A rating specialist who remains the youngest person ever to receive a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ diploma in rating has joined the Birmingham office of property consultancy Colliers International.
During his 40 year career Gordon Garnett was the former leader of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) specialist rating unit for eastern England and, before that, district valuer and valuation officer for Nottingham and Derbyshire.
Among the high-profile properties on which he has agreed rating assessments are superstores and large foodstores across the east of England including John Lewis stores in Cambridge and Leicester. Garnett has also ruled on Warner Bros Film Studios at Leavesden and the Harry Potter World Visitor Centre.
“Gordon is a well-respected and highly experienced professional in the rating industry and for him to be joining our team is a real coup,” commented John Webber, head of rating for Colliers.
He said the Government’s postponement of the 2015 revaluation is putting increased pressure on many of Colliers’ clients — “and having Gordon on the team, with his first-hand experience of working with the Valuation Office will be of great value to our clients, both existing and prospective.”
A period of “sustained growth” has allowed Gent Visick to recruit three new members to its Yorkshire property teams.
Guy Gilfillan — who has 35 years’ experience in the property industry and joins after 10 years at Lambert Smith Hampton, including heading up their Leeds and Sheffield offices — is taking up a consultancy role with the Leeds-based agency and will work with Rupert Visick, Gent Visick’s managing partner, on land and property development opportunities such as site sales, as well as representing corporate occupiers.
“Gent Visick continues to grow very successfully and as market conditions continue to improve this provides further opportunities for us to look to sensibly broaden our client offering and we feel privileged that someone of Guy’s calibre is working with us,” said Visick.
Bringing the strength of the Leeds-based practice up to 10, Mathew Harriman has joined the building surveying team and Richard Henley will work in the agency department.
Gent Visick also recently created two partners — investment expert Garry Howes, who joined earlier this year, and Gavin Ritchie, who launched its building surveying offer in 2012.
Eamon Fox has confirmed he is leaving the property service provider DTZ to join Knight Frank in the New Year. Starting as a partner he will replace Alex Duckett, a Knight Frank associate who has left the industry.
Described by one property insider as a “massive coup for Knight Frank, that underlines the firm’s pulling power in Leeds” the agency itself claimed Fox’s arrival would give it “the strongest and most experienced office agency team in the city”.
The Kendal-based law firm Harrison Drury has added to its commercial property team serving North Lancashire and the southern half of the Lake District by hiring Amanda Marwood as an associate. She is moving after four years with Thomson Hayton Winkley.
Commercial property consultancy Carter Jonas has appointed Thomas Parker as a graduate surveyor at its Bath office. Parker has an MSc in property development and joins from Wessex Water, where he worked in the estates department for three years.
Commercial property and agricultural lawyer, Stephen Proctor has been recruited by north and east Yorkshire Law firm Harrowells LLP. With experience in all aspects of commercial real estate including sale, purchasing, leasing and development deals his appointment brings the firm’s commercial division — which has offices in Clifton Moor, Thirsk, Easingwold and Pocklington — to 24.
James Sweetzer has joined law firm Gordons’ commercial property department as one of three solicitors hired by the Yorkshire practice.
Story: Cliff Goodwin
Photo: Neil Bird
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