UK surveying firm to open first Continental European office

UK commercial building surveying consultancy Malcolm Hollis is to open its first Continental European office in Madrid this September.

The new opening will be in addition to the 15 offices already operating across the UK and Ireland. The company said the move follows demand from clients investing in mainland Europe 'to deliver the same level of due diligence undertaken in the UK and Irish markets to their cross-European portfolios'.

'The commercial property market across Europe is buoyant with many investors looking to expand their portfolios and property companies taking advantage of development opportunities,' said senior partner, John Woodman. 'Clients increasingly want to ensure the same consistent quality of technical due diligence and project management on the continent as they do in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin or elsewhere. Currently they only get this from the global multi-discipline firms.'

He added: 'Our independence appeals to a lot of our clients in order to avoid conflicts of interests and the opening of our Madrid office is the first step in us being able to offer this on the ground in local markets throughout Europe.'

The Madrid team will be headed up by new hire John Watson who joins as partner. Watson, originally from Glasgow, has lived in Spain for 23 years, working with a range of clients, such as Standard Life and DekaBank. He has experience of setting up regional offices for established surveying firms and in 2010 he launched his own consultancy business.

European expansion comes just a few months after Malcolm Hollis opted to remain independent following on from discussions regarding a potential buy out. The Madrid office is the first of a number of new offices the firm has planned with Malcolm Hollis committed to identifying other opportunities across the UK and Europe to enable further growth and expansion over the coming months.