One of the North’s leading rural property professionals has launched a new independent practice providing specialist advice to farmers, landowners and rural businesses.
Julie Liddle has established Liddle & Co, a RICS-regulated firm of chartered surveyors and rural property advisers based at Hackthorpe Hall, near Penrith, Cumbria, and working with clients across the North of England.
The new firm provides advice across dispute resolution, planning and development, valuations, utilities, sales and lettings, landlord and tenant matters and estate management.
Julie is the current president of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), a national professional body representing specialists working across the rural sector. During her 15 months in the role, she has travelled across England meeting members and hearing first-hand about the issues affecting the sector.
Julie is joined at Liddle & Co by Martha Richards, assistant, and Regan Lay, graduate surveyor.
Martha supports Julie on arbitration, dispute resolution, planning and estate management matters, while Regan joins the firm after completing a master’s degree in Rural Estates and Land Management at Harper Adams University.
Julie, a Fellow of both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, has spent more than 25 years working in the rural property sector.
A farmer’s daughter originally from County Durham, she began her surveying career with H&H before establishing Robson & Liddle with John Robson in 2015. The business later merged with PFK, with Julie becoming a director of PFK Rural.
She has particular expertise in rural and commercial landlord and tenant matters, planning and development and dispute resolution, including acting as an arbitrator and independent expert. Julie sits on two national arbitration panels and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Julie said: “I have a huge amount of passion for the work I do and for running a business. I wanted to create a highly professional independent firm that clients can trust, while deliberately keeping it agile.
“We are actively recruiting and look forward to building a small, yet highly skilled and passionate team.
“For clients, having direct access to the person advising them is incredibly important. They don’t want layers of people to go through. They want to be able to pick up the phone, speak to someone who understands their situation and get clear, practical advice.
“That personal service is what we want Liddle & Co to stand for. We want to be responsive, straightforward and highly professional, while building long-term relationships with the people and businesses we advise.”
Julie said the firm is already experiencing strong demand, helping Liddle & Co establish a client base throughout the North.
She added: “Although we’re proudly based in Cumbria, our footprint is across the North and some of my specialist work takes me across the country. “My ambition is to build an outstanding, small firm – a close-knit team with strong technical knowledge that provides quality advice and the personal service clients are looking for.
“There are some incredibly talented young people coming into the profession and I want Liddle & Co to combine that next generation of talent with experience, strong professional standards and genuinely hands-on client service.”
