National chartered surveying firm Bruton Knowles has made a significant senior appointment to its National Valuation Team, as the growth of the specialist division continues.
Helen McLeod-Baikie, has joined Bruton Knowles' National Valuation Team as Senior Associate and the new role of Head of Public Sector Valuation, having moved from Pembrokeshire County Council, where she had been Chief Property Officer.
Helen specialises in public sector valuation work, having additionally worked at Newport City Council, prior to her spell in Pembrokeshire, and has over 20 years of experience in the public sector across the South and South West of Wales.
Helen said: “It is an exciting time to be part of the business. Bruton Knowles is rapidly expanding and growing, with plenty of work going on with our valued customers. We provide so many fantastic services to the public sector, and we’ll continue to build the team and the level of work as we go – the team are excellent and have welcomed me to the firm with open arms.
“My aim is for our team to be recognised as the leader of providing public sector property advice – we strive to be the best and be valued as such. The growth of Bruton Knowles is huge at the moment, we are doing so much work across the UK, it is very exciting to be a part of.
Helen is also an RICS Inspire Ambassador and APC Assessor and is passionate about the promotion of the profession to young people: “I am a firm believer of spreading the good work of what we do to the next generation. There is a big shortfall in Chartered Surveyors within the industry at present, and I want to help bridge the gap and encourage more young people to assess the long-term opportunities in the profession.
“My father was a Chartered Surveyor and I have followed in his footsteps, ever since visiting his office with him when I was a child, and I want more young people to consider it as a challenging, fulfilling career path.”
Living in Pembrokeshire, with her family on a smallholding, Helen is thankful for the strong emphasis placed on work-life balance at Bruton Knowles: “The company is happy for its employees to work where they need to be and it is a central value for their business, as they place trust in their employees, which is hugely appealing for me, and many others here.”
Partner and Head of the National Valuation Team, Ian Pitt, added: “It gives us great pleasure to welcome Helen into the business, as we continue to expand our offering in providing Public Sector advice Nationally. It is critically important that we have a talented and skilled team capable of delivering our known high standard of work.
“Our team is consistently recognised for its excellence, resulting in much of our workload coming in from repeat clients and recommendations – with Helen’s arrival we are excited to see our growth continue.”