When I Grow Up
Last year we were approached by Channel 4 to be part of a brand new TV series “When I Grow Up” which follows groups of primary school children aged between seven and nine in real life work environments. After a short deliberation, it was an overwhelming YES to take part – we were super excited and proud to have been asked.
Hunters hits the screens with Channel 4 TV show
Leading estate agency Hunters will be the subject of a hit Channel 4 TV show when it airs on Thursday 16 May at 8pm.
The children, who are from all over the country and from different backgrounds, spent a week with Hunters headquarters in York where the company first started in 1992. The purpose was to let the children ‘run the business for a week’, involving them in all aspect of estate agency, learning the job through training and mentoring by three members of staff - York Sales Manager Vanessa Wilson, our National Sales Director Martin Robinson and our CEO Glynis Frew. The Hunters episode concludes what is a three-part series, following episodes with Hello! magazine and artisan chocolate business, Montezuma’s.
Proud to have been chosen, we eagerly anticipated the children’s’ arrival for a week last July slightly nervously as we were not quite sure what to expect… Cameras, crew and equipment took over our Headquarters but work from our dedicated and passionate staff carried on as normal all around – at least as much as possible! We listened intently as the children went about speaking to customers on the phone, booking viewings, liaising between buyers and sellers and even negotiating sales!
York bathed in sunshine all week with the weather reaching record level temperatures, in which the children carried out house valuations, viewings, hosting an Open House event – and much more. The children were fantastic, and we thoroughly enjoyed having them with us for a week – they are now part of the Hunters story and their pictures adorn our Hunters World wall in our boardroom.
Our in-house Graphic Designer Calum Abernethy, dazzled the children with his magic tricks when the heat or the pressure of work got the better of the them… At the end of the week, we all got together for the custom Hunters Moment of Magic which celebrates individual or team achievements and this week we recognised each of the children and how they had contributed during their experience as budding estate agents. Finally, we raised a big cheer to the talented crew, producers and directors from the TV production company Optomen whom we really enjoyed getting to know during the process.
Vanessa Wilson, York Sales Manager said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the week with the children. They were amazing, so resourceful, intuitive and ready for a challenge. I enjoyed getting to know each one of them, and it was very quiet when they left. I received some lovely feedback afterwards from some of the parents saying what a great week their child had with Hunters. We learnt a lot from the children and they hopefully learnt a lot from the experience; I think some of them may be back as real estate agents one day as there was plenty of natural talent for the job!".
The concept behind the Channel 4 series is to explore the aspiration and ambition of young children aged between seven and nine from very different backgrounds and circumstances. How does social diversity affect the children’s mind-set about what careers they may consider and ultimately choose when they grow up?
Glynis Frew, CEO of Hunters Property Plc, whose job was to hand over the running of the business to the children for a week, said, “The concept behind the series is really good and its message around diversity is important for us as it speaks to our core values.
We don’t have any preconceived ideas around who we’d like to join us at Hunters - as long as you’re willing to learn, work hard and show the right attitude towards customers then you’re more than welcome".
