Expansion as group buys out chartered surveyors

The LHL Group, based in Bishopthorpe, York, has acquired chartered surveyors Roger Spencer Logan, based in the Micklegate area of the city.

The acquisition sees the two directors of Roger Spencer Logan – Roger Spencer and Ron Logan – join the LHL Group, one of the biggest independent firms of property and construction consultants in Yorkshire, as consultants based at its York headquarters but also operating out of its district offices in Harrogate, Hull and Doncaster.

Roger Spencer, who was originally with Boulton & Cooper in Malton, set up his business in 1975 and it became a partnership when Ron Logan joined from the York office of charted surveyors, Smiths Gore, in 1985. The business later incorporated and they became joint directors.

The company operated throughout Yorkshire and beyond, including overseas assignments, supporting residential and commercial property owners and developers. Clients included owners of historic buildings and country estates, from pre-acquisition to new-build, extension and restoration.

The company's pre-acquisition services included surveys, home-buyers reports, building society and bank valuations and dilapidation, condition and repair schedules. Services for property owners and estate managers included structural defects analysis, building and boundary disputes, expert witness reports, design and supervision of building work, project management, construction drawings and specifications as well as site, diagnostic, subsidence evaluation and building surveys.

LHL Group managing director, John Denton, said: "Roger Spencer Logan has been long recognised as a first-rate chartered surveying practice in North Yorkshire, run by two highly-experienced directors with loyal clients and extremely good contacts within the professional and property communities.

"Acquiring the business adds two hugely-experienced consultants to our team, brings respected clients to the business and enhances our turnover and fee-earning capacity."

Mr Spencer added: "This acquisition is a very useful move for us and good news for our clients. It enables Ron and me to immerse our expertise in a dynamic team with greater strength-in-depth and seamlessly offer our existing clients, and new ones which may come our way, a broader range of expertise and flexibility of service."

LHL, which has 40 staff, provides a range of residential, commercial and public sector-related property services with specialist teams advising in the healthcare, education and historic buildings sectors.

Mr Denton said the company was doing well compared to some of its competitors. "We are holding our own," he said. "The fact that we are still around and haven't had to make anyone redundant and we have made this acquisition, shows we are doing better than most. However, it's still a tough environment to be in."

The company, which has a turnover of 1.5m, is currently involved in a diverse range of work, including work at schools, colleges and universities in the area as well as healthcare and a number of private projects.

"The fact that we have got such a diverse range of markets has held us up in difficult times, " he said. "The public sector cuts have not really hit us yet but I suspect they will in terms of the work that is available going forward.

"New build capital projects have been knocked on the head but I am hopeful that people will look at their existing property stock and make the best use of what they have got by refurbishing, which is a win-win situation for us because that's another area in which we have expertise."

Mr Denton said he was not convinced by the talk of a "double dip". "We have been in this situation for three years and I can't see us having a double dip but it depends on how these cuts do start to impact and whether the rest of the economy can slowly come out of it," he said.

He added: "I am more positive now than I was a year ago and also fairly sensible about where it is going. I'd say I was cautiously optimistic. Gone are the days when you can look 12 months ahead; now you're lucky if you can predict one month but I think in the spring we will have a better idea of where we are and what will happen.

"I think we will see a small momentum of growth but nothing substantial in 2011 – we're looking at another tough year."

LHL Group: The facts

LHL Group is headquartered in York but has building and quantity surveying and architectural offices in Harrogate, Doncaster, Newcastle and Hull.

The firm provides residential, commercial and public sector-related property services and has specialist teams advising in the healthcare, education and historic buildings sectors.

Current projects include building two house masters' homes at Ampleforth College near York and minor refurbishment work at York Racecourse as well as a major refurbishment of a private residence.

The LHL Group, which was created six years ago with a merger between Lightly & Lightly of York and Harrogate and Doncaster-based Hawley & Partners, relocated to a new HQ at the former Time Office, now Stanley Harrison House, at The Chocolate Works, the former Terry's factory.