Westcoast Properties, which has branches in Weston-Super-Mare, Burnham-on-Sea, Portishead, Nailsea and the Patchway area of Bristol, has been taken over by two new directors.

After 25 years, Martin Cress, who founded the agency with his wife Kay, has taken retirement and handed the Westcoast reins to directors, Nicholas Webber and Lindsay Pickles.

Webber joined the company, which offers residential and commercial estate agency and property management services to clients throughout Bristol and Somerset, in 2007, while Pickles, a fully qualified accountant with a background in accounting and customer services, joined Westcoast in 2010 as its company accounts manager.

Webber commented: “We obviously knew a while ago that Martin and Kay were hoping to retire, and they were keen for Lindsay and I to take the helm. Westcoast is super important to Martin. Having built the business from scratch, he feels immensely passionate about it and he wanted to retire knowing it was in safe hands.

“Lindsay and I are honoured to have the opportunity to continue building on Martin’s legacy. We both know the business and its people extremely well. Our strengths complement each other although there is still a lot we can learn from each other, and with the offices in strong areas and performing well, it was an opportunity we just couldn’t decline!

“Martin is staying on as a consulting, non-executive director, so he isn’t completely out of the picture. His knowledge, expertise and advice will no doubt prove invaluable, particularly in these testing times.”

“Lindsay and I make a formidable partnership and with Martin and the fantastic team behind us, we are looking forward to a great future for Westcoast.”