This Is How Bisnow’s Rise Honourees Plan To Grow DE&I Initiatives Up And Out

In May 2023, Bisnow announced the inaugural honourees of the Rise UK programme. The seven companies selected all demonstrated the success of their diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives, which are making a difference in people’s lives across the country. 

But what’s next? It is great to get an initiative going, and Bisnow is proud to highlight the achievements they have all made so far. But in a tough market, how are they planning to grow their projects and push diversity in the property industry further?

Bisnow spoke to the honourees to find out what they have planned for their strategies and how they will continue to tackle the diversity issue facing the industry.

Savills has added a junior estate agent apprenticeship, said Serena Phillips, professional apprenticeships manager, graduate administration. To apply, young people only need to have General Certificates of Secondary Education in maths and English rather than the higher level of qualifications required for other apprenticeships. 

This has helped Savills increase participation from those with a different socioeconomic background, Phillips said. To host these young people, her team had to ensure the business was prepared. 

“We want to provide a welcome environment and support people from all different socioeconomic backgrounds,” she said. “There is no point bringing in new apprentices if you don’t have these support mechanisms in place.” 

Next, Savills plans to focus on increasing participation in its apprentice scheme from ethnic minorities. 

To Steven Sinclair, senior people business partner at CBRE Investment Management, scaling its initiative means helping more interns reach the point where they are offered permanent positions. 

CBRE Investment Management has been running its internship programme with Elba Eagles since 2020. In the last two years, 30% of junior analysts hired have come through the programme. Sinclair would like to get to the point where all CBRE Investment Management’s positions could be filled via the programme, he said. 

“Everyone in the business is really positive about the different perspectives that young people bring to the workplace, how they look at opportunities differently,” he said. “It’s a real joy to see, and across the business people take real pleasure in seeing them come in and learn. It’s a huge success.”

CBRE is focusing on honing the training and support it offers to participants in its work experience scheme rather than increasing numbers, as the business doesn’t have space or resources to expand, said Hannah Twelvetrees, next generation partner. 

Having run the scheme for several years, the team has found areas to improve. They realised that following the work experience placements, students did well in the process of applying for the internship programme but fell short at the interview stage.

“We recognised there’s a difference between how a privately educated person approaches an interview to how someone from an underprivileged background might perform,” Twelvetrees said. “We integrated training sessions in our recruitment process to give them the best opportunity.” 

Seaforth Land is taking a different approach to expanding its programme. While CEO Tyler Goodwin would love to increase the number of participants in its Seaforth Scholar Award to 20 scholarships, realistically, this will take time for a small company, he said. 

Instead, the business is keen to work with other organisations to give more students opportunities across the industry. Goodwin uses his own network to help young people find placements. 

“We meet dozens of kids, and I’ll happily pick up the phone to another property company and say, ‘This kid’s a rockstar. Get them in your programme,’” he said. “Ultimately, I want to get to the point where there are more kids than there are opportunities to have work experience here so we can help them find opportunities at other companies.”

Seaforth Land is also starting to look at working directly with other businesses, said Operations Manager Farrah LaBorde. The team worked with Oxford Properties to hold a panel discussion about Access Aspiration, its partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London programme.

These efforts are all part of Seaforth Land’s mission to be a legacy business, Goodwin said. Scaling up a grassroots initiative now will create a more diverse industry in the long term.

“If we get to the point where we have 20 scholars a year, in 20 years there will be 400 different people in our industry,” he said. “Other kids will start looking at careers in the sector and see that they’re invited. If you take that view, every contribution you make to DE&I today is paying it forward massively.”