site_admin, Author at Brasier Freeth

With the continued spread of COVID-19 and the UK Government implementing restricted travel measures, we wanted to update you and to reassure you that we are taking every step possible to ensure our business continuity albeit in a digital and virtual way.

On a more personal note, we believe the most important thing we can all do is support each other during this very difficult and uncertain time.

CoStar Group Inc., the commercial real estate industry’s data and analytics leader, last week announced this year’s CoStar Award recipients. Brasier Freeth is proud to have been named the Most Active Disposal Agent for industrial properties in the East of England. The team was also featured in the top 5 Most Active Acquisition Agents.

The Awards recognise agencies that closed the highest transaction volume in commercial real estate deals and leads in their respective markets.

During the course of the past year, the Brasier Freeth’s Office + Industrial Agency Team let and sold a number of industrial properties in the North West M25 market. The most notable transactions were at Prologis Park in Hemel Hempstead, where the Team let 6 speculatively built units totalling 280,739 sq. ft. of space.

Looking forward the Team is honoured to have been retained as joint letting agents for Phase 2 of Prologis Park in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire and more recently as joint letting agents for Firethorn Trust’s mid-box development scheme on a 24.5-acre site near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire.

In our latest office market update we focus on Watford – the anomaly in the current north-west M25 office market.

The market for office accommodation in the region is muted with little activity both in terms of disposals or acquisition of space in the occupational sector and relatively little activity in the investment sector. Supply is for the most part restricted due to the impact of Permitted Development Rights, the absence of new build projects, coupled with relatively strong levels of take up prior to the end of 2016. Balanced against this in many locations demand has been relatively constrained as a consequence of uncertainty about economic direction and trading conditions. As yet this approximate balance and the absence of competitive pressure on both the demand and supply side has kept rents relatively stable.

Gloom and doom aside, Watford is one location that has bucked this trend and like the town’s football team, the time has come for it to enjoy its moment in the spotlight.

Our Business Space Team has taken a look at office market activity in the town including the first real speculative development in 16 years and how it is meeting the needs of the millennial workforce …….Watford – Home of TJX New HQ

In the last 24 months two substantial lettings took out most of the remaining office stock in Watford leaving just 17,000 sq. ft. available in a single building on the edge of the main commercial district. Going forward, within the town there is development taking place in the form of TJX’s new bespoke HQ opposite Watford Junction which will be linked into two adjoining buildings, both of which TJX have interests in.Speculative office development

Elsewhere, demolition of Gresham House (53 Clarendon Road) has set the stage for delivery of Watford’s first new town centre speculative office building (disregarding 36 Clarendon Road which was let shortly after commencement of construction) for sixteen years. Interestingly the originally consented scheme for this site incorporated a substantial residential element, but its new owners felt a wholly commercial scheme was more suited to the site and would capitalise on the current and predicted lack of supply of new grade ‘A’ stock in the medium term. Whilst this building will provide welcome supply in early 2021 it will not address the current space famine.

Our office & industrial has recently secured warehouse space with a total footprint of 74,314 Sq. ft. for IWG. The world’s leading provider of flexible office space has signed a double lease for adjoining properties at Prologis Park in Hemel Hempstead.

The new facility at Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead will serve as the main UK distribution centre for IWG, providing storage space and distribution services for all of IWG’s office furniture requirements, as well as being the base for its UK-based warehousing and back-office support teams.

With IWG signing the double lease, there is now just one unit remaining at the logistics park. Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead has been designed to address the shortage of supply for industrial units in the local area, with letting options available for local, regional and national customers. The range of unit sizes available has fulfilled the local authority’s requirement for providing space for growing companies.

Integrating with the local community has been central to the development of the logistics park. In total, £80 million has been invested back into the local economy, and more than 750 new jobs have been created as a result of the park’s development. However, sustainability hasn’t been overlooked in the design of the park. Through Prologis UK’s partnership with the charity, Cool Earth, 11,000 acres of Amazon rainforest have been protected as a result of the development.

The development of Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead has also included improvements to the local area, aimed at benefitting the wider community. A ‘Pocket Park’ has been created by rejuvenating a neglected area of land and turning it into green community space, complete with footpaths, landscaping and benches, which can be used by the adjoining nursery and residents.

Working closely with the Box Moor Trust, a charity responsible for managing and maintaining large areas of land locally, Prologis has acquired a further piece of land, which will be restored to maintain and enhance the biodiversity of the area.

Commenting on the letting, Claire Madden Partner at Brasier Freeth said, “Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead is an excellent example of a development that works for both the local economy and environment. The speed at which these units have been let and the interest generated by the development demonstrates there has been a real need for well-connected logistics properties locally. We’re delighted to have secured such a fantastic facility that will provide an excellent national distribution hub for our client.”

Stephen Holloway, UK Network Development Director for IWG said, “This is a real milestone for IWG and we’re thrilled to be setting down roots in Hemel Hempstead with this new warehouse facility. Hemel Hempstead is already home to a thriving local economy and as our business continues to expand as we respond to the growing need for flexible working across the UK, Prologis Park is set to be the perfect place for us to run our warehouse operations from.”

Here are a number of common questions that occupiers ask when evaluating a new location for their operations. As you would expect our Business Space Team is well-versed in responding to queries relating to the building specification, utilities, operational costs, wage rates, public transport and even where to buy a sausage roll. However, a new question and inevitable concern is emerging with Brexit looming – clients are telling us they are concerned there will be a lack of employees post-Brexit and whilst a location may offer a supply of staff it does not necessarily guarantee quality.

If staff are available from the retail sector how can the industry make alternative positions in a warehouse attractive? With increased use of robotics and automation perceptions of the industry will need to be changed to attract the right staff.

The office sector is leading the way with a wellness agenda and in our view to attract the next generation of warehouse operatives industrial occupiers need to follow. The WELL Building Standard launched in 2014 by the International Well Building Institute (IWBI) is based on seven criteria including: air, light, mind, water, fitness, nourishment, innovation and comfort. As office occupiers strive to achieve this standard the logistics and industrial occupiers need to learn quickly that putting a vending machine and a pool table in the break out area is simply not enough. The “nice to have” list should be considered an investment. According to the IWBI 94% of staff are happier and more productive in WELL-Standard-certified buildings so why not strive to provide the best working conditions?

Here’s a few suggestions from the Brasier Freeth Business Space Team as to how the working environment can be improved and made more attractive to existing and prospective employees:

Of course, we are not suggesting that all these points needs to be implemented and understand it isn’t always possible to achieve design improvements particularly in older style buildings. However, several of the team’s suggestions are quick wins to achieving a 5-star rating from your staff. Ultimately, the happier and healthier your workforce is, the better their productivity and your staff retention levels will be.

Across Hertfordshire, the take-up of industrial and office space has painted very contrasting pictures during the first half of 2019. While office transactions are considerably down across the region and take-up is below previous years, industrial take-up has continued to be strong. However, continued low supply levels across the region are set to have a negative effect on the overall 2019 end of year figures.

Our Business Space Team explores if there are there any underlying factors behind the declining take-up.

One of the major talking points is the Watford office market. Transactions during 2018 totalled circa 280,000 sq. ft., circa 50,000 sq. ft. above the 10-year average, however, for the first six months of 2019 this figure stands at just 26,000 sq. ft. Continue this trajectory throughout the rest of the year and Watford is on course for take-up of only 23% on the 10-year average.

While the statistics make for negative reading, they possibly don’t give the complete picture. Transactions are down by a third, which illustrates a reduction in demand, but the real difference is in the average size of the transaction which has considerably reduced. In 2018, there were sizeable lettings to Regus and ASOS accounting for nearly 50% of transactions for the year. By contrast, this year the largest transaction to date has been under 10,000 sq. ft. This is not to say that the larger occupiers have gone to ground, but more of a reflection on the lack of good quality, well-situated available stock in the immediate locality.

In the wider office market, there is a similar story to be told. The lack of good quality office space is in short supply with take-up down on previous years. It is anticipated that Hemel Hempstead will see take-up significantly below the 10-year average with under 12 months’ supply available in the likes of Welwyn Garden City and St Albans.

On a more positive note, the industrial market remains resilient with activity remaining strong. Prologis Park in Hemel Hempstead (pictured) has seen considerable success with over 200,000 sq. ft. let in H1 with a further 190,000 sq. ft. under offer. Equally in St Albans and Watford, around half its industrial supply has either gone under offer or concluded during 2019.

The noteworthy factor that relates to the majority of these transactions is that the modern products, which generally have a higher specification, are faring better than their older equivalents. We have already mentioned Prologis Park, but Trade City in Watford and Parkbury in St Albans which are also of high quality have seen strong demand and vacancy rates at low levels.

It is an interesting thought that where there is a good quality product, demand remains strong and a fairly linear theme across the region and sector. Therefore, the under-supply of Grade A office accommodation may in some way reflect on the poor take-up levels. Examples of this are Croxley Park where a new 60,000 sq. ft. speculative office building was built and occupied within 12 months of practical completion. This theory will soon be tested further with the extensive refurbishment to 40 Clarendon Road and development of 53 Clarendon Road which are currently ongoing in Watford in addition to 45 Grosvenor Road in St Albans.

After a break in 2018 to celebrate our 10^th Anniversary our annual golf day returned last week to Batchworth Park Golf Club. Over 40 of our clients joined our team for a competitive afternoon of golf all hoping to be on the winning team and take home the glory.

The range of abilities and skills on show led to some impressive scores, with very close results and only 4 points separating first and third place. Congratulations to BF’s Jack Woolf whose team were the overall winners scoring 88 points in the Stableford competition. This was Jack’s second golf day and second win so definitely the team to beat next year. Jack was joined by Mark Sarratt of Property & Commercial Finance Ltd, Priyen Patel of The Prideview Group and Prashant Dave of Blake Morgan.

Congratulations also to BF’s Trevor Church’s team who came a close second with 86 points. Trevor was joined by Christian Matthews of DB Symmetry and Joe Binns from Alchemy Asset Management.

The pink ball competition was a close fought affair with prizes awarded to the team of BF’s James Oliver, Ian Brindley from HIP Estates, Dale Wagstaff of Howarth Homes and Steve Middleton of H&M Properties.

The longest drive was won by Hightown’s Sam Galvin and nearest the pin was won by Mark Spooner of Jelmac Properties Ltd.

Thanks to all our guests for joining us for an entertaining and enjoyable day. Special thanks also to Brasier Freeth’s Kerry Starling and Jeremy Hunting for all their hard work organising and to Batchworth Park Golf Club for once again hosting our event.

In our latest office market update we focus on Watford – the anomaly in the current north-west M25 office market.

Gloom and doom aside, Watford is one location that has bucked this trend and like the town’s football team, the time has come for it to enjoy its moment in the spotlight.

Some short-term relief may be available in the form of 40 Clarendon Road which is being refurbished by Columbia Threadneedle and will deliver 50,000 sq. ft. of new ‘A’ grade space into the market towards the end of 2019. In the normal course of events this building would represent a small fraction of a single year’s demand and is therefore unlikely to provide a long-term solution. In addition, LGIM are planning a full-scale refurbishment of 38 Clarendon Road which would deliver a further 50,000 sq. ft. in 2020. There are strong indications that either one of the imminently available buildings will attract a high-quality new tenant to the town or that there will be an early commitment to take space in 53 Clarendon Road.

Various other schemes are also proposed within Watford but most are a combination of offices and residential in formats that do not readily lend themselves to speculative development. It is difficult to see these schemes going forward in their current shape without a major commitment from an office occupier.

Whilst ultimately TJX may release some existing occupied space into the market, this is unlikely to be for some considerable time and a proportion of this space is legacy accommodation which will be difficult to configure to meet the demands of the speculative office market. Accordingly, the shortage looks like continuing into the foreseeable.

If Watford’s limited prospective new and refurbished stock performs well, it is likely that parties will come forward for the proposed office/residential schemes and perhaps re-configure them to more fully meet speculative office market requirements.

The signs are good as the position of Watford in the North West M25 office market is extremely strong given unmatched public transport, a very extensive employee catchment covering large sections of North London, a good retail and leisure offer (recently improved) plus a business friendly and development orientated local authority. Other towns within the area have a market town feel which is appealing to certain elements of the working population but does not fulfil the requirements of millennials, in addition some of these locations also have residential values which make office development very much a second choice. Fortunately, Watford has a better balance between residential and commercial values, a protected commercial core and the prospect of a reasonable stream of good quality modern development going forward.

Whilst some of the new development coming forward is challenging accepted views on factors such as parking provision, they are designed for the modern working population and look to the future rather than the past – much like Watford itself.

Following the recent launch of Prologis Park, Hemel Hempstead and our client’s successful application to extend the park, BF’s Trevor Church takes a look how the usage of this land has come full circle.

From the 1960’s until the Millennium the southern end of Maylands Avenue was dominated by Lucas Industries but after a company takeover, Brasier Freeth (then Freeth Melhuish) was instructed to advise on their relocation and the sale of their 23-acre site on Maylands Avenue. Lucas Varity (aka TRW and Goodrich), duly relocated to a new facility in Pitstone and we sold their site to Aviva Investors (Norwich Union) together with their renowned Development Manager, Stanhope for circa £30m.

Stanhope’s vision was to replicate their highly successful Chiswick Park Office Development and planning was gained for 600,000 sq. ft. of offices in six buildings plus a large gym. There was even an option in place to develop the sports field to the rear for more offices. Whilst only a single 100,000 sq. ft. office building and Esporta Gym were constructed, Peoplebuilding Hemel was born.

The Peoplebuilding name was devised by the marketing agency engaged by Stanhope to encourage companies to think that a high-quality environment would enable their staff to achieve more from working in the positive environment they were about to create. Whilst they had successfully used the slogan ‘Enjoy Work’ at Chiswick Park the same success could not be emulated in Hemel and through the early 2000’s as the local market for offices slowly fell away, the building remained largely empty until the notorious day of 5^th December 2005 when Hemel Hempstead was home to the largest explosion seen in the UK since WW2. The explosion at the Buncefield oil depot critically damaged the office buildings of Northgate and 3Comm, so by the end of February 2006, Peoplebuilding was virtually full.

Dacorum Borough Council was still keen to see the remainder of the office park developed but through the recessionary times of 2007 – 2013 demand for offices remained low and office development was uneconomic. There was a huge supply of vacant offices through consolidation, closures and takeovers, peaking at around 700,000 sq. ft. equating to at least six years supply.

In 2013 Aviva were convinced by specialist retail developer, Trilogy, that the site would make an excellent retail park and jointly pursued a change of use, eventually gaining consent for a retail park over the remainder of the site. Demand for offices remained stubbornly soft but there was some stirring in the warehouse sector fuelled by the online shopping boom.

We have all seen the travails encountered by the retail sector over recent years and whilst Aviva/Trilogy managed to secure lettings to Aldi and drive throughs for Costa and McDonalds located in front of the office building and gym the larger Phase 2 of the retail scheme failed to generate sufficient interest and the plans stalled, delaying the start date by a year or so.

In the Autumn of 2018, Brasier Freeth appreciating the flourishing market for industrial property approached Aviva on behalf of Prologis, a worldwide developer of industrial property who had been successfully developing Prologis Park on the former Lucas and Kodak sports fields to the rear of Peoplebuilding. A deal was agreed and Prologis completed the purchase of the 11.5-acre site in January 2019.

The plan is to access the site from Blossom Way the new estate road of Prologis Park instead of from Maylands Avenue, which is widely recognised as being close to capacity and to extend the Park, already home to Vitabiotics and Hermes amongst others, to develop a single large warehouse building of around 220,000 sq. ft.

So here we are 20 years on and the site will soon be back to its original industrial use and the southern end of Maylands Avenue will once again be dominated by a single large building.

Last week saw the great and the good of industrial agents from across the region attend DB Symmetry’s Best of British Tour showcasing three of their recent speculative developments.

DB Symmetry has a strong reputation as one of the leading commercial developers in the UK so it’s no surprise that so many agents turned out to see their latest high-quality offerings at Bicester, Banbury and Aston Clinton.

First stop on the tour was Symmetry Park at Aston Clinton near Aylesbury, where Phase 1 of the development is under construction and will offer 3 units of 55,000, 83,000 and 110,000 sq. ft. We were proud to host this leg of the tour as joint agents on this scheme and are excited about the opportunities the new development will bring to the local area on its completion in Q4 2019.

The second destination on the whistlestop tour was Central M40 at Banbury. To date DB Symmetry has constructed circa 855,000 sq. ft. of industrial warehouse accommodation on this site. Agents got to see first-hand the newest addition to the development – Unit 5 – an impressive 330,000 sq. ft that is now on the market.

The final stop and lunch destination for the hungry agents was at Symmetry Park, Bicester where the third unit in Phase 1 of the scheme, a 163,130 sq. ft. warehouse with offices, has recently been completed. We are very familiar with this scheme having acquired the first unit built on this site in 2017, an 88,000 sq. ft. warehouse and HQ for our client Bentley Designs.

Agents who attended all three sites on last week’s tour were treated to a pair of Hunter Wellies and an empty warehouse provided the perfect backdrop for some after lunch competitive wellie wanging!

As one of the most active speculative developers in the country DB Symmetry’s schemes are built to an institutional specification, however, all developments can be fitted out to meet occupiers’ individual requirements which undoubtedly adds to attractiveness of their offering.

With the UK’s evolving e-commerce sector and strong demand for a good quality product from investors and occupiers we’re confident these latest properties will face a welcome reception from the market.

We are delighted to announce the promotion of Kim Wilson to Associate Partner. Kim joined us in September 2017 after 3 years at CBRE where she qualified as a Chartered Surveyor whilst working in the retail agency division. Kim is based in our London office and advises our retail clients on agency matters, nationally.

She has been successful is attracting new retail clients to the firm, most noticeably Cath Kidston and Whistles dealing with their strategy for disposals and acquisitions throughout the UK. This ranges from leading high streets, shopping centres and outlets.

Kim was instrumental in bf’s very recent appointment to manage TFG London’s property portfolio for UK fashion brands Hobbs, Whistles, Phase Eight, Damsel in a Dress and Studio 8.

Speaking of the appointment, Anthony Appleby, Head of Retail, said: “We are delighted to confirm Kim as Associate Partner. Since joining, Kim has played a vital role in developing our client base and is a dedicated member of our retail agency team. With Kim’s input we hope to continue to evolve and offer our clients a valuable bespoke service.’’

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the mandate as sole portfolio advisors to TFG London across their UK fashion brands Hobbs, Whistles, Phase Eight, Damsel in a Dress and Studio 8.

TFG London is wholly owned by The Foschini Group Limited (“TFG”), a leading publicly listed South African retail group, which operates 28 brands across fashion, jewellery, homeware, sports, outdoor and cellular, collectively serving over 13.4 million customers each year in over 4,000 stores and 32 countries. TFG first entered the UK market through the acquisition of the premium womenswear brand Phase Eight in January 2015 and now operates over 200 stores and 450 concessions across the country.

We have worked with Whistles since 2018, this new appointment is therefore a significant extension of our role acting for all of the brands on retail agency and lease advisory matters and we will now be looking to secure over 100,000 sq. ft. of retail space over the next 12 months for the Group.

Kim Wilson, Associate Partner at Brasier Freeth commented: ‘We are delighted to be appointed and are very much looking forward to working on the expansion of these established British brands. These are exciting times for TFG London particularly as current market conditions coupled with the strength of our clients’ retail operations, mean that there are significant growth opportunities. We will be undertaking a forensic review of the entire portfolio with the objective of expanding into new locations but at the same time delivering real value across the estate.’

Peter Riordan, Group Property Director at TFG London commented: ‘We are looking forward to working closely with Brasier Freeth to access the huge trading opportunity that this brings to our group.’

We acted for Mothercare on the sale of their Watford based Headquarters. Details of the deal made it to the Property Week headlines.

Our Business Space Team was tasked by Mothercare with looking at a potential sale and leaseback of their HQ in order to release cash for the business whilst safeguarding occupation and providing flexibility for the future. We were familiar with the building from past work with Mothercare and understood the particular challenges of its size, mix of accommodation and non-commercial location.

With experience of both the commercial market regionally, an understanding of permitted development and the residential development market coupled with a fine-grained knowledge of the local commercial market we were able to identify that there were strong prospects of extracting value from the site well in excess of the pure office and warehouse value by focussing on the alternative use prospects.

Having been selected in competition with a multi-national firm speed was critical in the run-up to the summer period and we were able to mobilise quickly to bring the property to the market before the end of July. We generated strong interest in what is not normally an ideal time of year to promote property, but there was pressure to achieve a sale before critical reporting milestones for the client. A competitive bidding process produced a number of strong bids with a second round being necessary to separate the front runners. Once a party was selected exchange of contracts occurred quickly with completion slightly deferred but all within acceptable parameters for the client.

Our client was delighted with the achieved price and terms. Our team demonstrated an ability to mobilise fast to deliver results in a compressed time frame without compromising the marketing process or end result.

As we enter 2019 we are asking ourselves if this is the end of the world as we know it?

Well ok, perhaps that sounds overly dramatic, but as 2019 begins we are considering what the future holds in store for the office market and where the opportunities may lie.

Over the past two years we have seen a notable shift in the office sector with substantial growth in the flexible office market. A record proportion of office space take-up is now attributable to serviced office operators, with providers such as IWG (whose brands include Regus and Spaces) and new entrants from the US including WeWork, now dominating the market.

In the local area IWG has taken 25,000 sq. ft. in Hemel Hempstead, the town’s largest office transaction for 2018, accounting for more than 25% of the annual take-up. A similar picture was also seen in Watford last year with IWG appearing once again. This time as the second largest transaction amounting to 7.5% of the town’s annual take-up. This scenario is replicated in major centres throughout the UK and according to a BBC news article released in November 2018, “So far this year, flexible workspace operators have taken up one sixth of all new commercial property in the UK capital and last year their footprint outside the capital tripled with Manchester and Birmingham seeing the fastest growth”.

During the same period, we have seen major institutional landlords such as L&G introduce flexible leasing platforms to stay abreast of market developments (sometimes to the dismay of their existing serviced office operator clients).

We have also seen a greater willingness amongst major corporates to source quite significant amounts of office accommodation from the serviced sector and take advantage of their flexible terms. This is most prevalent amongst agile global brands.

It would seem a variety of factors could be considered as driving the demand for greater flexibility. Some are perhaps short term, but many look set to stay as the result of the manifestation of pressures that have been building for some time. Our team has taken a look at the major factors driving changes in the office market:

Whilst these drivers of market changes are not new, many of them have crept upon us and the confluence of factors has meant that the effects are now much more evident.

The workplace is becoming more casual in appearance and function, even in some traditionally conservative industries, which fits well with the trend towards serviced office providers and this is unlikely to be subject to a reversal.

Companies have never before had so much choice. Those involved in the property industry will need to understand the needs of employers and employees alike and adapt their offering to meet the office space needs of the modern market.

We are delighted to announce that Tim Howlings has been promoted to Associate at Brasier Freeth.

Tim has been a valuable member of our Office + Industrial team since he joined the Practice in 2012, following his graduation with a Masters in Real Estate from Sheffield Hallam University.

Based at our Watford office, working alongside Partner Peter Brown, Tim specialises in the sales, lettings and acquisitions of office and industrial properties across Hertfordshire and North London. His progression within the firm and subsequent promotion is testimony to his hard work, dedication and commitment to our clients.

Commenting on Tim’s promotion, Peter Brown said, “Tim has handled a wide range of work during his time at the firm developing a strong reputation with clients for honest clear advice, attention to detail and perseverance in pursuit of our clients’ objectives. This approach coupled with his naturally friendly manner will stand him in good stead for the future. It’s great news for Brasier Freeth that he is continuing his career with us.”

Congratulations to Christopher Pornaris who passed his APC last Friday, resulting in him becoming a fully-fledged Chartered Surveyor and member to the RICS.

To pass his APC and gain Chartered status, Christopher was required to complete relevant structured training/experience to show he was competent to carry out the work of a qualified Chartered Surveyor before being eligible to sit the final APC assessment. Before joining Brasier Freeth in 2016, Christopher completed a degree in Building Surveying at Nottingham Trent University.

Commenting on this achievement, Christopher said, “Thank you to all my colleagues at Brasier Freeth for providing me with invaluable industry experience and supporting me throughout the APC process. I very much look forward to progressing my career at Brasier Freeth as a Chartered Building Surveyor and contributing to the firm’s success.”

Also commenting on Christopher achievement, Danny Fitzgerald, Associate and Graduate Supervisor at Brasier Freeth said, “Having worked closely with Christopher throughout his Assessment of Professional Competence, I have witnessed first-hand the dedication, hard work and motivation displayed by him to achieve Chartered status. Christopher is an integral part of the Building Surveying and Project Management Team at Brasier Freeth and someone who has a very bright career ahead of them in the industry. I’m positive this will be a stepping stone to propel Christopher’s career and I look forward to watching him progress as we move forward”

Instead of sending Christmas cards this year, we donated to the extremely worthy charity Playskill who are based in Hemel Hempstead and Watford. Playskill provide early intervention, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy, to help children born with severe physical conditions such as cerebral palsy learn basic life skills.

Head of Valuation Services, Steve Oakey said, “The founder of the charity was awarded an MBE for her services to the community a few weeks ago, so they must be doing a great job. Local charities are desperately in need of funding and all of the money goes straight to helping the children. Ticks all the boxes!”