Vickery Holman, the respected property consultancy that has had a presence for over 160 years in the south west, is bucking the accepted trend that businesses are merely surviving and not thriving in the current economic climate.

 

The company is expanding its Exeter office to handle an increase in enquiries and the workload associated with a number of high value, high profile projects.

 

New members of the Exeter team include Clare Cochrane, who joined Vickery Holman in 2006, starting her Commercial Agency role in the Plymouth office and completing her professional training under the supervision of Nick Holman, the company’s longest serving member of staff. Clare gained a degree in Business and Management at the University of Exeter, and completed her Masters Degree in Real Estate Finance at Cambridge University. She recently qualified as a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and has relocated to Exeter to take on the day to day running of the Commercial Agency Department. Amongst the properties she is marketing is Milford House with  42,000 sq ft of office space, the second floor of Senate Court in Southernhay Gardens, a new business park on the A38 at Chudleigh, Fleet Walk Shopping Centre in Torquay and a major industrial unit in Paignton to name but a few.

 

Also joining is Chris Barraclough MRICS. Chris worked in North Devon for 12 years trading as Edwards Barraclough, advising clients in a range of specialist development and investment activities including the sale of the former RGB site in Barnstaple to Redrow, advice to other residential development clients, the acquisition of foodstore sites for Chelverton Deeley Freed based in Bristol and was also involved in the acquisition of sites for the first cable landing stations in Bude for Level 3, MCI Worldcom and Global Crossing. Prior to this in London he managed the Grade 1 Listed Regent's Park and Kensington Estates for The Crown Estate with a development brief and investment agency and valuations for AXA at Morgan Grenfell Laurie and Wright and Partners.    Chris will be working in the valuation department of Vickery Holman’s Exeter Office with Mark Pellow and Robert Beale, utilising his particular knowledge and expertise in North Devon.

 

Exeter Director Mike Oldrieve commented: “We’re delighted that Clare and Chris have joined us in Exeter. Their combination of qualifications, training and experience and excellent knowledge of the area take their performance well beyond merely competent, and make them a very welcome addition to Vickery Holman’s regional operation. We are confident that we can deliver first class valuation and development advice in these challenging times.”

Vickery Holman’s Exeter base is also taking on Sam Lyon-Smith, due to start in September. Sam is a post graduate from the University of the West of England and has already undertaken a year of her Assessment of Professional Competence training on placement with Vickery Holman. The company has a very impressive pass rate for APC students and Sam is proving to be no exception. She’s already making a big impression on the increased workload in Exeter’s Valuation and Professional Services departments.

 

Mark Pellow, Director of the Exeter office, said: “The expansion of Vickery Holman’s Exeter Office shows that we’ve come through troubled times in a very strong position in the market place. We’ve done this by promoting staff training and ensuring that their skills and training are identified and used to the best effect. This means that we offer our clients a proficient, specialised and extensive service.”

The company is also soon to announce a vacancy for a Property Manager in its property management service, Envoy. Rather than just serving as a “rent collector”, Envoy takes a hands-on approach by implementing maintenance programmes, actively increasing the value of properties, overhauling service charges and in general simply reducing the work involved in owning commercial property.

 

Vickery Holman has had a regional base in Exeter since the 1950’s, moving to new premises in the city’s prestigious Southernhay Gardens area in 2007. Like the company’s other regional offices in Truro and Plymouth, the full range of commercial property consultancy services are available, which means that the staff members who provide the service have the advantage of local knowledge which is not necessarily the case with consultants that operate from one location.

  

Photo: Vickery Holman staff at the entrance to Southernhay Gardens in Exeter. (Left to Right) Mark Pellow, Sam Lyon-Smith, Mike Oldrieve, Clare Cochrane, Chris Barraclough.