Solent: Largest transactional team unveiled after Vail Williams/Hughes Ellard merger

The largest commercial property transactional team in the Solent region has been unveiled following the merger between Vail Williams LLP and Hughes Ellard.

With the addition of the 27 staff at Hughes Ellard, which was founded 44 years ago, Vail Williams now has 165 employees and partners nationally.

Of those, the newly enlarged team of 10 business space, retail and leisure and investment agents for the Solent region provide acquisition and disposal advisory services for occupiers, developers and investors.

Russell Mogridge, an equity partner at Vail Williams, and previously an owner/director at Hughes Ellard for 17 years, leads the transactional team from Vail Williams’ Solent offices at Ocean Village in Southampton and the Lakeside North Harbour business campus in Portsmouth.

He said: “Joining forces with Vail Williams means that our clients can benefit even further from unrivalled market knowledge and leading service.

“There are 10 of us on the commercial real estate transactional team, making the dedicated unit the largest of its kind in the Solent region.”

It is a return to his professional roots for Mogridge – he was an associate director at Vail Williams for 8.5 years before joining Hughes Ellard in Fareham in 2001.

Mike Greenwood, Vail Williams’ regional managing partner for the Solent, said: “The Solent region is thriving economically, with hundreds of businesses at any one time requiring larger or smaller premises, new leases, rent reviews, valuations, structural surveys and dilapidations advice.

“Our newly enlarged transaction team is packed with professional expertise and depth of experience, helping our clients to flourish.”

As well as sales and lettings of office, retail, industrial and warehousing, the practice specialises in investment sales and acquisitions, along with development land brokerage for both commercial and residential development.