Several estate agencies expand and announce key appointments

Several estate agencies have announced new appointments and strategic moves - underlying speculation that the housing market remains relatively stagnant.

CKD Galbraith, a major Scottish independent, has announced the appointment of Pam Over as chief executive officer - moving up from her role as chief operating officer and head of the firm’s commercial property division.

From January she will succeed Tim Kirkwood, who has led the firm as chief executive for more than 20 years. In the year to April this year the firm’s revenues grew by 5.4 per cent to just under £12m and profit to just under £3m. The firm now employs 236 staff in 11 offices across Scotland.

Meanwhile Knight Frank has recruited a new head of sales to its Belsize Park office in London, with the appointment of local market expert Orly Lehmann. Her new role will see her work alongside lettings head Chanel Rodriguez to continue the company’s growth across North London.

Lehmann has many years of experience in the North West London market and has built her reputation as the most successful broker for an established London agency.

Down in the westcountry Woods, a South Devon independent agency group, has expanded with the acquisition of long standing Bovey Tracey estate agency, Palmer & Radclyffe.

Palmer & Radclyffe has been trading from the same high profile premises for the last 28 years. The Bovey Tracey office will trade as Woods Palmer Radclyffe.  

Woods Palmer Radclyffe is the eighth office of the Woods group, joining existing branches in Newton Abbot, Chudleigh, Kingsteignton, Paignton, St Marychurch, Chelston and Totnes, expanding its reach from the South Coast further north west into Dartmoor National Park.

And in Scotland, two men with more than 20 years’ combined experience have launched what they claim is Glasgow’s first hybrid estate agency. Barry Walker and Stuart Wyle, former area directors for Clyde Property, have created Walker Wylie.

“It was our goal to create a business model that combined the benefits of traditional estate agency service with online convenience” says Wyle.