National Chartered Surveyors, Bruton Knowles, is driving the growth of its newly formed and highly successful National Valuation Team with a string of new appointments.

Phil Horner, who brings a wealth of experience across all aspects of valuation work, will be based from the Cardiff office as an Associate for the firm and working within the National Valuation Team.

His focus will be on providing valuation advice to clients in the South West region and Wales.

Prior to joining Bruton Knowles, Phil was running his own practice, EMM Surveyors Ltd, which he established in 2008. He has also worked within the professional services department of Erinaceous Group PLC, and Bradford & Bingley, as well as various government departments, including the Valuation Office Agency.

Phil said: “My career has spanned a broad range of valuation work, including commercial, agricultural and residential valuations, expert witness work, including court appearances, and probate, matrimonial and taxation valuations throughout Wales.

“I am thrilled to be joining Bruton Knowles at such an exciting time for the company, with record profits and soaring demand for commercial valuations.”

Chris Williams, Stuart Meadowcroft and Chris Hanson also join Bruton Knowles’ National Valuation Team as Senior Surveyors. Chris Williams is based in Plymouth, with Stuart in Manchester and Chris Hanson based in the North of England.

Bruton Knowles’ recent restructuring identified the need for Valuation surveyors to work alongside highly skilled support staff, to streamline the production of valuation reports – hence the push to focus on strengthening its team of Valuation Technicians and other specialist administration and support staff.

The latest Valuation Technician recruits are Vanessa Ewers, based in Birmingham, Adam Yaqube in Cardiff, Katy Quinn in Nottingham and Daniel Reed in Plymouth.

Ian Pitt, Partner and Head of the National Valuation Team, said: “This is a really exciting time for the National Valuation Team. By recruiting excellent support teams, as well as senior surveyors, we have been able to increase the quality of our commercial valuation reports, while at the same time reduce turnaround times – and this is exactly the level of service the banks are looking for.”

Bruton Knowles Managing Partner James Bailey said: “The creation of our National Valuation Team is already proving to be highly successful, with clients delighted by the combined benefits of our wealth of national valuation expertise that can be delivered at a local level.

“We welcome all of our new starters, each of whom will make a valuable contribution to making this team an even greater success.”

This set of new hires follows the appointment of James Foley as Client Services Manager for Bruton Knowles’ National Valuation Team, based at the firm’s Birmingham office.

The National Valuation Team was launched in July 2020, to reflect the growing demand from clients to deliver loan secured RICS Red Book valuations across an ever-increasing geographical area, delivering to a range of national banks, building societies and specialist lenders.

The team was one of the key factors which contributed to the business thriving during the pandemic, bringing in a predicted 30 per cent increase in valuation income for its year-end.

James’s focus is to utilise his 10 years’ experience as Head of UK Corporate Operations at a leading high-street bank, to introduce new technology to create more efficient processes.

James is delighted that the National Valuation Team is attracting such a diverse range of talent.

He said: “By bringing in highly skilled valuers, valuation technicians and other support staff with a passion for technology is exactly what we need as we strive to streamline and speed up our processes, without compromising on quality, so that we always exceed clients’ expectations.”

Bruton Knowles is an independently owned chartered surveyor firm with 10 offices across the UK. The team is highly knowledgeable in sale and purchase, valuation, leasing and strategy, providing specialist insightful advice across commercial property, infrastructure, utilities, public sector and social housing sectors, helping clients to achieve more from land and property.