Ryden expands property valuation, lease advisory and rating team

The enlarged Professional Services team now comprises 13 members across three specialisms, giving clients access to enhanced scale, depth of expertise and national reach, while retaining the trusted service levels and reliability for which Ryden is known.

The strengthened team can deliver large-scale property and asset portfolio valuations, alongside loan security valuations, lease advisory, rating, expert witness and dispute resolution advice, with the capacity and resilience required to support complex, multi-asset portfolios.

Ryden has built a strong reputation in this field through competitive tendering, underpinned by a proven track record of robust, independent, market-facing and high-quality valuation advice. This capability has seen the firm appointed to advise a growing number of major public and institutional clients, including Falkirk Council, South Ayrshire Council and Shetland Islands Council, as well as Scottish Canals and a wide range of tertiary education providers.

The business strengthened its Lease Advisory service, with Ann Kay joining as a partner from LSH, while Chris Common, associate, joined in December, further enhancing capability. Most recently, Hugh Munro has joined as a rating consultant, bringing extensive experience and valuable insight from the Assessor’s Department.

Brian Allen, head of professional services at Ryden, said: “I’ve worked at Ryden for more than 25 years, and the assembly of this team has been part of a long-term vision that is now coming to fruition. Bringing together Ryden and LSH’s Professional Services expertise allows us to deploy one of the largest and most experienced teams of its kind in Scotland.

“Large portfolio asset valuations have been a core focus for us over the past decade, and LSH’s strength in loan security valuation advice is entirely complementary. The result is a step-change in our ability to support clients with complex, large-scale requirements, while maintaining the quality, independence and reliability that Ryden is known for.

“Our teams work closely with Ryden’s market-leading transactional agency colleagues across Scotland, ensuring our advice is informed by deep local knowledge, sector expertise and daily market interaction. This integration is working extremely well and represents a major milestone in the evolution of our Professional Services offer and a key driver of sustainable growth for the business.”