Property and planning case studies

Charlotte Cooper, Bloom Apprenticeship Academy

The apprentice who became the UK's Young Estate Agent of the Year, 2011. Read about 17-year-old Charlotte Cooper here.

Annie Souberbielle, FleetMilne Estate Agents

Annie Souberbielle, 20, knew exactly what she wanted to be when she left school - an estate agent. After identifying the apprenticeship scheme that best met her needs (Sale of Residential Property Apprenticeship), she uprooted from Surrey to Birmingham for her on-the-job training with FleetMilne Estate Agents.

Annie's commitment and good marks are now being recognised at high levels. She has recently received a Best Outstanding Apprentice Award at the House of Lords. Her training is split between the classroom and workplace.

Keith Pattinson Estate Agents

Keith Pattinson Estate Agents in North East England have two apprenticeship strands running:

90-100 staff have enrolled onto apprenticeship programmes to train as estate agents in residential sales and lettings.

A new scheme with Jobcentre Plus takes unemployed people and uses apprenticeship funding to help them train as self-employed estate agents. This skills training includes time spent in the Pattinson's head office, in a local branch, in the auction department and in customer care.

Steven Sams

Steven Sams, 33, is a former double glazing salesman who is now doing on-the-job training for Keith Pattinson Estate Agents through the new Property Apprenticeship.

He was unemployed and was taken on as an apprentice through the company's link up with Jobcentre Plus.

"I love this job and think I'm good at it. I feel extremely supported by the people I am working with. The training is flexible and fits around my work time. The job itself allows me to be around for my children as I am self-employed so can choose the hours I work."

John Shepherd Lettings

John Shepherd Lettings is employing one 18-year-old apprentice. They are a smaller firm but placing a lot of time and attention on their apprentice, who has become a real asset to the firm. They hope to take him on when his apprenticeship scheme finishes.

For more information, contact Gary Black on gblack@johnshepherdlettings.com or call 0121 354 2079.

Sector Priorities Fund Pilot case study

First person to complete training under SPF - Sian Martin, NFoPP Sale of Residential Property

Sian Martin is 23 and is the first person to complete the NFoPP Sale of Residential Property Award under the Sector Priorities Fund Pilot (SPFP) programme in Wales.

Her employer is Caerphilly estate agent Homehunters, who successfully applied for the funding through Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council for property. Sian is a Sales and Lettings Negotiator for the firm.

"The course covered all sorts of interesting things such as structural side of property like what suspended floors are and the different types of windows as well as indepth information on the legal and legislation side. I feel much more confident in what I'm doing now - when I say things I have the knowledge to back it up."