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21 November 2023
Garness Group expands into York with addition of long-established and successful commercial property specialist

Garness Group is expanding its work across North Yorkshire with York-based Barry Crux & Company becoming part of its offering of specialist property consultancy businesses.

The company will operate closely alongside Hull-based Garness Jones – bringing together the combined experience in the commercial property sector to cover East Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire.

As part of the deal, Barry Crux & Company, which has an established reputation as a market leader in hotel, leisure and hospitality sectors in particular, will continue to trade under the same name, with the same long-established team remaining in their roles.

However, it will now be part of the successful Garness Group of businesses including Pure Block Management, which provides management services for leasehold owners and developers of residential developments, Gro Residential Management, which manages and lets residential properties on behalf of landlords, and Garness Jones.

‘A positive step forward for all involved’

David Garness, managing director of Garness Group, says he is delighted to be expanding the group’s presence in York, and to be doing so with a team which has ‘unrivalled knowledge and experience’ of the North Yorkshire market.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be adding a company of the quality, standing and reputation of Barry Crux & Company to our offering. This is a positive step forward for all involved,” he said.

“Expanding our work further into North Yorkshire has been a long-term strategic goal for us, as has securing more work relating to licensed properties, hotels and leisure sector properties.

“To do this through adding a business with unrivalled knowledge and experience of the market in York and North Yorkshire is really pleasing.

“Barry and his team benefit from becoming part of a well-established group of property businesses, which have an added collective strength which comes from working together closely and operating in similar markets.

“It is certainly a perfect fit for us in terms of our ambitions to grow our business further in York and across North Yorkshire, where we have gradually grown our work in recent years across our various disciplines. In fact Pure Block Management already manages residential complexes in York and North Yorkshire so this move allow us to build on that activity.

“Barry and his team have a proven reputation for providing the highest level of professional expertise and experience in both the commercial and residential property markets, and their ethos matches that of ours.

“We have discussed this deal for quite some time and worked alongside one another and it has been clear that Barry’s team have exceptional knowledge of the market and are driven by providing the best service possible and achieving the best results for clients, so we see it being a seamless transition.

“In fact, it will be business as usual for Barry Crux & Company and for Garness Group.”

Barry Crux, a Chartered Surveyor and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators who has been involved in the commercial property market for 40 years, and established his business in 1989, said: “These are exciting times for us all to look forward to.

“By joining forces with Garness Group our business will benefit from numerous synergies and back-up support services, and in a business environment becoming ever more demanding, this move will allow our team to refocus entirely on serving our client base and delivering a first class valuation and agency service, along with our other consultancy work.

“With the benefit of greater collective resource we will be able to build upon our first class reputation and position in the licensed and leisure property sector throughout the north of England, whilst also enhancing our collective position in East Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.”

Solicitor Matthew Smith, a partner of Andrew Jackson Solicitors, who is based in the firm's York office, and Mike Stocks, partner at Hull-based accountancy firm Smailes Goldie Group, advised Garness Group in the deal, with Matthew Morton, of Morton Legal and Tony Farmer of accountants and business advisory specialists Azets, advising Barry Crux & Company.