Edinburgh’s Lomond Capital on the acquisition trail
Thornley Groves Estate Agents owned by Edinburgh based Lomond Capital has acquired Shepherd Gilmour, one of Manchester’s leading independent sales and letting agents, strengthening its position within the Manchester residential property market. It now manages over 2,900 properties in the city.
The deal marks the fifth acquisition in the North West by Thornley Groves owner, Lomond Capital, and the 23rd since it was formed in 2010. The company now manages a rental portfolio in excess of £1.75 billion across four cities – Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester, and is continuing to build on its momentum in the UK’s rapidly expanding residential rental property market.
Shepherd Gilmour manages over 280 predominantly Manchester city centre homes for buy-to-let landlords as well as conducts general estate agency business with sales and lettings. It was established in 1996 by Peter Gilmour and is currently run by his daughter Laura Smith-Gilmour.
Thornley Groves, one of the North West’s most respected and recognisable estate agency brands, will integrate Shepherd Gilmour into its operation. In the coming months Laura Smith-Gilmour will work alongside the Thornley Groves management team, including founders, Michael Groves and Jason Watkin, to ensure a smooth transition for customers and clients. The Shepherd Gilmour team will be joining Thornley Groves.
It is expected that both landlords and tenants will benefit from the deal, not least because consolidation in the sector is proving to deliver more efficient property management services. Tenants enjoy improved response times from increased numbers of specialist property managers. Landlords are attracted to the greater coverage offered by a larger branch network both in Manchester and other cities as exposure to a larger audience reduces void periods and enhances rental yields.
Michael Groves commented: “Shepherd Gilmour has built its business by offering a personal service to clients, where the owners of the business have been involved with the day to day running of the business. Jason and I operate in the same way; we welcome the clients and customers of Shepherd Gilmour and look forward to offering them the same personal service.
“We are proud to have built one of the region’s most recognisable estate agency brands since founding Thornley Groves in 1991 and, since we joined forces with Lomond Capital in 2013, we continue to run the business today. We retain significant shareholdings and remain focused on providing a hands-on proprietor led service to our clients.”
Stuart Pender, Chief Executive of Lomond Capital, said: “Manchester has a very attractive property market offering with the largest private rental sector outside London. It has been a key market for Lomond Capital for some time now. We are delighted to add Shepherd Gilmour to that of the Vital Space Manchester business, Allison and Co’s managed property portfolio and Penny Ashton Lettings, all of which have integrated into Thornley Groves in the last 15 months.
“We continue to look for opportunities to strengthen our offering in Manchester whilst working on a number of opportunities in other locations in England including Liverpool, Leeds and the South of England to add to our established presence in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham.”
Lomond Capital acquired Thornley Groves in September 2013 and is funding its growth by a combination of planned new office openings and acquisitions of existing businesses. The sector is seeing the consolidation of smaller businesses in order to provide improved service levels for property owners who now expect their asset managers to assist them with insurance, maintenance, legal services and mortgage sourcing, with a greater focus on tenant retention minimising void periods and enhancing yields.
Lomond now operates five recognisable estate and letting agent brands in four major UK cities with plans well under way to launch in at least two more cities in 2015.
Since Lomond Capital was established in 2010, it now employs over 270 personnel, manages over 8,600 residential properties worth over £1.75 billion and sells over £200 million of residential property a year.