Avison Young sets up Manchester valuations team

The firm, which gained its presence in the city through the 2017 acquisition of WHR, has hired Charles Ardern and Aaron Graham from Knight Frank to establish a valuations offer in the city.

Both were partners at Knight Frank, where Ardern headed the North West commercial valuations team, and will become directors at Avison Young. They will work closely with Peter Clarke, director of the valuations team based in London.

Ardern is described as one of the region’s most experienced valuation experts and spent 13 years at Knight Frank. He 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 office has also been bolstered with the arrival of surveyor Alex Weatherilt. Recently qualified, Weatherilt 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.

Kipp Harden has also joined the team as graduate surveyor after graduating from Oxford Brookes with a Masters in Real Estate.

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.”