Savills announces proposed acquisition of Smiths Gore

Savills plc, the international real estate advisor, has announced the proposed acquisition by Savills UK of Smiths Gore, provider of rural and residential property services.

Founded in 1847, Smiths Gore has operated as a partnership with 532 staff, across 31 UK offices and 14 estate offices, all of whom will transfer into Savills Rural Energy and Projects (REP) division or its Country Residential Agency business.  Smiths Gore specialises in the management of rural property for private clients, institutions and the public sector. This complements Savills UK's existing rural business which is mainly focused on private client and charitable sectors together with transactional advice.

Savills UK Executive Director Philip Gready will continue to lead the UK REP division with Smiths Gore's Senior Partner Andrew Harle joining the Savills UK Board.  Philip, who first joined Savills in 1982, took on his present divisional head role in January 2010.  He specialises in advising private and corporate landowners in the management of their landholdings throughout the South of England and has become increasingly involved in the renewable energy sector. Andrew Harle joined Smiths Gore in 1987 and was elected Senior Partner in 2014. He holds a number of senior roles acting on behalf of institutional, charity and private clients in the rural sector as well as a number of trusteeships and directorships on behalf of clients.

Mark Ridley, CEO of Savills UK and Europe, comments: "This acquisition is in line with Savills strategy to improve the strength and depth of skills and expertise in our Rural Business, as well as expanding our geographical reach to provide a truly national service.  Savills strength and success is as a result of our commitment to ensuring that we can advise our clients on all aspects of property, across all sectors.

Philip Gready, Executive Director of Savills UK, says: "Founded on a rural management business, both Savills and Smiths Gore  have similar roots at the heart of our businesses.  Our existing clients will reap the benefits of specialist knowledge of the sector, a wider talent pool,  our investment in training, systems and research and access to a full range of services.

"Today, rural estates are multi-million pound businesses which require highly skilled management across all sectors if they are to achieve their potential. Rural land, with some of the highest capital returns achieved over the past decade, has become a truly international commodity and the  combined expertise of Savills and Smiths Gore will allow us to provide a full service offering  to all our clients."

Andrew Harle, Senior Partner of Smiths Gore, adds: "Merging with Savills is entirely consistent with our objectives of enhancing our offering in the rural market and developing our range of complementary agency and consultancy services. With Savills dedicated rural and residential divisions  together we will bring  a balance of strengths to boost existing teams with the ability to form new ones through Savills impressive agency and strong brand."