CDLH aims to offer clients a ‘highly specialised, personal service’
A NEW chartered surveyors firm specialising in the leisure and hospitality property sector has been set up by two former directors of Jones Lang LaSalle.
Three and a half years after Alan Creevy and Peter Darroch sold their own company, Creevy LLH, to Jones Lang LaSalle and joined the global property firm as directors, the pair have launched CDLH Leisure and Hospitality Chartered Surveyors.
Creevy and Darroch resigned from Jones Lang LaSalle in April.
With offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, CDLH will primarily deal with hotels, pubs and restaurants, as well as golf courses, marinas and other leisure businesses.
The new firm will focus on agency selling, valuation, rent reviews and business consultancy as its core activities, as well as the business insolvency sector.
Darroch said he and Creevy, who have more than 40 years’ experience in the licensed leisure and hotel property market between them, aim to offer a “highly specialised, quality, personal service” to their clients.
“We have spent a great deal of time whilst on contractual leave over the summer planning the business processes, reports and website in particular,” he said.
“We are very fortunate to have had the time and resources to properly plan our new business to ensure we deliver excellent client service with robust IT systems.
“The website can handle an unlimited number of properties and businesses for sale and each property will have a dedicated ‘data room’ to allow regulated access to a full inventory of the documentation required in any sale.
“We believe we have significantly streamlined the selling process through the use of current technology which ultimately will drive best prices for clients along with quicker sale periods.
“Further, we fully utilised new technology in the production of professional reports for our bank and corporate clients to streamline information focused on the important issues. This will assist in cutting down reporting timelines and ultimately cost.”
Initially operating in Scotland, CDLH has ambitious plans to bolster its team next year and expand south of the border in 2013.
Creevy is optimistic about the property market going forward, saying he expects the market to stabilise early next year if the economy as a whole settles down.
“Unfortunately world economic events and the austerity measures being taken to tackle these all impact on the leisure and hospitality sector, which is highly sensitive to discretionary spend,” he said.
“However, even in these more austere times we see continued growth in hotel and restaurant outlets in particular.
“It is clear that quality and service wins through and whilst we do not expect a return to the boom of 2006/2007 any time soon, we are delighted many of our operator clients are actively expanding their estates.”
