Property firm launches REALM award

Posted 28 October 2009

National firm of property consultants Carter Jonas has recently launched the second year of its sponsored Rural Professional Practice Award for second year students on the Rural Enterprise and Land Management (REALM) honours degree course at Harper Adams.

This year’s assignment requires students on the REALM course to prepare a professional report and particulars based on the stable block on the Sansaw Estate, as if they were assistant surveyors working for Carter Jonas’ Shrewsbury office. Students have already been on a field trip to view The Stables, some of which have already been converted to commercial office units and some of which remain unconverted.

Students will submit assignments that give a market overview, a full and accurate description of the site and buildings, offer options for re-letting units and appraise the entire site, proposing options for future use.

Permission to use the stable block as the subject of the assignments was kindly granted by estate owner James Thompson.

Andrew Black, part of Carter Jonas Graduate Recruitment Team, commented: “It is important that today’s land management students get the valuable real-life experience that takes them out of the lecture room.

“This sponsorship also plays a key part of our graduate recruitment programme; the ability to attract and recruit the very best graduates is essential to our business and the Professional Practice Award is an excellent way of raising our profile amongst undergraduates at Harper Adams.”

Simon Keeble, REALM course manager at Harper Adams, said: “This module aims to expose second year students to a variety of subjects in one project, including valuation, planning, marketing, law etc. Using The Stables, a real-life case study, enables the students to relate more readily to the task and encourages them to find evidence to recommend realistic solutions.”

The students will submit their completed assignments in February next year, with cash prizes awarded for the three best pieces of work.