Lovell has a young member of the team working in South Wales and the South West of England as the result of a Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) Graduate Scheme.
CCR links talented trainees with ambitious businesses in South Wales, leading to 22-year-old Alex Smith joining the housebuilder after achieving a first-class honours degree in Real Estate at the University of the West of England and a one-year placement with Savills plc. He is now part of a regional team assessing land opportunities for new homes developments.
The CCR Graduate Scheme aims to provide paid graduate-level employment alongside a fully-funded professional qualification delivered by the University of South Wales, as well as on-hand support during the internship and networking opportunities with fellow graduates.
As part of the CCR Graduate Scheme, Alex will be completing a qualification in leadership management where he attends monthly lectures and completes his coursework in his spare time.
He said: “I applied to this role because Lovell has a great reputation not only in South Wales but nationally too and the role was in a specific area of the business that I am particularly passionate about. During my time on the scheme I would like to learn more about the acquisition and development process in the industry and I hope to eventually become a chartered surveyor.
“Lovell has been an excellent employer so far and the team have all been very welcoming and friendly and I look forward to seeing what my future holds within the business.”
Gemma Clissett, regional partnerships director at Lovell, said: “We heard about the CCR scheme and the synergy between our two businesses felt great. We aim to recruit young talented individuals and we want to retain the talent and keep them within the business, and that’s very much the same as with the CCR graduate scheme – to keep people in Wales who want to stay there.”
Kellie Bierne, director of the CCR City Deal, said: “We initially launched the graduate scheme as we understand that businesses can face barriers when it comes to recruitment, such as having enough resources and time to promote their business to talented graduates. Our graduate scheme is all about enabling us to support businesses within our region and encourage higher skilled employment across the private sector.
“We are delighted to have been able to facilitate Lovell’s successful appointment and strive to deliver the scheme across the region to help benefit our communities for years to come.”
