4 minute read
The Big Interview
the big interview The property specialist
with the personal touch
Sallyann Holley is feeling proud. The company that has employed her for the last 15 years, Bridger Bell Commercial, was recently named Best Surveyor and Commercial Agent in SME News Magazine’s 2020 Southern Enterprise Awards.
This personal touch has helped Bridger Bell build an unrivalled level of trust in the marketplace. This trust has been strengthened further by the fact that the firm is accredited and regulated by RICS. This imposes reassuringly high standards on Bridger Bell’s services and means that all funds are underwritten by RICS’s Client Money Protection Scheme – something which gives clients peace of mind.
This accolade is recognition of the company’s sterling work in the property arena, an expertise that stretches back more than 40 years to the firm’s origins in 1980.
From its headquarters in the centre of Epsom, Bridger Bell has built an enviable client base that covers Surrey and many other regions throughout the UK. Whether the property is a small corner shop or a multi-tenanted building with a prestigious central London address, the company can manage it on behalf of clients.
The firm works with clients who own a range of different properties, such as industrial units, blocks of residential flats and their communal areas, shops and offices. According to Sallyann (usually known as Sally to her friends and colleagues), the personal service offered to each and every client is the primary reason why Bridger Bell stands out from its competitors in a crowded marketplace. “Clients know that when they’re dealing with us, we have their best interests at heart”, says Sally. “Our team has decades of specialist experience in both the commercial and residential property markets.”
Sally herself has built up a wealth of experience in these key sectors. She joined Bridger Bell in 2006 after spotting a vacancy for a director’s personal assistant and stayed in the role for six years before moving into credit control, managing a Londonbased property portfolio on behalf of a client. In 2014 she took on the role of senior commercial property negotiator before becoming an associate in April last year, when the first wave of COVID-19 was at its peak in the UK.
It has been a difficult last 12 months for most firms, including Bridger Bell, but Sally is optimistic about the future.
She says: “The vaccine roll-out gives everyone hope that the pandemic will be over soon. That’s probably why several markets, including retail and industrial, are really buoyant. In retail, there’s pent-up demand from consumers who have saved their cash and are ready to spend it once the shops reopen again. In the industrial market, companies are looking to set up storage facilities and expand into bigger premises as the world recovers from COVID-19.
“The office market is less buoyant but although more people are working from home, most companies still see the benefit of having premises where staff can meet, even if it’s not 9am-5pm every day. Overall, we’re looking to the future with great confidence.”
She says: “When you look after a property there are a number of different things to consider, such as rent collection and payment, service charge management, repairs, negotiations on insurance premiums and account reporting that complies with RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) standards. All of this is necessary and takes a lot of time to sort out. We take this hassle and stress away from the client by doing all of the work for them.
“Our personal service is what sets us apart. We’re happy to sit and chat in our office with potential and existing clients, and to spend all the time they need talking on the phone. We deal with problems quickly; we give advice and we understand our customers’ needs.”
