Expansion of Scots team boosts GVA Humberts

THE property firm behind the sale of Taymouth Castle and the island of Little Cumbrae has made a senior appointment north of the Border as it looks to beef up its leisure sector team.

GVA Humberts Leisure – created last year when London-based property giant GVA took over specialist outfit Humberts Leisure – has named Adam Lansdown as principal consultant in its Edinburgh-based team.

Lansdown was an equity partner at Robert Barry & Co before it was taken over by Aim-quoted Colliers International, where he became a director.

Lansdown will work alongside GVA’s valuation team in Edinburgh and Glasgow and will cover tourism and recreational property assignments throughout Scotland.

GVA Humberts Leisure’s roster of clients includes banks such as Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Royal Bank of Scotland and pub operators including Enterprise Inns, Punch Taverns and Scottish & Newcastle.

Craigie Marwick, senior director at GVA in Scotland, said: “With Adam on board, we now have a dedicated and experienced hotel specialist in the country. We see this as an area with significant potential for growth for GVA in Scotland.”

The firm’s leisure team hopes to win more business on the back of its recent successes, which have also included selling the historic Fisher’s Hotel in Pitlochry.

Irish hotels tycoon Fionn MacCumhaill was tempted out of retirement last year to buy Fisher’s – whose famous guests have included writer Robert Louis Stevenson and prime minister William Gladstone – from LaSalle Investment Management.

MacCumhaill, who already owns the Atholl Palace in Pitlochry, bought the hotel for £3 million and is spending a further £3m taking Fisher’s from three-star to four-star status.