Scottish property group, Lomond Capital, has strengthened its residential lettings portfolio with further addition of properties
Scottish property group, Lomond Capital, has strengthened its presence in Birmingham with the addition of 500 properties to its residential lettings portfolio. It has acquired another lettings business south of the Border as it continues to extend its reach into England. Lomond’s regional brand, John Shepherd, has taken over the Birmingham residential lettings portfolio of SDL Group, which was formerly known as CP Bigwood, and includes approximately 500 city centre properties.
Edinburgh-based Lomond has been building its presence in England since securing £37.5m of funding in April of last year as part of its consolidation drive and it is expected to enter the London market.
The SDL Birmingham portfolio is the first acquisition since John Shepherd moved to its new office in the centre of the city last year. With the acquisition, the total team at the place moves up to 75 which includes 7 staff of SDL.
It follows the acquisition of Wolf’s in May of last year, which extended John Shepherd’s reach into Harborne, and is the fourth acquisition since Lomond Capital merged with John Shepherd in 2014. Lomond’s Birmingham offering under the John Shepherd brand also includes Marwood Homes and John Shepherd Estate Agents and Lettings.
Lomond chief executive Bruce Evans said the deal will strengthen John Shepherd’s leading position in the Birmingham market. Evans said that as such, there are more opportunities coming through the doors such as the high profile Princes Gate development which is due to be launched by John Shepherd New Homes.
However, he said that Lomond is not resting on its laurels and is continuing to grow organically and through acquisitions such as this. It has a strong pipeline of further acquisitions across the country and would invite anyone looking to sell their property management business to reach out to its team.
Lomond was set up in 2010 by Stuart Pender and Roger Lane-Smith, has residential properties worth more than £2.6bn under it management, and sells more than £600m worth of property annually. It currently employs more than 365 people across operations in Aberdeen Birmingham, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Manchester and Brighton.
