News

As part of our ongoing collaboration with The Land Collective, DTZ Investors offers work experience, hosts building tours and gives presentations on a range of topics to improve awareness and attract more young people to the property industry.

Earlier in February 2023, Danielle Wythe hosted a building tour of Sunday Mills in Earlsfield, one of our Folk co-living properties. In addition, in July 2023, Rebecca Burley and Jo Jackson hosted a presentation to The Land Collective members on an overview of DTZ Investors. 

Most recently, in September 2023, DTZ Investors welcomed Lincoln Cheung for a week of work experience within our Direct Real Estate team, working alongside Jo Jackson and Holly Whitcomb. Lincoln studied Urban Planning as an undergraduate and completed his Real Estate Masters at UCL. At the end of the internship, we asked Lincoln how he found his week with DTZ Investors.

How has your week been and what has been the highlight?

One of the highlights has been the opportunity to go on site visits. I went to inspect two offices in Paddington, a co-living building in Battersea (Folk at Florence Dock), and a few offices in The City. I find going to different places and visiting them as a daily routine of work interesting. There have been lots of opportunities to talk to different colleagues within the team, such as the Indirect team and Capital Solutions team, which I am really interested in. I got to learn about what work they do and their job outside of my current placement with the Direct Real Estate team.

What have you learned this week working with DTZ Investors and within the Direct Real Estate team?

I learnt about the real estate market as a whole from DTZ Investors and have gained some valuable skills. They have sparked my interest into understanding and knowing more about real estate. I believe staying aware of the latest news is really important and understanding the different interest rates and companies’ attitude towards their properties.

Another aspect was the close attention to detail when going on site visits. The Asset Manager has to ensure that the refurbishment meets the design specification that was agreed with the Project Manager and Contractor. It is fascinating how Asset Managers can be aware of every property and its requirements, especially if they manage multiple properties.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

Before coming to this internship, I did not fully understand what Asset Management comprised of. Everyone at DTZ Investors were supportive and organised activities during my week which I found quite interesting. Asset Management is a diverse industry where you need to manage the portfolio of properties for Clients and also identify opportunities in the market to invest in.

What advice would you give others when seeking work experience opportunities?

The most important part is to reach out to different people as they have more experience than you. Networking and talking to people within the team increases your understanding of the industry.

It was a pleasure to have Lincoln complete work experience with DTZ Investors and we hope that he enjoyed his experience. We wish Lincoln all the best with his new role at Litchfields.

If you would like to know more about The Land Collective, please visit https://thelandcollective.com/