A landed estates business which manages resources in South Staffordshire is aiming to grow its portfolio of industrial estates by 50 per cent – and has appointed a new property director to drive the expansion.
Bradford Estates, which is responsible for around 12,000 acres on the Staffordshire-Shropshire border, is looking to acquire new assets between £1 million to £5 million, which require hands on management and refurbishment.
Chris Hodson, formerly a director at Savills and currently Head of Property Management at HS2 Ltd, will join the business as property director in January to identify new investment opportunities and manage the expanding portfolio.
Over the past 10 years, the business has acquired eight institutional grade estates across England and Wales, totalling 230,000 sq ft. Occupiers include popular brands Screwfix, Halfords, Crown Paints, Euro Car Parts and Plumbase as well as many other regional and local industrial businesses.
Managing Director Alexander Newport, pictured above, who has been in the role in his family business since 2019, said: “As part of the next phase in our strategy, we plan to acquire properties which can be enhanced over time within strong local economies.
“We are looking for sites located within two hours’ drive time of our Estates Office [in Weston-under-Lizard] or in the same regions as our existing assets, which offer a spread of occupiers from a range of business sectors.
“We have a long term estate management strategy in line with being an historic land and property steward with our heritage going back nearly 1000 years. Working with our occupiers, we apply a responsive management approach to generate positive improvements in our assets thereby ensuring future resilience.
“We are excited to have Chris join us to manage the existing portfolio and work with me on the new acquisitions, which will draw upon his extensive property experience to help realise our ambitions.”
