In 2022, the Leys Estate Group launched its Education Strategy, formalizing its commitment to working in partnership with local schools and organizations to bring the curriculum to life, engage with young people, and provide high-quality work experience opportunities. Over the past 12 months, the Leys Estate Group team, which includes members from all departments, has built on existing ad hoc outreach activities and increased engagement with local schools, community groups, colleges, and sports clubs within the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire community, delivering on the vision and commitment to 'Educating the Future'.
Ensuring that rural skills and roles are not lost while maintaining innovation and progress is at the heart of Leys Estate. The Estate has maintained traditional teams such as the sports and operations departments while expanding the property and administration, management and finance teams. The Estate team is over 60% local, with the remainder contributing significantly to the local rural economy. By developing educational links with the younger generation, supporting new businesses and young entrepreneurs, and providing wider and more targeted information to the general public, Leys Estate is committed to ensuring a better understanding of what rural estates do, the wide range of skills that are housed and nurtured on an estate, and how they benefit the local economy and community through regular engagement with a wide range of community groups and organizations. Across Leys Estate, team members are encouraged to take a proactive approach to their careers by identifying and attending industry events to develop their knowledge and skills. Team members are actively encouraged to attend training and development sessions, as well as in-house training in leadership skills, one-to-one appraisals, and IT skills. Knowledge sharing between teams is also encouraged, particularly within the Estate Operations team. This team consists of individuals who have been part of the estate for over 50 years, bringing a wealth of knowledge, experience, and insight to members of the team who have joined more recently. This is actively encouraged in both formal and informal settings. For example, in 2022 the whole team attended an Estate training day which consisted of a tour of the Estate, visiting key sites, properties, and people. Staff are encouraged to liaise and interact with other estates and rural professionals to ensure ongoing skills development within the team, focusing on the changing needs of a modern rural estate while ensuring that traditional practices are not lost. They regularly interact with other estates in Scotland to share information on team working, business practices, and management software to share skills across the sector.
Crathes Primary School is located in the heart of Leys Estate and has a long-standing relationship with the Estate and the Burnett family. Leys Estate meets regularly with the school's teachers to identify areas where the team can enhance the school's curriculum. This has included Leys Estate's Head Gamekeeper and Chartered Surveyor leading lessons and outdoor workshops for P4 - P7 pupils, bringing topics such as cover crops, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity to life. As well as classroom activities, the children are taken outside to explore the Estate's safe routes to school, learning about the hedgerows that line the route, the species that live there, and the benefits they bring to the countryside. Crathes Primary School is currently involved in the Sir John Muir Award, which the Estate supports by providing land for activities and financial support. The final activity for the Award is planned for November 2023 when a small area of native woodland will be planted on the school site, with further activities planned to coincide with the Estate's ongoing 700th-anniversary celebrations. As part of the 700th-anniversary celebrations, Leys Estate is also working on a unique art project with all the pupils at Crathes Primary School. The art project will highlight the diversity of the Estate and the countryside around the school, with each pupil being given the opportunity to create a small piece of artwork that reflects what the school and Estate mean to them. Each piece will be used to create a larger artwork showing how everyone needs to work together to secure the future of the countryside and the surrounding community. Leys Estate also provides land for outdoor woodland classrooms and supported learning spaces for both Crathes Primary and Hill of Banchory Primary Schools. As well as providing a safe environment for learning, these spaces provide a vital link for pupils with additional support needs who may find the traditional classroom environment challenging and who thrive when given the opportunity to take part in outdoor activities and learn about the natural environment. Banchory Academy has also created its own outdoor classroom within the school grounds, which the Estate has supported by providing willow from the Estate's short rotation coppice for various activities and structures. Members of the Estate team have also provided horticultural and land management advice and support for the outdoor area. Leys Estate has been actively involved in DYW (Developing the Young Workforce), which aims to bridge the gap between education and employers to help all young people find fulfilling careers. As part of this commitment, Leys Estate has participated in two S4 Skills Days at Banchory Academy, each attended by around 200 S3-S4 pupils. During the event, a member of the Estate's team delivers a keynote speech on key skills to develop throughout life and how their own career paths have developed organically. Presentations have also included advice from an employer's perspective on how students can prepare for interviews and their future careers. During the events, members of the wider team have assisted with classroom activities and taken part in question and answer sessions, discussing their career paths and specific opportunities available to students. Leys Estate also participates in Careers Evenings at Banchory Academy and Skills Events at Aboyne Academy. These events are attended by S4, S5, and S6 students who are making decisions about their future subjects or further education pathways. The Estate showcases the variety of careers on modern estates and the career paths available. The events also gave the Estate the opportunity to speak directly to students who may be interested in work experience opportunities. In the last 12 months, the Estate has hosted two secondary school students for work experience, and they are about to start a horticulture work experience student at the Golf Centre. They also host outdoor evenings with the local Scout and Guide groups, explaining how the countryside works and how the Estate is involved in land, property, and wildlife management. Mhairi Robertson, Chartered Surveyor, who completed her Masters at the University of Aberdeen before joining Leys Estate, has returned to Aberdeen University every year to guest lecture on Strategic Property Management and Business Planning. This is the leading course of its kind in Scotland and attracts students from across the UK and further afield. Mhairi also provides support and advice to trainee surveyors for their professional examinations and engages with the wider rural professional community. The Estate also recognizes that its work is of interest to groups beyond students, and education also plays a key role in our engagement with adult community groups, many of which have members who may be new to the area or have little knowledge of the key role the Estate plays in the local economy. They have given presentations on the work of the Estate to the Banchory Business Association, Banchory Probus Club, and Women in Agriculture (North East). In the last 12 months, Leys Estate has helped to educate or encourage over 500 local children and young people.
Environmentally, the Estate has created a local nature reserve around the Loch of Leys and protected the Red Moss peat bog. These important projects, which are still in their infancy, have played a significant part in revitalizing links with local schools, which the Estate is committed to building on as these projects progress. The development of a Group Strategic Plan has set the Estate on a progressive course, encouraging innovation and forward thinking within the business. As part of the strategic plan, they have introduced specific action plans for 'Education and Communication', 'Renewables and Sustainability', and 'Land Use, Environment, and Biodiversity', all with key measurable targets to be achieved over the five-year strategic plan period. A key area for the estate going forward is sustainability. They believe that there is a fundamental need and benefit to all in promoting a sustainable local community, a sustainable local economy, and a sustainable local environment, and they understand the importance of how they are all linked. They have an action plan to reduce carbon emissions, fuel use, and waste, while improving energy efficiency, carbon capture, land management, and biodiversity. The Leys Estate Group Vision is of 'a progressive and integrated system of land and property ownership, use, and management that delivers a wide range of benefits to its owners, tenants, neighbors, and the local community while protecting the environmental, social, cultural, historical, and economic attributes of the land and property and the surrounding area and educating the future'.
With the appointment of a Marketing and Communications Manager, Leys has deliberately moved into a new era in recent years, moving from 'reactionary engagement' to 'proactive engagement'. Through the creation and implementation of their Education Strategy, they have formalized the commitment to ensuring that the work of modern estates in the North East of Scotland does not go unrecognized. Prior to the adoption of the Education Strategy, work with schools, colleges, and local community groups was largely ad hoc and reactive. Leys Estate now has active, open links with primary and secondary schools, a university, and community groups in the Crathes, Banchory, and Torphins area, who in turn feel comfortable approaching the Estate for support with projects or with suggestions on how the Estate can enrich their community. The strategy has also encouraged members of the wider Estate team to come forward with suggestions or further opportunities to work with schools and community groups.
Leys Estate offers employment opportunities in more than 20 different roles and works with schools to focus on the diversity of opportunities, the important role each of their team members plays in how they can support the community and leave a lasting legacy. The very ethos of rural estates can be seen as under threat from various quarters, but often this is driven by a misunderstanding of what rural estates can continue to offer communities. Leys now approaches many of their external communications through the lens of "Did you know?", encouraging an inquisitive and open-minded attitude when explaining what the estate does, and it is invariably met with a response of "I had no idea the estate did that". This misconception also needs to be addressed from within. Leys Estate has strengthened its internal communications to ensure that team members understand the work the estate does and where it is heading. This has ensured that a wider section of the team is happy to get involved in community initiatives. This has included the development of monthly internal communications that focus not only on the commercial aspect of the Estate but also on community initiatives, as well as supporting and coordinating tours of the Estate for all team members, some of whom don't have the opportunity to visit certain sites or hear first-hand about the Estate's work and commitment to the local area as part of their day-to-day role.
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