Cluttons uses lockdown to expand

Real estate consultancy firm Cluttons bucked the trend in lockdown and has launched a northern hub with a team of experts based in Manchester.

The office, based on King Street in the City, is led by partner Charlie Ardern who joined the company from Knight Frank and will also lead the company’s northern valuation practice.

Charlie is joined by partner Ryan Jones who joined from Avison Young’s Manchester office with 17 years’ experience in the local market and leads business rates in the north and empty rates mitigation for the firm nationally.

They are joined by: Sally Allsop, senior surveyor in valuation, who came from Lambert Smith Hampton with six years’ experience in Manchester valuations; and Georgie Park, a graduate who will support the valuation team predominantly. Darren Zitren, partner and head of networks estates management and Josh Klepper, senior surveyor in Compulsory Purchase Orders, have joined them from the London office and there are several new hires to be announced in the next few months. James Horner, investment and leasing agent also joined the northern hub from his base in Leeds.

Between them the team have already been appointed on over £100m of commercial property, are undertaking over 100 HS2 appointments for their CPO service and are supporting the national team on £20bn of valuations.

Managing Partner James Gray said: “Building our geographical coverage across the UK is a key part of our growth strategy. We are always seeking opportunities to develop our national footprint to support our ambitions for the business and offer clients around the country a range of services. Manchester has a flourishing commercial market and we see the city as an ideal location to launch a northern hub and grow it steadfastly over the next few years. Our mantra is to work together across all business lines to offer our clients so much more than standard property advice. This is what we want to replicate in Manchester for our northern clients – a full lifecycle of services with best in class experts that work together seamlessly to create both value and opportunities for our clients.”

Charlie Ardern, head of Manchester at Cluttons, said: “The Manchester office has hit the ground running with experts from across the professional, management and building consultancy fields working on projects worth well over £100m already. We are excited to welcome several new senior people to the team over the next few months and be able to replicate the successful model of our London office by working together to service clients better and offer them more across all sectors and disciplines.”

Cluttons has a large London office that services national clients with an additional presence in Oxford, Lisbon and Malta.