The region’s leading residential property expert, Centrick, is making a home for itself in the commercial property sector with its buyout of Andrew Grant Commercial. Creating a new branch of the business operating under the title Centrick Commercial, the team will oversee an extensive portfolio of property lettings and sales instructions, alongside numerous rent reviews, lease renewals, and Red Book Valuations.

Following the introduction of the deal by Ben Ackrill at Strava Consulting, Centrick acquired Andrew Grant Commercial, a division bought out of the Andrew Grant LLP, which entered administration in June. The deal sees its full team move across to Centrick Commercial, including three chartered surveyors and commercial property consultant with a combined 120 years’ experience in the sector. 

Speaking about the acquisition, Andrew Grant – who continues to be involved with Andrew Grant Residential as a consultant, having founded the business 50 years ago –  commented:

“I am so pleased to see the team able to carry on their excellent work under the Centrick brand, I fully endorse this merger.” 

The in-depth knowledge of the team welcomes new opportunities to the already well established residential Centrick brand, allowing a broader service in property asset management to include commercial. This includes George Xydias, taking up his new role as Centrick Commercial Director, who will be responsible for navigating this new direction in the company’s growth. 

Also moving to Centrick Commercial are Valuation Directors Michael Sheppard MRICS and Katherine Nolan RICS and Property Consultant Sue Gould. Three of the most notable instructions that the team will start working on immediately include the sales of both the Solihull United Reformed Church on Faulkner Road and the former Evesham train station signal house, and the letting of a former Ministry of Defence fuel storage facility near Upton upon Severn.

What’s more, with RICS valuers now part of the Centrick team, Centrick Commercial is setting its sights on the expansion of its services into building surveying, commercial property management, and property investment brokerage.

Speaking about the launch of Centrick Commercial, Chairman James Ackrill, commented:

“We are elated to be bringing this entirely new aspect of business to Centrick’s portfolio; having cemented our expertise in residential property solutions over the past 15 years, we felt the time was right to expand our offer and bring our innovative, expert-led, and people-focussed approach to the commercial world.

“The present situation means that the current market conditions are ideal for a dynamic commercial property services team to thrive. We have enormous respect for the values Andrew Grant has established and we are looking forward to building on this under the Centrick brand. As a number of our existing Centrick clients hold both commercial and residential property, a move into commercial property services has been on the horizon for some time, so we look forward to bringing it to fruition now.”

This latest launch tops off a tremendous period of transition for Centrick, which has used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to pivot – and prosper – in the property market. Mobilising its virtual viewing capabilities rapidly, just before lockdown was enforced, Centrick recorded videos of all the properties in its portfolio, securing over 100 new tenancies during the lockdown.

“The last few months have been challenging for businesses across the board, but with the unwavering commitment of the Centrick team, we’ve continued to make positive changes and this latest acquisition is further proof of this. We have worked with the Andrew Grant team throughout the years and have always enjoyed a strong relationship with aligned values, so this procurement process has been tremendously straight forward. We are eager to integrate the new members of the Centrick family into the team and are looking forward to bringing a whole new approach to the commercial property sector,” concluded James.

Centrick, which was founded in 2005, now employs 125 staff across its team and manages over 10,000 properties. To find out more about Centrick Commercial, visit centrick.co.uk/services/commercial-property/.