The economic outlook is as bleak as it has ever been. When the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, declared the UK is already in recession and that he expected that to remain the case into 2024, which would mark the longest period of contraction since records began, many had already battened down the hatches. Not everyone, though.
Last month [October], Knight Frank announced that it had welcomed a record 82 graduates to join its 2022 programme across the firm’s UK business. It was a rare piece of good news amid the economic doom and gloom. So, why the optimism and are other advisory firms equally committed to their graduate recruitment programmes – or have they reverted to the usual behaviour of cutting their intake when times get hard?
You would not think a pandemic would be a boom time for graduate training programmes, but for Knight Frank, it was – and 2022 has been better still. Its 2022 intake is 38% larger than last year’s record 59 graduates, with approximately 23% of the graduates hired recruited via Knight Frank’s summer internship and work placement programme.
The graduates will be based in the firm’s offices across the UK and will have the opportunity to move between offices, both nationally and across Knight Frank’s global network, according to a statement from the firm. The graduates were recruited this year and the programme will start in September 2023, when the group will have the chance to hold face-to-face meeting with Knight Frank’s group chair William Beardmore-Gray (pictured), as well as other senior executives.
Beardmore-Gray believes it is essential to invest in future talent, regardless of the current economic circumstances. “People are at the heart of Knight Frank’s business, and we are deeply committed to investing in our employees to drive our industry forward in terms of professional excellence and equal opportunity,” he says. “Central to this is the firm’s dedication to supporting early careers through nurturing emerging real estate talent who will shape the future of the firm.”
He adds: “We look forward to embedding every graduate from this year’s programme into the firm and offering the support and experience to see them develop successful long-term careers and achieve their potential within our global business and the wider industry.”
Stephen Clifton, head of commercial at Knight Frank, elaborates on why the firm decided to grow the number of graduates on the programme in such challenging times. “We decided to expand our graduate intake this year, despite near-term economic uncertainty, as we have confidence in the strength and resilience of our business,” he says.
“We also know our young professionals are often the catalyst for positive change particularly in the areas of technology and diversity. This programme is crucial to meet current and future client needs, and it will equip our early-stage professionals with the skills they need to create the future we want to see at Knight Frank. I’m sure these brilliant new graduates will help us deliver the quality of advisory work our fast-moving market demands.”
They are sentiments shared by some of Knight Frank’s biggest rivals. A spokeswoman for Savills says it too recruited a record number of graduates, taking on 170 graduates and sandwich placement students from a “diverse range of backgrounds”, compared with 150 in 2021 and 110 in 2020.
“Our graduate and apprentice recruitment programmes represent a core investment in Savills’ future,” says Noel McGonigle, HR director at Savills. “We remain committed to supporting people entering the industry and want to ensure that all of the programmes we offer provide a solid foundation for them to grow within the profession. Our main priority has always been to nurture and retain talent and this is reflected in our robust graduate recruitment figures.”
It is a similar picture at Avison Young, according to Richard Malkin, the company’s head of talent management. “Avison Young took on 58 graduates for the 2022 programme in the UK, which is up on previous years,” he says. “Looking back on past years, in 2019, we took on 34 grads. We took on a deferred 21 graduates in May 2021 and another 10 over the course of the summer.”
At JLL, meanwhile, the firm hired 89 graduates in this year’s round, plus 10 apprentices, compared to 59 in 2021. A spokeswoman says that the firm also “grew our graduate programme offerings and launched our sustainability graduate programme, with 23 hires in this area”.
James Addison, UK head of operations at JLL, says: “More than ever, we are continuing to see that hiring graduate and apprentice level talent is one of the most effective ways of driving growth within our business. It allows us to ensure that we have a strong and exciting pipeline of future leadership, and to continue on our journey of making JLL a truly diverse and inclusive workplace.”
CBRE has also maintained its graduate recruitment policy. A spokeswoman says that its number of graduate places is set at 84 across the UK, but she adds that “we have had a record-breaking 2,708 applications for the 2023 intake”.
So, despite potentially facing the longest recession on record, the main advisory firms appear to be taking the long view. The hope is that by the time the graduates are due to take on full-time positions, the country is through the worst of it and that there are jobs for them to take on.
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