Trevor's Management Internship with Hales Hall Barn

UEA Graduate Trevor Aslan started his management internship with Hales Hall Barn on March 6th. This is what he says about his experience: 

"My internship at The Great Barn at Hales Hall was not quite what I expected! The job application described “supporting the barn’s managers to complete a regional funding application” and also “identifying areas for refinement in the business”. To be honest it sounded like generic business stuff and yes that is what I’ve been doing, but when I initially thought I’d be working 9-5 in an office I was quite wrong…

The Great Barn is the largest surviving brick built Tudor barn in the country and is now hired out by the owners as a wedding and events venue. It is 10 miles south of Norwich. My role has been to support the managers and owners in putting together a proposal for grant funding in order to expand the business and have I learnt so much (I studied Environmental Science so never really came across the business side of things). I can hardly say that I have been stuck in an office because every day can be so different. I’m often out on site in the countryside liaising with contractors, gathering market research from shops or ringing and writing to local businesses to develop our links with them. My office is in a pub overlooking the Norwich cathedral so when I do need to be there writing up the application form it’s hardly the stuffy side of business that you’d imagine.  

The range of things that is involved with developing a business like this means that I have been exposed to, and had to learn about, financial forecasts, capital investments, loans, obtaining quotes, and all about different building trades from underfloor heating and road building to the ins and outs of installing a cess pit! I’ve even hosted a BBC film crew whilst they were making a documentary at the venue. I doubt that I’d have got such experience, working alongside the owners and managers, working anywhere else at my age and experience level."