Introducing Tim Lawley

Our series introducing the team picks up again with Tim Lawley, Associate Director with our Business Space agency. Tim advises clients on all aspects of industrial accommodation including sales, lettings, acquisition and development across Wales. Working from home was no problem, especially when the kids went back to school. Then someone else arrived!

What was your route into property as a career?

I worked in various jobs after graduating from University in 2000, including a couple of years working in TV drama production. I finally settled on a career as a surveyor and started work at Cooke & Arkwright in 2005 whilst studying a postgraduate degree in Building Surveying at UWE in Bristol. I became a Chartered Surveyor in 2010.

Tell us about your work at Cooke & Arkwright.

I moved to the Business Space department in 2014, where I have worked on the acquisition and disposal of Industrial and Office properties. My focus is now on the Industrial sector, where I have a number of instructions on properties across Wales for a range of clients.

Give us an overview of what an average day for you could entail.

I am involved in the full life cycle of property transactions, from sourcing new work, the initial instruction, inspection and advice, through to marketing, viewings, negotiation and completion of lettings and sales. These can be for small industrial units of less than 1,000 sq. ft., to properties in excess of 200,000 sq. ft.

I also undertake property acquisition work on behalf of private and public sector clients, where I am engaged to identify properties according to my client’s brief and negotiate the purchase or letting on their behalf.

What’s your favourite part of the job?

Surveying is a dynamic profession that delivers variety and excitement on a daily basis. I am rarely sat behind my desk all day and can often be found visiting a wide range of industrial properties. Only this week, my site inspections have included warehouse units, open cast mines and a major steel manufacturing site.

What advice would you give someone starting out in property now?

Surveying throws up daily challenges, so you need to be energetic, think on your feet and be able to respond to situations whilst still offering sound advice to your client.

Tell us a bit about your experience of working from home.

A lot of agency work involves meeting people and viewing properties, and you don’t need to be at your desk in the office each day if you have a good remote computer connection at home and the ability to forward phone calls to your mobile. In this respect it has largely been business as usual, though it has been good to catch up with the rest of the team over the past few weeks in the office as we have been able to meet face to face.

Working from home has certainly been much easier since the kids have gone back to school, but this has been countered by a new addition to our house - a five-month-old Border Collie pup named Max, who takes up a lot of my spare time!