Member Article

Newcastle agent invests inwards to develop fresh talent

Apprentice Ashley Nicholson is the newest recruit at Newcastle based letting agent Walton Robinson to ?earn and learn? completing a level 2 NVQ in property and lettings.

The 18-year-old property administrator, who was previously studying Travel and Tourism at Newcastle College, is one of three apprentices undergoing professional training at the city-centre lettings agency.

Partner at Walton Robinson, Jaimie Hocking said: ?It?s extremely important to provide this kind of vocational training in the current economic climate to give school and college leavers the opportunity to start a promising career from a young age.

?We?ve developed a great culture where we reward our staff for hard work and offer them as much external and internal training as possible, in the hope that we will retain homegrown talent for as long as possible.?

Despite only being with the company three months, Ashley already holds an integral role within the business, given most responsibility for managing the rental collections.

To ensure she passes her level 2 NVQ, Ashley has to regularly fill out literacy, numeracy and health and safety booklets, on top of her daily work duties and documenting examples of her work.

She said: ?I?ve always been interested in the property market and enjoy regularly communicating with tenants and being thanked for providing good service.

?I?m keen to progress within the business and learn new roles, becoming more multi-skilled. After completing this apprenticeship I want to undertake further training so I can be as qualified a lettings agent as possible, to provide the best service possible for our customers.?

Nicola Bishop, 20, from North Shields has been working at Walton Robinson for two years and has completed three separate apprenticeships each lasting six months with Walton Robinson, whilst Gabrielle Carse, 18 from Gateshead has just finished her first.

Walton Robinson also encourages and finances its staff to take the NFOPP (National Federation of Property Professionals) Level 3 Technical Award in Residential Letting and Property Management. It currently has eight members of staff who have passed the exam and has a further five who are studying for it at the moment.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Walton Robinson .