SHEPHERD Chartered Surveyors has secured the top spot in Scotland for the second year in succession in the much-coveted EG Deals Competition of the UK’s most active agents.
In addition to being named overall winner in Scotland, the firm finished top in retail, highlighting the sector’s enduring importance despite its challenges, as well as topping the rankings in the investments and leisure and hotels categories.
Commenting on the win, Chris Grinyer, Managing Partner at Shepherd, said: “I am delighted that, despite the challenges 2020 threw at us, our high level of activity throughout Scotland’s commercial property sector has been acknowledged with this prestigious win, a direct result of the hard work undertaken by our commercial agents operating throughout the length and breadth of the country.”
While 2020 presented unprecedented challenges for the commercial property sector, Shepherd grasped the opportunity to respond to emerging trends within the sector with the introduction of innovative enhancements to its commercial property service offering that enabled the firm to continue to transact a healthy volume of deals
“Although it is well-documented that the retail sector has not had its troubles to seek over the last year, local secondary retail property has proved to be a more resilient segment of the market than most, partly as a knock-on effect from a rise in the number of people working from home in the suburbs,” suggested Mr Grinyer.
And the introduction of free video tours of commercial properties throughout Scotland marked the latest stage in the continuous evolution of the range of services the firm offers to the commercial property marketplace.
“Our video tours enhance the commercial agency services that we can offer our long-established private and public sector client base,” he said.
“They have been designed specifically to meet the needs and demands of a growing number of clients who have expressed a wish to have an option to view videos of commercial properties.
“This has been an emerging trend prior to the advent of the coronavirus pandemic that has become more prevalent since, as clients have experienced frustration at being unable to physically view commercial property.”
The videos also link into Shepherd’s recently launched auctions site at www.shepherd.co.uk/commercial-auctions so that those parties interested in properties at auction, who may not require to visit a property physically, can access a video of the property in question.
After forging a new partnership with SDL Property Auctions late last year, the first live-streamed Shepherd Commercial Property Auction of 2021 will be held on Tuesday 30th March via both live-streamed Auction Events and Timed Auctions.
By adding timed and live-streamed auctions to its range of services, Shepherd now offers commercial vendors complete flexibility as to how and when they would like to sell their property.