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19 July 2024
Barry Crux & Company celebrates 35 years of success – and sets out plans for growth in Garness Group partnership

Barry Crux & Company is celebrating 35 years of being at the heart of York's leisure and hospitality sector – completing hundreds of deals which have attracted new business and investment into the city.

Established in July 1989, the company is firmly cemented in its position as the ‘go to’ business when it comes to selling and letting premises for businesses in the retail, restaurant, hotel, leisure and licensed premises sectors, not only in York but across North Yorkshire.

And, having partnered with Garness Jones earlier this year, a focus is now being placed on future growth and expansion for both.

“When I stated the business 35 years ago I have to admit I probably didn’t think I’d still be working now, but I love every second of it because it’s never felt like a job, more of a hobby. I love the fact that we see and deal with something new all the time, even after three decades in the job,” said Mr Crux.

“We’re now planning for the future having strengthened our expertise by partnering with Garness Jones earlier this year, combining the experience and knowledge of two specialist businesses to bring greater collective strength in all areas of the market.

“It’s exciting because we are celebrating 35 years of success in business, but not standing still. We are planning together for the future and also recruiting into our business now to be able to grow our work further across North and East Yorkshire.”

Name made in historic deal for sale of hundreds of pubs

Mr Crux made his name in the licensed property commercial premises sector by handling a huge deal to sell a large chain of pubs from Bass brewery to the newly formed Century Inns back in 1989, when new legislation was introduced limiting the number of pubs a brewing company could own.

It was a deal he estimates would be worth more than £120m in today’s market - and it set him on his way to securing more lucrative deals in the pub sector to build his new business around, reinvesting profits into growth.

“I’m hugely proud of what we have achieved, and that deal at the start, as nobody had done anything like it before in that quantity, and I did it on my own,” he said.

“Over the past 35 years we’ve established ourselves as the leading commercial property agent in North Yorkshire, particularly for the license and leisure sectors, and although we compete against national businesses, we have the advantage of our specialist local knowledge of the market, and our passion for the region.

“We’ve achieved what we have through hard work and high standards. We aim high in all we do and we look to provide the best service, as at the end of the day it’s not about dealing in property, but dealing with people in the right way.

“I’ve always felt that our business is engrained in York and a part of the city, and we’ve always played our part in the tourism sector here because it is so important to all of the businesses that we support.”

Businesses to draw upon each other’s expertise

As part of the new partnership formed earlier this year, Barry Crux & Company continues to trade under its long-established and recognised name, with the same team remaining at the business.

Mr Crux is supported by highly-experienced negotiator Janet Joyce, who has been with the business all 35 years, his daughter Rosie, who has been part of the team for 20 years, and Allison Brown, who joined in 2021 to work on both commercial and residential property management.

The business is now recruiting a new licensed and leisure agency surveyor, allowing Rosie Crux to work closely alongside the Garness Jones team to further develop the business' work in the retail, office and industrial property market.

Under the new partnership, both businesses will have the opportunity to expand their work, and Mr Crux says with York and surrounding towns and villages of North Yorkshire having ‘their own USPs’, it is a very different market to other areas of the UK.

“York and North Yorkshire is very different to West Yorkshire when you look at the commercial property market. It’s much more aligned to York than Leeds or Bradford,” he said.

“We’ve always operated across all markets, but of course we have become best known in the leisure and hospitality sectors.

“Now we will be offering more by having the expertise of Garness Jones as part of our business, making us better placed to serve landlords and businesses in the industrial, warehousing and distribution sectors across North Yorkshire and the Dales. There is great potential for us to grow together.”

‘Exceptional service and market knowledge’

David Garness is managing director of Garness Group, which both Garness Jones and Barry Crux & Company are now part of, alongside Pure Block Management, which provides management services for leasehold owners and developers of residential developments in East and North Yorkshire, and Gro Residential Management, which manages and lets residential properties on behalf of landlords.

He said: “Running a successful business for 35 years is no easy feat in any sector and can only be achieved by offering exceptional service and providing the best knowledge and expertise. In six months of working alongside Barry and his team, it has been abundantly clear that they do just that.

“It is a fantastic achievement and I am delighted that we are now a part of the story for the future and working together as we are well aligned as businesses in terms of the way we approach our work and how we believe business should be done.

“With Barry’s business having 35 years’ of expertise, and Garness Jones being established for 28 years, we are confident that by combining our expertise we can really grow together to become the recognised leader in all areas of commercial property across East Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire.”