Property specialist is thinking big after landing two partners from rivals

Fast growing team

The Manchester office of property firm Avison Young has landed two partners from rivals Knight Frank.

Charles Ardern and Aaron Graham join the firm as directors and will work closely with Peter Clarke, director of the valuation team in the London office. Both join from Knight Frank where they were Partners.

Charles Ardern is one of the North West’s most experienced valuation experts and spent 13 years at Knight Frank where he was head of the North West commercial valuation team and where he worked closely with Aaron Graham.

Charles said: “Aaron and I have worked together in both Liverpool and Manchester during our careers and together bring over 25 years’ valuation experience to the team.

“The transactional business done within Avison Young is second to none and it is great to be part of that process within a market leading company such as this.”

The Manchester team has also been bolstered with the arrival of surveyor Alex Weatherilt.

Recently qualified, Alex joins from Rapleys, where she was a graduate surveyor, specialising in automotive and roadside.

She will be supporting the team on lease advisory and working closely with Graham Aitkenhead. Previously Alex worked with Dunlop Heywood as a graduate surveyor.

Kipp Harden has also joined the team as Graduate Surveyor after graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a masters in real estate.

In December Avison Young’s Manchester team moved offices from The Lexicon on Mount Street, taking 4,000 sq ft of office space at 11 St James Square in the city centre.

The additional space will accommodate the rapidly growing team which has grown 20% in the last year and now numbers 38 with the recent arrivals

Gareth Buckley, Avison Young principal, said: “Forming a valuation team is a significant step in the evolution of our Manchester offer and in helping us to achieve our growth plans.

“We aim to attract exceptional senior people as well as recruiting the brightest new talent with people like Kipp and Alex.

“Charles and Aaron come with a wealth of experience and market insight and are an extremely valuable addition to our growing team at what is a very exciting time for our business here in Manchester.”

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