Partnership aims to fill gap in small firm market

May 21 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal

A NEW player has arrived on the North East commercial property scene, marketing more than £6m of local properties and businesses for sale only six weeks after starting up.

North East Commercial Property (NECP), based in Gateshead, was formed by businessman Kevin Brown in March and has already built a team of experienced industry professionals. The firm already employs six staff and plans to expand the team, based on Durham Road, Low Fell, to 10 by next year.

Alongside NECP, Mr Brown and his team will operate a division known as The Business Partnership aimed at filling a gap in the market to help sell small to medium sized businesses, and maximise their value.

The firm has already secured business from Berwick in the north, right down to North Yorkshire and across to the borders of Cumbria.

Mr Brown’s co-director is Richard Finney, who has been in the business transfer market for 14 years, having worked previously at several regional commercial agents and also for developers.

His most recent role was heading the commercial department at Rook Matthews Sayer Commercial and he has brought several of his former colleagues to NECP too.

Catherine Fenwick joins as an experienced senior negotiator and Sarah Hawkes will join her in advising on both business transfer and commercial property sales.

A third ex-RMS employee is chartered surveyor Richard Fenwick, a member of RICS, who will head up NECP’s in-house surveying team and has expertise as a valuer for banks and lenders.

He will be supported by Tim Noble, a chartered surveyor with many years’ experience in valuations for RBS.

Mr Brown said: “There are big synergies between selling a business and its commercial property – inevitably the property a company occupies is a major asset or factor in the business. Our team has worked together for many years, and we can concentrate commercial considerations of selling a business, as well as its premises as one package.”

Kevin Brown, 54, started his first business in 1980 and had a career in non-ferrous metals, the engraving and sign industry, engineering and manufacturing, and has sold and merged many of his businesses.

More recently he has been a prolific investor and operator of a commercial property portfolio of industrial units, until establishing North East Commercial Property, and its Business Partnership division early this year.