Consultant

Consultant - Rural Specialist Location: Hestercombe House, Taunton, Somerset. Terms: Full-time or flexible full-time arrangement. Role type: Rural property consultancy, experienced graduate, development strategy and fee earning. Salary: £30,000 to £35,000+ depending on experience, capability and expected fee-earning contribution. Pension: 8% workplace pension. Benefits: A beautiful working location, with onsite parking, café and access to 45 acres of landscaped grounds. Dog-friendly office. Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme. 20 days’ basic holiday, plus birthday leave, Christmas and New Year closure, and public holidays. Start: Immediate / by agreement. About The Role Bondstones is looking to appoint a Consultant (Rural Specialist) to join our team at Hestercombe House, near Taunton. This is a client-facing rural consultancy role for someone with a strong understanding of rural property, land use, planning opportunity and development strategy. The role will suit someone who can look at land, buildings and rural businesses commercially, identify realistic opportunities, understand planning risk and help clients decide what route to take. The role sits alongside our planning and architectural teams. It is not a pure planning role, and it is not a traditional land agency role. It is intended for someone who can work across rural property, planning strategy, diversification, development potential and early-stage client advice. You may come from rural surveying, estate management, land agency, planning consultancy, agricultural consultancy, development consultancy or another rural professional background. The role is likely to suit someone with at least three years’ relevant commercial or professional experience, although we are more interested in rural understanding, client handling and commercial awareness than in one fixed professional route. The person we are looking for: Strong rural grounding, commercial awareness, and practical understanding of how land, buildings and rural businesses can be developed. You should be confident dealing directly with farmers, landowners, estates, rural businesses and private clients. You will need to listen carefully, understand the wider property position, identify realistic options and explain risk, opportunity, cost and next steps clearly. You should have experience in rural property, land use, agriculture, estates, planning, development or diversification. Experience with permitted development, change of use, farm diversification, rural tourism, equestrian uses, renewable energy, replacement dwellings, barn conversions, heritage assets, enforcement or certificates of lawfulness would be valuable. You do not need to be a technical specialist in every area. However, you must be able to recognise when planning, architectural, ecology, landscape, heritage, drainage, highways or valuation input is needed, and help coordinate that advice properly. MRTPI, MRICS or eligibility for professional qualification would be advantageous, but it is not essential where you can demonstrate relevant experience and strong rural consultancy ability. The successful candidate will be practical, commercially aware, organised and comfortable taking responsibility for client advice, site appraisal, early-stage project strategy and fee-earning delivery. Key Responsibilities Meeting clients, visiting sites and providing clear early-stage advice on rural property and development opportunities. Preparing site appraisals, opportunity reviews, feasibility notes and client‑facing advice reports. Identifying planning, property, environmental and commercial constraints affecting rural land and buildings. Supporting rural diversification, tourism, equestrian, renewable energy, farm development, change of use and rural business projects. Working with the planning team on permitted development, prior notifications, planning applications, certificates of lawfulness, appeals and enforcement matters. Working with the architectural team to help clients understand development potential, design direction, site constraints and practical next steps. Reviewing planning history, site constraints, land‑use context, access, services, occupancy issues, existing buildings and wider development potential. Helping to prepare fee proposals, project scopes and supporting delivery of the Stepping Stones™ process. Coordinating input from external specialists where required, including ecologists, landscape consultants, heritage consultants, drainage consultants, transport consultants and other advisers. Maintaining clear client records, internal notes and project updates. Contributing to Bondstones’ rural consultancy knowledge base and helping improve our advice process over time. Digital working and systems Bondstones operates a digital workflow using Microsoft 365, CRM systems, shared project records and standardised project processes. Training will be provided in our internal systems and Stepping Stones™ methodology. Experience using mapping tools, planning portals, document management systems, CRM systems, GIS, AI‑supported research tools or rural property data sources would be useful. Package & Progression This is a salaried professional role, with salary set according to experience, capability, independence and expected fee-earning contribution. The advertised salary range is not an automatic progression scale. Appointment within the range will depend on the candidate’s ability to advise clients, identify realistic opportunities, prepare high quality written advice, work efficiently within agreed scope and contribute to recoverable fee income. The upper end of the range will be reserved for candidates who can operate with limited supervision, manage a suitable caseload, deal confidently with clients and external parties, and demonstrate the commercial judgement expected of an experienced rural consultant. Salary progression will be linked to professional development, quality of work, recoverable delivery, fee performance and the ability to manage work efficiently within agreed project scope. The role is not commission-based and is not advertised on an OTE basis. However, the successful candidate will be expected to contribute to fee‑earning delivery, manage time properly and work to agreed weekly delivery targets. There is a clear progression route for someone who wants to develop within Bondstones. Depending on performance, capability and business need, progression may include a move into a Senior Consultant role, a specialist rural consultancy lead role, or a broader management position as the regional team grows. For the right individual, longer‑term progression may also include involvement in developing service lines, supporting new regional teams, mentoring junior team members, helping to grow the rural consultancy offer and taking on greater responsibility for client relationships, project strategy and fee performance. Location The role will be based at Hestercombe House, near Taunton in Somerset. Hestercombe provides an attractive professional working environment, with onsite parking, café facilities and access to 45 acres of landscaped grounds. Bondstones operates from The Old Library, within the wider Hestercombe estate. The role will focus on the WestCountry and wider SouthWest, with regular site visits, client meetings and project work across the region. A full driving licence and access to a suitable vehicle will be required. Some flexibility may be considered, but this is a client-facing rural consultancy role and will require regular office attendance and site-based work. #J-18808-Ljbffr