Life as a Tiverton Trainee

08:00am: I arrive at The Hartnoll Hotel for the Ashfords Tiverton Breakfast Club. It's a glorious morning and I start my day drinking coffee in the gardens with a number of other local professionals. We sit for breakfast and I am joined at my table by representatives of Augmentum, Muddifords Court Country House and Cooper Associates Wealth Management Ltd. Not only is the breakfast delicious but it is a perfect way to network; particularly as a junior where confidence in networking skills requires development.

10:00am: After exchanging business cards with a few new contacts, I leave the event and return to work; albeit an hour later than my usual day. The start of every day involves reviewing my emails and yesterday's 'to do' list. I note an interesting email about a new client and flag this for review later in the day. 

10:20am: My supervising partner calls me into his office. We often start the day with a review of my current work and he passes me details on new files for work later in the week. The level of communication between trainee and supervisor is really positive at Ashfords and I always feel supported.

10:35am:I review a client file that I had been working on earlier in the week as we are due to complete soon. The property is worth over £16M and we are working to a tight deadline. It's my job to ensure that everything is in order for the transaction to run smoothly. I draft the necessary completion documents.

11:40am: I have a meeting with a client and both their land agent and selling agent at 12 so I head down to our conference room to prepare. Our client is looking to sell a large acreage of agricultural land (including properties) and prior to this, we are dealing with the first registration. Some of the deeds date back to the early 1900s and I have been reviewing them recently to determine extent of title. The purpose of today's meeting is to feed back my findings to the client and agree the boundaries for the selling agent's plan.

12:00pm: Our client arrives with both agents and I show them into our conference room. My supervising partner and I take them through the title documents and highlight the discrepancies. Even at junior level I am encouraged to participate in client contact meetings. We agree the extent of the title and confirm that a statutory declaration is needed for a small parcel of land to determine ownership for the first registration.

13:00pm: I exchange emails with my fellow trainees about our plans for an upcoming event and head out for a lunchtime walk with some colleagues from my department.

14:00pm: I review the email I had flagged earlier in the day. A client needs to be granted drainage rights over agricultural land and I set about drafting a deed of easement.

14:50pm: I'm interrupted by one of the partners who wishes to pass over monies for accommodation. As part of my role on the charity committee I am organising a trip to climb Snowdon later in the year.

15:15pm: I'm approached by my supervising partner with a new memorandum of sale. It involves clients that we had met with a fortnight ago to discuss a potential land sale. I'm excited to get stuck in; not only does the transaction involve drafting overage provisions, the land itself is subject to: Basic Payment Scheme Entitlements, an agricultural right of way and an Entry Level Stewardship Agreement.

18:00pm:I update my 'to do' list for my return to the office tomorrow and head home.