National commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has appointed Mathias Harris to its national auctions team, to support its growing business in the market.
Mat’s new role will focus on national commercial and residential property auctions, working with private sector clients, including banks and accountancy firms.
Mat joins from Eddisons, where he was responsible for selling commercial properties nationally. He brings over 20 years of experience to the team, specialising in auctions. His most recent clients have included JC Decaux, National Grid and RBS.
Mat has previously worked for Harman Healy Commercial, Jones Lang LaSalle and King Sturge, where he was involved in the Industrious Portfolio receivership sale on behalf of Ernst & Young, where all 31 properties offered for sale at the auction achieved a 100% success rate, raising £43m.
Oliver Childs, Head of Auctions at LSH, said: “Mat joins LSH at an exciting time. Our auction business performed exceptionally well in 2013, and we are investing in recruitment of the best talent to deliver our ambitions for growth in 2014.
“2013 brought a renewed interest in the auction market, particularly after Q3, and while we don’t foresee significant pricing movement during the course of this year, there is definitely a weight of money from the private sector markets now looking to purchase sensibly priced property as confidence returns to this sector. We anticipate that our private and public sector clients will be offering more stock at our five national auctions this year.
“The LSH auctions team increased its presence in the market during 2013, finishing the year selling 86% of all properties offered for sale, which compares exceptionally well against our competitors in the wider UK market, who averaged a 75% success rate over the same period. We are committed to growing this further in 2014.”
Mat commented: “This is an exciting time to join my former colleagues Oliver Childs and Rob Hills at LSH. I look forward to using my expertise in a national firm with a strong ambition for growth.”