Property and business valuations team bolstered through senior appointments

A new business strategy to increase the scope of professional services to the commercial, industrial and retail property sectors has seen leading real estate company Bayleys appoint two senior business valuations specialists to its operations.

John Freeman and Paul Butchers have joined Bayleys Valuations in Wellington as the company expands its nationwide coverage in the property and asset valuations fields – which have traditionally been run out of Auckland. Together, Freeman and Butchers bring with them some 60 years combined expertise in the industry.

Both men were previously with rival firm CBRE before leaving to join Bayleys, and are fellows of the Property Institute of New Zealand. Paul Butchers is also a fellow on the New Zealand Institute of Valuers.

John Freeman specialises in plant and machinery valuations – including property and asset tax depreciation - while Paul Butchers’ background encompasses property asset valuations. Further senior personnel appointments in both the Wellington and Auckland property valuations teams are expected to be made in the coming weeks as the group continues to grow.

Bayleys Real Estate managing director Mike Bayley said the addition of John Freeman and Paul Butchers to the company’s existing valuations operations reflected a new emphasis on delivering the broadest possible suite of professional property services.

The duo will work in tandem with the Auckland-based unit headed incorporating Allen Beagley who specialises in hospitality and tourism property asset valuations – both throughout New Zealand and in the Pacific Islands- and James Pullin who specialises in the wider Auckland commercial property market.
“Property owners, along with potential buyers or tenants of commercial property, are constantly seeking the most accurate and up-to-date data on which to base their commercial decisions or to populate financial reports,” Mr Bayley said.

“This demand for information has become even more evident following the upheaval and downward realignments of both values and rental levels in the commercial property sector as a result of the global economic crises over the past 18 months.

“Combined with on-going speculation over the Government’s comments that changes to the tax structure of investment properties will be forthcoming in the near future - along with potential tax refinements on assets and asset depreciation - there has never been so much clamour for the expertise knowledge of a valuations division.

“The appointments of John and Paul to our valuations arm is a major coup in valuation circles, and will give customers access to substantial factual and topical data prepared by two of the city’s best practitioners.”

While being based in Wellington, the new valuations team will service clients nationwide across a broad spectrum of sectors – ranging from processing and manufacturing through to local government bodies. The company already has a client list of private and corporate property owners, and for some time now has been actively involved with valuing real estate for financial institutions and banks.

“John and Paul’s broad valuations expertise adds to the existing strengths Bayleys delivers out of Auckland, where we have built a reputation in the tourism and hotel sectors – particularly at the high end of the market. This builds a web synergy between the two offices to deliver valuation services across all sections of business and commerce, and will allow us to now take on much bigger portfolios than previously.”

Mike Bayley said the expanded valuation service would complement the company’s existing strengths in property management and research. Nationwide, Bayleys is now the pre-eminent agency for commercial and retail property management services. From Wellington, Bayleys manages properties for such large clients as the New Zealand Racing Board and Bridgestone’s retail arm.

“While the valuations team will be a separate entity from other Bayleys services, the data produced through valuations can of course be fed through to other areas to underline pricing expectations,” Mr Bayley said.

“However, the valuations group will operate totally independently of the sales and leasing teams. It’s important this degree of separation is transparent and impartial, as the information and data generated from a valuation report could be used by any number of parties involved in a property transaction – the buyer, the seller, the tenant or the lender.”