A Derby surveyor responsible for a series of major property deals in the industrial and office market has been given a top award by the industry’s “bible”.
Laura West, who heads the Derby office and industrial agency department of the property consultancy FHP has been named Derbyshire Dealmaker of 2014 by the Estates Gazette in its EGi East Midlands deals competition.
The award is a coup for Laura, who has been running FHP’s Derby agency operations for less than a year, representing a number of major clients in the county for the past four years.
Laura has been involved in the acquisition and disposal of West 28 at Alfreton on behalf of PMW Property Developments. Building on that success, she has since acquired another major industrial site close by for PMW, West Way, letting a third of the site within weeks of the keys being collected.
She has also been involved in a series of lettings at Commercial Estates Group’s Amber Business Centre at Somercotes, where a series of growing Derbyshire businesses have taken up residence over the past two years.
In the space of 18 months she has also let or sold all but one of the units at The Village, an office development close to Junction 28 of the M1 at South Normanton.
Mike Wrigley, who is the owner of PMW Property Developments, said: “I’m thrilled for Laura that she has won this award, not least because it’s partly a reflection of the success we have had in acquiring and developing key sites close to the M1 corridor.
“She has done a fabulous job for us – she knows the market inside out, understands the appeal of our sites and how they will work for potential occupiers.”
Laura, who joined FHP in 2010, said: “I’m really proud to receive this award. It’s something I’ve worked really hard for. But Derbyshire has been a great place to do deals, even during some challenging market conditions.
“What all these deals have taught me is that there are some very carefully run businesses across the county who have ridden out recession and now wish to expand.”
