to the hospitality industry.
In practice, this implements the improved service, amenities and technology which hotels offer into offices. We can adopt these functions to make offices more attractive to occupiers, subsequently increasing office attendance rates.
The office that I work from, CBRE’s headquarters at Henrietta House, is an example of this and showcases how we have been able to increase office attendance rates compared to offices across the UK.
In terms of challenges, I’m particularly interested in exploring solutions for how to make the future of real estate inclusive and how to make our cities thrive.
I’m keen to challenge and innovate the traditional methods in which we operate by improving cross-collaboration between subsectors and utilising the astounding technology and data we have available today, making it a robust and attractive industry for years to come.
Striving for sustainability and more
Another big talking point is sustainability, what it means in the industry and how we can support policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet the net-zero target by 2050.
CBRE has set an even more ambitious commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from our own operations, the properties we manage for investors and occupiers, as well as indirect supply chain emissions, by 2040.
This is a bold challenge and one that excites me. I want to work in a forward-thinking industry with a conscience and the ambition to strive to achieve more.
Callum Wyatt is an apprentice surveyor in the hotel investment team at CBRE and an EG Future Leader. Watch his Future Leader video – A five star future for our office space – below
