20 Feb 19 by Ollie Steer-Fowler
As I approach a third of a year at Vickery Holman I feel I am now well placed to comment on my experiences so far. My working situation is not a normal one as I balance both my work as a general practice surveyor with VH and my work with my own family business within the holiday park industry. At first, I was worried about how this would work out, but I must say that the flexibility provided by both the directors, department managers and colleagues at the company has been fantastic and as such I float between the Exeter and Truro offices as suitable projects require.
My role is primarily focused on the Leisure property market and having thought I had a strong grasp of this ‘sector’ from my decade or so’s experience of holiday parks I can safely say I am amazed at how diverse a sector it is looking at it from a professional practice standpoint. So far, I have been involved with both agency and general practice projects surrounding Harbours, Dog Boarding Kennels, Airfields, Caravan Parks, Residential Parks, Hotels, B&B’s and leisure development land amongst others. The scope of the work is really engaging and the age-old adage of ‘doing something new every day’ certainly rings true in my role.
I enrolled on the APC to become a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in September 2018 and Vickery Holman have a structure in place where you feel supported in both your diary upkeep (thanks to the variety of work on offer), meetings with supervisor for advice and your Continuing Professional Development (CPD). I have attended several conferences and networking events within my specialist sector and am actively encouraged to engage with training and further development with a high level of responsibility given to me from the start of my role with the firm.
I am looking forward to developing my experience further in several of my APC competencies such as purchase and sale, business rates consultancy and loan security valuation and seeing what new challenges emerge as we work into 2019.
