THE TEAM

• Nicholas Sercombe (FRICS IRRV) - Director of Surveying Services

  

  Nick heads up the team as Director of Surveying Services in a role he has had since 1998.

  Nick, with over 30-years experience, commenced his surveying career with the Valuation Office in Kettering in 1968. After moving up the ranks in the Bedford, Derby and Leicester regional offices he spent eight years at the head office in London. He was appointed District Valuer and Valuation Officer at Loughborough 1990-95. Having worked in the Valuation Office for 27 years, he is well acquainted with the procedures and practices of the VO allowing him to be able to speed up approaches and achieve results which can take others longer.

  Specific experience:
  -A qualified and chartered surveyor of the Royal Institute of Surveyors since 1973.
  -An extensive knowledge of all rates-related matters.
  -Has worked at a number of valuation offices.
  -He has handled bulk classes such as industrial properties, offices and retail and more specialised areas such as hotels, clubs and pubs

• Sarah Davey - Head of Rating - London

  

  Sarah specialises in property taxation skills together with valuation, compulsory purchase and compensation expertise.
  Sarah brings a wealth of public sector experience from both home and abroad following her practice at a senior level in the City of London and London Boroughs, leading with the defence of Revaluations from 1990 onwards. More recently Sarah was appointed by London firm LSM Partners and has also had spells with the Treasury and abroad in Southern Africa.
  Specific experience:
  - Wide experience of professional work within the public sector resulting from 17 years of working for the City of London Valuation Office.
  -Has been a chartered surveyor for more than 30-years.
  -Attuned to current law and practice and future developments likely to affect all aspects of business rates.

• Tim Brown (MRICS IRRV) - Senior Surveyor

  

  Tim specialises in all property sectors including the High Street, Out-of-town retail, industrial & warehouse, sports & leisure.

  Tim has over 20-years hands on experience in providing rating advice to landlords and occupiers. He is a member of the Rating Surveyor's Association and serves on its committee. Tim's particular strength lies in sporting stadia after securing large rates reductions for premiership football and county cricket grounds.

  Specific experience:
  -Has dealt with a broad spectrum of property sectors including Premiership football clubs, hotels and licensed premises.
  -Has catered for high profile sporting names such as Manchester United and Norwich City FC.

• Owen Garfield - Senior Surveyor Utilities

  Owen specialises in power stations, minerals, landfill and related industries where he provides specialist advice to operators.
  Owen joined Ruddle Merz in 2009 following ten years of working for the Valuation Office Agency throughout England and Scotland. Prior to that, he worked as a graduate estates officer for Tarmac and as lead surveyor for a mineral valuation company based in Taunton. He has been a Chartered Mineral Surveyor since 1998.
  Specific experience:
  -Has undertaken numerous valuation instructions on behalf of major international companies.
  -Been the Lead Valuation Officer whilst presenting successful cases at valuation tribunals.
  -Was made Head of Generation within the Valuation Office Agency, responsible for £180m of rateable value.
  -Was lead surveyor at mineral valuation company: South - dealing with concrete batching plants, coating plants, marine dredged aggregates and various types of quarries.

• Pat Brennan (FRICS) - Specialist Rating Surveyor & Valuer

  

  Pat was appointed to lead the Utilities Rating Team of the Valuation Office when it was set up in 1996, advising the Government on values to be prescribed from 1 April 2000. Leading a team of five chartered surveyors, he was responsible for valuing the utility company properties in England and Wales, and wrote the Government "white paper" on valuing utility properties

• Dharms Daudia - Regional Surveying Technician

  

  Regional Referencer Dharms Daudia complements the team and carrys out all surveys, checking data against the Valuation Office records to ensure our clients' Rateable Values are fair and correct.

• Ian Forrester - Regional Surveying Technician

  

  Regional Referencer Ian Forrester complements the team and carrys out all surveys, checking data against the Valuation Office records to ensure our clients' Rateable Values are fair and correct.

• Adam Barnfield - Regional Surveying Technician

  

  Regional Referencer Adam Barnfield complements the team and carrys out all surveys, checking data against the Valuation Office records to ensure our clients' Rateable Values are fair and correct.

• Allan Milton - Business Development Director

  

  Allan has a strong background in business development and sales having previously worked as the National Accounts Controller for a UK brand leader and as a National Sales Director and Manager for companies with multi-million pound turnovers. At Ruddle Merz, Allan works closely with new and existing clients to provide them with regular updates on their particular cases. In addition, he ensures clients are aware of the ongoing services offered by Ruddle Merz and acts as their first port of call for questions and queries.

• Claire Shuttleworth - Bill Audit & Client Care Manager

  

  On a day to day basis, Claire applies her exceptional knowledge of how Business Rates are calculated to ensure that final assessments and the amount of revised rates due are completely accurate. As part of our ongoing commitment to clients, companies can access Claire's extensive knowledge at any time to ensure their bills are correct. In addition, Claire heads up the vitally important Client Care department, and is ably assisted by Leesah Murphy and Hayley Marr.