The financial prizes will be awarded to the ‘Best MSc Real Estate student’ and to the ‘Best third year student studying the Real Estate Development and International Investment module’.

Under the terms of the agreement, Shepherd has undertaken to sponsor the annual prizes for the next five years.

James Richardson, partner at Shepherd and head of its Scotland wide graduate recruitment programme, said: “Shepherd is delighted to sponsor these prizes in recognition of the talents of students on the University of Aberdeen’s Real Estate course and hope that this sponsorship will enable us to forge an even stronger relationship with the University and its Real Estate course, in particular.

“As a firm we have a strong tradition of taking on graduates and apprentices across the country and this sponsorship arrangement will enhance our ability to continue to attract the best quality candidates who can then benefit from our high-quality in-house graduate/apprentice training programme.”

Dr Nan Liu, head of the Real Estate Group at University of Aberdeen Business School, added: “The Real Estate Group are delighted to have the support of Shepherd – we have had a long association with them, which has turned into a fruitful partnership.

“Over the years a number of Aberdeen graduates have been employed by the company across the country, and they have offered guest lectures on specialist topics, assistance with site visits and student internships.”

Shepherd has taken on 12 new graduates/apprentices in 2023 so far and continues to support the next generation of surveying talent by investing in its structured graduate and graduate apprentice recruitment programmes.