H&H Land & Estates has announced the appointment of a new apprentice.
Alice Fawcett, 20, will be based in the firm’s Carlisle office as an apprentice rural surveyor and fields person for Harrison & Hetherington.
Her five-year training programme includes a part-time undergraduate degree at Harper Adams University and a two-year APC training programme.
In her role as a fields person she works on the yard at the Kirkby Stephen and Middleton-in-Teesdale marts. She is from a farming family, based at Argill House near Kirkby Stephen. Alice helped with taking the family’s sheep to the mart there from a very young age, and she has worked with Harrison & Hetherington since 2019.
She said: “After I’d finished school, I headed off to Harper Adams to do a degree in agriculture. I completed my first year, but realised that the traditional route was not for me. I decided that I wanted to work alongside studying, so I was delighted to be offered this opportunity with H&H Land & Estates.”
Thomas Armstrong, director at H&H Land & Estates, added: “We are delighted that Alice has chosen this path, and we are keen to help her achieve her goals. We are committed to developing the next generation and giving them opportunities. They are the future of our industry.”
As part of her apprenticeship Alice will be given on-the-job training to coincide with her studies, to ensure all the required knowledge and experience is obtained to help her successfully qualify as a chartered surveyor with an MRICS qualification.
At home, she helps manage the family’s flock of 350 Swaledale ewes – which produces half pure Swaledale lambs and half North of England Mules – and is especially keen on preparing sheep for sale. The farm is also home to a herd of 35 suckler cows.
Alice added: “Looking to the long-term future, I would like to continue to farm, however I need to be realistic, and farming needs to dovetail with my career. That is why I opted for an apprenticeship. I feel that by becoming a chartered surveyor, I can utilise my passion for farming to connect with and understand farmers and landowners. I want to see things from both points of view, to offer the best service I can.”
