Planning Intern – Smiths Gore

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Acting on briefs that changed day by day. A large proportion of my time was working on the public consultation document mentioned below. Answering the phone and taking messages was a regular responsibility to ensure that colleagues did not miss important calls. I was also often tasked  with using local authorities’ websites to research various policies or using Planning Portal to extract relevant documents.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I was tasked with collating and summarising over 200 responses to a consultation letter for a proposed development. This concluded in summarising all the key issues and comments that had been raised into a 5 page document. This was later shared at a strategic team meeting with the estate manager for the Duke of Wellington, a major land promoter/developer and other professionals working on the project

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

When work is completed on behalf of a client, they are invoiced based on an hourly rate. I was undertaking work for various clients and my time was billed accordingly at a rate of £50 per hour. I therefore like to think that I generated Smiths Gore some extra revenue by charging my time to clients. In respect of making a difference to the customer, I believe I have been a good ambassador for Smiths Gore, being affable, professional and presentable when dealing with clients.

I also worked through a stack of filing that my colleagues had no time to look at in the last six months. Whilst it was not the most exciting of jobs, it’s very necessary to ensure paperwork is in order, in the unlikely event that any legal challenges arise from clients.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I did not encounter any major problems, however, if I was completely puzzled by a task, I would ask for the help from my colleagues.

‘William was very impressive – he was an extremely able young man that assisted senior members of staff and contributed well to the success of projects. Would employ again.’ – Partner, Smiths Gore