Real estate adviser Hughes Ellard has made a high-profile signing of a leading commercial property agent in Hampshire.
David McGougan’s appointment in Southampton as an associate director makes the firm’s six-strong agency team the largest in the central South Coast for commercial property companies amid increasing instructions from clients, from blue-chip pension funds to private landlords.
With David, the agency team comprises managing director Gary Jeffries, agency director Russell Mogridge, fellow director Nik Cox, Tim Clark (retail) and Harnish Patel (office).
Nik said: “David brings considerable expertise and a wealth of knowledge, contacts and insight in the business sector across the Solent Corridor, especially in and around Southampton.
“His signing is a coup for the firm as we continue to expand on the back of increasing instructions from clients, from blue-chip pension funds and business parks to private landlords and investors with property portfolios.
“The business space agency team is now six-strong, and thought to be the largest in the central South Coast region, demonstrating our confidence in the marketplace both now and over the long term.
“Enquiries are at pre-recession levels in all sectors. This is not surprising as Hampshire continues to pack a punch economically, with more than 60,000 businesses and 600 key corporates, employing 780,000 people between them, accounting for around 20% of the South East economy.
“We are expanding the Southampton practice, with a diversity of disciplines to further enhance the service offering. David’s appointment is a key part of that proactive strategy.”
David, who was previously with Lambert Smith Hampton locally for nearly seven years, and Oakley Commercial in Brighton prior to that, will initially focus on industrial and renewals in the Southampton area.
He said: “Hughes Ellard is a byword for professionalism in the commercial property sector, with an invigorating ‘can-do’ attitude that repeatedly sees the firm at the heart of many deals across the Solent Corridor. It is a privilege to be part of the team.”
Office transactions alone for the first seven months of 2011 in the Solent Corridor were 350,000 sq ft (32,516 sq m) compared to the pre-recession average of 250,000 sq ft (23,255 sq m) with Hughes Ellard involved in half of the deals.
Hughes Ellard has 20 staff at an office on the Cams Hall business park in Fareham, which serves as the headquarters, and 17-18 The Avenue in Southampton, from where David will be based.
The company’s professional services include development appraisal, search and acquisition, valuation, rent review and lease renewal, asset management, building consultancy, disposals and investment advice throughout the Solent Corridor and the UK.
