My name is Owen and I have recently graduated from Nottingham Trent University after attending the Property Development and Planning course. Keen to gain workplace experience in real estate, I chose to complete a sandwich/placement year between 2022 - 2023 where I joined Tarmacs Land and Natural Resources department.

Upon completing my initial in-person interview with Tarmac it became clear that our goals were in alignment. My placement was focused on learning and personal development, including my APC progression and applying real estate/planning theory I had been taught at university. Tarmac also provides the freedom for you to attend networking and other professional events, which as someone in the early stages of their career I found very beneficial to my development.

During my placement with Tarmac, I spent 6 months in both the Land Development and Asset Management Teams. This meant I had exposure to a breadth of projects, ranging from the submission of planning applications to renewing leases of important strategic properties. Throughout the entire placement I was also involved in the Tarmac Graduate Programme and APC Forum, which has helped develop my skills and knowledge to create a solid foundation going into the final year of university studies as well as looking for a graduate role post-graduation.

One of the joys of my placement year was travelling all over the country for the projects I was working on. I got the opportunity to visit towns and cities throughout the UK I probably would never have visited otherwise, and some incredible Tarmac sites such as the largest granite quarry in Europe. It was also a pleasure to be involved in some of the charitable events Tarmac support, particularly the Queens Green Canopy at Panshanger Park where we helped to plant hundreds of trees - a rewarding way to spend time outside of the office.