Introduction

Located in central London's Marylebone, The Portman Estate is a forward-thinking property company, managing 110 acres of prime commercial, retail, and residential space. With a commitment to preserving Marylebone’s Georgian architecture, The Portman Estate also aims to drive diversity in an industry that has historically been exclusive. Their vision included providing students with a clear pathway into the real estate sector, but they needed support on how to make this a reality.

Solution

The Portman Estate partnered with The Early Careers Company to bring this vision to life through their first-ever apprenticeship programme. Launching an apprenticeship for the first time can be complex and time-consuming, and the team was understandably apprehensive about how to find the right candidates and build the necessary infrastructure. Seamless delivery and securing individuals that could hit the ground running were top priorities.

Despite being established in the sector, The Portman Estate was relatively unknown to prospective apprentices, particularly those from low socioeconomic backgrounds with limited exposure to the industry. Attracting a diverse pool of candidates presented a challenge, so we worked closely with their team to position this opportunity as inclusive and accessible, ensuring a broad and representative candidate pool.

Safeguarding was a central consideration for the programme, especially with school leavers. We worked with The Portman Estate to ensure that safeguarding best practices were embedded throughout the process. This included developing safeguarding policies, aligning team members and candidates on expectations, and ensuring that everyone involved felt confident and supported in their role. Safeguarding remained central during the hiring process as well. Measures included blind CVs, no video calls, and strict rules against saving candidates' personal details.

Results

The collaboration with The Early Careers Company helped The Portman Estate successfully establish a sustainable and inclusive apprenticeship programme. The process included conducting in-depth research into potential apprenticeship training providers and presenting options that aligned with their business needs. The selected provider was local, maximising on-the-job training and giving apprentices broad exposure to commercial operations.

Internal research interviews with key team members provided insights that shaped the candidate sourcing process, ensuring that candidates were selected based on their capabilities rather than background. As a result, The Early Careers Company launched an inclusive hiring campaign that targeted London-based students aged 16-19, leveraging LinkedIn and its network to attract diverse applicants.

From the 84 candidates sourced, 58% were female, and 100% were state-school educated. Of those, five candidates were shortlisted for interviews, and The Portman Estate successfully hired two highly motivated apprentices. This marked the successful launch of their first apprenticeship programme, positioning The Portman Estate as an inclusive and attractive employer for early careers talent in the real estate sector.