Welcoming our intern, Alfie!
25 October 2024As well as building beautiful properties, at Devonshire Homes, we’re also committed to supporting and growing local talent, and we are delighted to welcome a new sales and marketing apprentice, Alfie Coker to our team.
In September this year Alfie joined Devonshire Homes as part of his Level 3 apprenticeship with Exeter College. Working under the direction of the Sales and Marketing Director Jane, he will be supporting our Sales Managers, Doug, and Sarah, and regularly visits our sites with them. Alfie has also spent some time getting to know our other departments to gain an understanding of what we do at Devonshire Homes and importantly our ethos.
Alfie’s skillset is already growing, and we can’t wait to carry on supporting his journey. We caught up with him to find out about his experience at Devonshire Homes so far!
Hi Alfie! Why did you decide to get into sales and marketing?
“I decided on marketing as I’ve always been creative, and I really enjoyed graphic design when I did it at GCSE level. It seemed the obvious choice as it would incorporate my love of design and would give me the opportunity to start a career, putting me on solid footing with the profession.
Before I applied with Devonshire Homes, I had just finished my AS Levels but was already certain I wanted to begin a marketing apprenticeship rather than complete a second year. I felt getting practical experience would be a better way for me to learn, however I was struggling to find an employer to take me on.
Marketing roles weren’t being advertised, apprentice roles even less so, which meant I was reaching out to lots of different companies trying to start a conversation around the benefits of apprenticeships. I applied to lots of different businesses, but property was the sector I wanted to continue working in. Having worked in an estate agent locally, my knowledge and love for property had grown.
I applied to Devonshire Homes as I knew them as a well-established, expanding company who were right on my doorstep. I took a chance and reached out to Angus, our MD, in late July and explained my situation. He invited me into Devonshire Homes HQ in Tiverton to meet him and subsequently Jane, our Sales and Marketing Director. I was keen (to say the least) because I knew the role would be perfect for me so I kept my fingers crossed this would come to something. On 31st July I received a phone call with the good news that Devonshire Homes would create an apprenticeship for me - it was completely unexpected, but I was so excited to be joining the team.”
What’s the been the best part about your apprenticeship so far?
“The best part of my job so far is getting to visit our sites! To familiarise myself with our house types and specification, seeing our sites in person has been important as I know what we’re marketing and how good what we offer is. Being on site has also given me the opportunity to take lots of photos and videos for our social media channels as well as meet our Sales Executives and other on-site team to find out what their days typically look like.
Working closely with our Sales Managers allows me to pick their brains on their experiences, knowledge, and how we operate. It’s so insightful to be able to learn directly from such experienced property professionals, I feel very fortunate.”
What are you most looking forward to in your future at Devonshire Homes?
“I'm most looking forward to creating content that’s at the forefront of our campaigns! I've already had a taste of this through work I've done for our upcoming Open House Event at Dancing Green and I’m eager to get the chance to do more. I like being able to experiment with composition and working on something until I know it looks effective, even if I didn’t know what that looks like five minutes ago. We’ve got plenty of exciting projects coming up, which I look forward to being able to design for too.”
To find out more about Devonshire Homes, including our developments and the latest job opportunities, visit https://devonshirehomes.co.uk