Chris Hobday and Sam Forster join real estate advisor’s Coventry office.

Chris Hobday and Sam Forster join real estate advisor’s Coventry office.

Chris Hobday has joined as an Associate Director, following successful stints within agency departments in both Yorkshire and more recently, the Midlands. His career to date has spanned a range of sectors with a focus on industrial property, through which he has acted on behalf of a wide variety of local and corporate clients.

Chris’ focus will predominantly be on the freehold and leasehold disposal and acquisition of industrial property and land.

Sam Forster also joins to support the Midlands team as a Graduate Surveyor, having graduated from the University of Leicester in 2020.

Robert Rae, Principal & Managing Director, Industrial, Avison Young, said:
“Our industrial team saw a record year in 2021 and advised on 13.98 million sq ft of transactions in the Midlands alone. This included the JLR parts distribution complex at Mercia Park; Ashby de la Zouch, Europe’s largest ever industrial letting totalling 2.9 million sq ft; and the acquisition of nine units totalling 1.027 million sq ft for Supersmart.

It is therefore an opportune time to add to the existing strength of the team and welcome Chris and Sam into the business.”

The Midlands industrial market finished 2021 with the highest ever level of take-up recorded for Big Box space, totalling over 24 million sq ft. Set against this, supply stands at record low levels of 9 million sq ft. This strong demand has led to record rental growth with the highest rents being achieved of £9.00 psf.

These conditions are expected to continue into 2022, although overall take-up may be held back by the lack of available stock. Strong market performance has also led to driving down of yields to levels never previously seen in the industrial market, as investors compete to acquire this type of product.