Trowers & Hamlins

Offering varied work within a strong real estate sector focus and an inclusive culture, a training contract at Trowers & Hamlins has all the building blocks for success…

Trower & Hamlins training contract review 2026

About the firm

If there’s one key takeaway from a True Picture of life at Trowers & Hamlins, it’s that real estate is a really big deal. Not only is it the firm’s largest department, but many of its others practice areas – like planning and construction - are closely related and involve plenty of crossover. As a result, it’s probably a good idea to note that for a good proportion of the firm’s current trainees, a “real interest in real estate” and an opportunity to “hone in on that sector” was a big part of the draw.

What might surprise you about such a real estate-focused firm is that Trowers offers a combination of local and international work: “I liked that Trowers does local work in Exeter. I could drive past sites and say, ‘I did that.’” At the same time, there’s also plenty of work on “national and international projects from the Middle East. I like the variety that comes with a firm of this calibre.” In fact, beyond four UK offices in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Exeter, the firm has a further six across the Middle East and Asia.

“I could drive past sites and say, ‘I did that.’”

The firm’s HQ is its London office, and the firm bags top Chambers UK rankings for its work in the capital in areas like real estate, social housing and employment. There are also top rankings nationwide for social housing finance and local government. That said, interviewees were unanimous that the firm’s sector strengths didn’t get in the way of its human touch: “I wanted to work somewhere where I didn’t have to try to fit in and could focus on working instead of putting a mask on,” one trainee told us. And, as another put it: “I was quite sure I didn’t want to be at a firm where if I made a mistake, I was going to be treated harshly rather than constructively.”

Training Contract Structure

The London HQ houses the largest number of trainees, with the rest pretty evenly split between Manchester, Exeter and Birmingham. Trainees have one “dream seat” which is “not guaranteed but it’s very likely you’ll get that seat at some point in your TC.” This choice remains the same throughout the training contract, but trainees have three other preferences which they can change midway through each seat during a check-in chat with HR.

As preferences are balanced with business need, we heard that all trainees should expect a seat in real estate, and often first with around 50% of new joiners starting in the seat. Trainees from all offices can apply to go on an international secondment to Oman, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi or Dubai from their second seat onwards, all via the same seat allocation process.

Seat Experiences

Trainee Life

As one trainee was quick to highlight: “I would say it’s been very inclusive and welcoming at every single level.” So, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the culture is a big part of the appeal: “Most of the people that I’ve met I’ve become friends with in a personal capacity, rather than just colleagues to chat to at work.” We heard this extends all the way to the top: “Partners will have your back, and they have been more than happy to invite me to events and integrate me into the firm.”

On the social side, there’s “always something going on, an event you can go to, be it legal or non-legal, to help you grow your network.” This includes tickets to go see a play or internal networks putting on events. The firm organizes events for trainees too, like meet ups with other offices and connecting with local trainee societies. Teams have lunches and away days, and the property litigation team even went glamping! Firm-wide, “the main events of the year are the Christmas and summer parties.” DEI networks also organise events like bake sales, “it’s nice to feel like there are all these opportunities to mingle, basically.”

There are also regular volunteering opportunities open to trainees, such as taking part in reading schemes in local schools and Let’s Feed Brum, an initiative which gives food to homeless people in Birmingham city centre. One-off opportunities include volunteering for client companies on schemes like creating gardens and fundraising events such as a monopoly challenge.

As for offices, one recent development was the relocation of the Birmingham office to 1 Snowhill, which trainees considered to be a “big improvement,”:“It’s quite swanky, everyone’s got stand up desks, and there’s even a feature wall with moss.” All offices have transitioned to being predominantly hot desking spaces, which trainees described as “more conducive to having chat with people.” Trainees are expected to be in the office a minimum of three days a week.

On average, trainees were heading home between 6.30pm and 7.30pm with longer hours in certain seats like real estate, planning & environment and corporate during busier periods. There’s “very much a culture that you shouldn’t be staying late,” with seniors noticing when trainees are doing so and offering to push back deadlines when it's not urgent. And how did trainees feel about their compensation? “For the work I’m doing at my level I’m fairly compensated, but I’d never say no to more,” summed up the general feeling among our interviewees.

Training style and format varies between departments, with trainees reporting more “frontloaded” training in some departments than in others, but each has a programme of sessions covering everything trainees need to know. Usually, trainees will receive work from other staff as well as their supervisors: “I’ve had really, really good relationships with both of my supervisors, it’s been one of my favourite things about the training contract so far,” gushed one junior. “I do feel very supported but also there’s definitely high standards, especially amongst different departments and you are pushed. But I really like that.” It’s quite common to have weekly check-ins with supervisors and reviews are “quite constructive, I’ve never had a bad review, they’ve all been useful.”

Qualification

Trainees are given a clear idea of the steps involved in the qualification process: “We know the date the NQ jobs list is going to come out. We know when we need to submit cover letters by, what’s involved in the jobs, and what’s involved in the interviews and outcomes date. It’s all very transparent.”

Trainees are often understandably nervous about qualification, but our sources were feeling confident: “I don’t get a sense of competitiveness with the other trainees in my cohort. We all know that if we do our best, the firm will do everything it can to keep us on. It feels like we’re all on the same team.” In 2025, Trowers & Hamlins retained 22 of 26 qualifiers.