The UK’s largest independent commercial property consultant and Birmingham’s leading property advisor, GVA, has appointed Jonathan Cooke as a surveyor in its Building division.
Jonathan, who qualified as a surveyor in November last year, has already built up extensive experience within the Midlands property industry through positions at a number of Birmingham-based agencies including Ridge and Partners, from where he has joined GVA.
Jonathan will work on a number of existing high profile accounts, including RBS, the Ministry of Justice, Guide Dogs for the Blind, the AA and Direct Line Group.
Jonathan said: “GVA is a high-profile organisation with an outstanding reputation nationally and in the Midlands in particular. GVA has a hugely diverse range of clients and with the recent significant shift towards positive sentiment across the industry this is a hugely exciting time to be joining the team. I am now looking forward to getting to grips with my new accounts.”
This year has been one of the most successful to date for the Building Services team, which has secured instructions from Beiersdorft Holford Estate, Malvern Science Park, ABB, Canada Life, Hammersons and Hendersons.
David Martin, Senior Director, GVA Building, said: “There is currently a shortage of newly qualified surveyors in the market with appropriate experience and we are therefore delighted that Jonathan sees GVA as being the best place in which to develop and further his professional career.
“Our Building team has become exceptionally busy as the economy changes for the better, which is particularly impressive given the continued tough economic conditions and increased competition in the sector. This has mostly been driven by a strong increase in building acquisitions, bank lending monitoring services and tenant activity across the office and industrial markets which has led to increased fit-out and refurbishment opportunities,
“While last year was significant in terms of contribution and marked a continuing growth in instructions across our discipline, this was by no means a one-off and we have received a steady stream of new instructions from a wide variety of sources. If we continue to see this level of activity across the remainder of the year, 2013/14 could be our most successful year to date.”
The Building team is already instructed on a number of key sites and projects throughout the Midlands, including Birmingham City University, Birmingham City Hospital, the Rotunda, project management of Wragge’s fit out at Two Snowhill and project management of 20,000 sq ft of offices at Blythe Valley Business Park..
GVA Building is unique in that it has a dedicated banking support team, specialising in advising on corporate recovery and distressed developments and mechanical and electrical services engineers.
