Peter Smith joins Barrows and Forrester as residential director

Barrows and Forrester has announced the appointment of Peter Smith to the position of residential director.

Smith, who started his career in property over 30 years ago, has worked for a number of property companies, including Barratt Homes, Taylor WImpey, erkeley Homes, and Knight Frank, heading their new homes sales team in Birmingham.

He commented: “Having the autonomy to put into practice best policy and to drive the customer journey without the constraints that a global organisation sometimes imposes was the key driver in my move to Barrows and Forrester.

“I hope that the team can draw on my experience and that we can move the company forward to where it deserves to be.

“The Barrows and Forrester ethos is one focussed on independent, enthusiastic and transparent qualities, which I adhere to and so this was the obvious choice where the start of the next chapter in my career was concerned.”

Hunters expands with two new personal agents 

Hunters, part of The Property Franchise Group, has appointed Parmi Chhokar as a new personal agent in Upminster, East London, along with Jamie Hendy in West Cornwall.

Chhokar previously worked in financial services, specialising in mortgages and protection before becoming a personal agent with Hunters.

Chhokar said: “I am ready to take on my next challenge in property. My knowledge to help people buy, sell and let property in an area I know extremely well, will give me a significant advantage.

“I have also immediately established my Hunters financial services business so I am delighted to be offering customers a complete estate agency service on day one.”

Hendy, originally from Cornwall, has been a senior property valuer in the local area for over six years.

He commented: “I look forward to leveraging my extensive local experience and expertise to guide and support clients across West Cornwall, with the support of an industry-leading brand behind me. The area is home to some truly spectacular high value properties, all of which require a bespoke and considered approach to marketing to attract discerning purchasers and landlords.”

‘Hunters Personal’ agents are initially required to pay 10% revenue from day one and will be guided and supported by the Hunters team through the on-boarding process.

Maryam Bham, franchise sales manager at Hunters, said: “Parmi and Jamie embody what being a Hunters Personal Agent is all about – they are ambitious self-starters who want to work flexibly, on their own terms, backed by the renowned Hunters brand which has gravitas and resonance throughout the UK when Letting and Selling a home. I was delighted that we have been able to partner with them both.”

LRG strengthens with new senior appointments

Leaders Romans Group (LRG) has confirmed the appointment of Andy Jones as group director for corporate lettings and Build to Rent, as well as Rob Poole as director of block management.

Both Jones and Poole bring with them a vast amount of experience across the property industry to help further build and grow the corporate lettings and block management at LRG.

Jones has worked in the private rented sector for than 25 years and joins LRG from his previous role at Greystones Management Consultancy where he advised clients on property investments across the UK. He has experience dealing with all property services from lettings to managing and disposing of large scale institutional owned property portfolios.

Previously, Jones was managing director of Allsop Letting & Management, where he focused on delivering change programmes and driving a new strategic direction for the business nationally. And, prior to this he held various senior management roles for LSL Property Services Plc. Group where he was responsible, as director, for helping to establish the corporate Lettings team in 2007. He started out running sales and lettings offices in the South East of England for Your Move.

Poole previously worked as managing director for OSUK Ltd, where he helped to grow the portfolio. He was also heavily involved with diversifying the OSUK business to assist selling shared ownership homes for Halton Housing.

His expertise is not  limited to the property industry, he also served in the Parachute Regiment for the British Army, specialising in armed explosives search dog handling.

Poole commented: “I am incredibly excited to be joining a well-established property group, which is packed full of great people and an incredible level of experience managing all sorts of tenure, particularly within the private rented sector and Build to Rent. I’m looking forward to my next chapter helping the corporate team and LRG group achieve our strategic goals.”