About
Professional Summary
Darren's professional career started with a national surveying firm specialising in Commercial and Industrial property. From here he moved to a West London company that specialsised in the London, Thames Valley and Home Counties market where he assisted in developing the professional services client base. This company was subsequently acquired by what is now Colliers International where Darren has focused on providing clients advice on business rates (UK Property Tax) with the Rating team, which has grown from year to year and are now the leading advisers in the industry.
As a Director of the Rating Department, Darren's experience covers bulk and specialist property and he is involved with client management for local and national companies.
Darren also oversees the UK Rating Valuation Surveyors team in ensuring the best advice and highest service is provided to clients.
Accomplishments
Darren's experience in general practice work spans over 18 years and includes Rating, Valuation and Landlord & Tenant for individual occupiers and multi-national companies including Vodafone Ltd, SEGRO and Mapeley Estates. Having commenced his professional career with a national firm, in 2003 Darren joined West London and Home Counties commercial property specialist, Jansons Ltd, as Associate Partner and took on the role to develop the Landlord & Tenant and Rating client base in assisting the expansion of the company, working for clients including Morley Fund Management, Standard Life Investments, BBC Pension Trust, Nightfreight and Brita Water Filters. This company later became part of Colliers where Darren focused primarily on business rates advice for clients.
Darren's current role focuses on UK property tax (Rating) advice and he is regularly involved in leading discussions with Valuation Office's in agreeing basis of value for various property sectors in key markets. On behalf of his telecoms client CTIL Darren is a member of the Mast Working Party which includes representatives from both mobile mast operators and the Valuation Office Agency.
Darren oversees the Rating Valuation Surveyors team in ensuring the best advice and highest service is provided to clients.
Education
BSc Property Management
Memberships & Involvements
RICS, IRRV
Clients
CTIL (JV between Vodafone UK & Telefonica), Mapeley Estates Ltd, Mercedes Benz, Vodafone Uk Ltd, CyrusOne, SIG plc, Poundland Ltd, Co-operative Group Limited, Sally Hair ＆ Beauty.
Testimonials
We have used Colliers rating services for many years and remain entirely satisfied with the service.
We have benefitted from innovative thinking, which has delivered significant additional savings to our business , a continually timely delivery of the service and a high degree of client care which is much appreciated when we ourselves have tight deadlines to meet , often at short notice.
We have many suppliers across our business but the rating service provided by Colliers ranks as amongst the very best service we receive.
Iain Harris, CTIL
Services
Skills
Service Lines
Property Type
My Team
My Team
I have over 20 years experience in Business Rates Appeal work.
I specialise in the following sectors, large industrial, breweries, distribution warehouses, large foodstores and car showrooms.
I cover the greater Midlands Area, I am a member of several business rate forums, tasked with negotiating an agreed valuation basis with the Valuaiton Office, on various property sectors.
I regularly attend Valuation Tribunal and have presented at Upper Tribunal, including the Simpsons Malt Case, regarding VT/VOA procedure.
As an RICS APC Assessor, I am responsible for training the Business Rates Graduates within the Birmingham Office and as part of a team, mentor all of the Birmingham Office Graduates, across disciplines.
Adam has extensive experience in rating valuation, having worked in both the public and private sectors, based within the North West.
This experience covers a wide range of properties including retail, office, large industrial, licensed premises and numerous public sector properties.
Mick started his career in the Valuation Office before moving to private practice in 1989. He joined Colliers in June 1997 and since that date has provided advice on minimising business rates liabilities to a wide range of clients nationwide.
He has experinece in dealing with all bulk classes, including shops, offices and indutrial property but has particular expertise in dealing with Licensed and Leisure properties.
With over 19 years commercial property experience 17 of which specialising in Business Rates, Ben's property knowledge is both diverse and detailed. Large, small, common and uncommon property types ranging from; ATM's to distribution centres, boat moorings to hospitals each requiring their own bespoke consideration and the application of each valuation methodology.
Ben is responsible for all Business Rate appeal work for Colliers in South West England and South Wales. Having also worked at Colliers West End office Ben has a unique perspective regionally and nationally.
Clients include; property funds, developers and occupiers from multinational PLCs to sole traders.
Advice, other than the correctness of a Rateable Value, includes compulsory purchase compensation, new premises budget forecasts, liability forecasts and rate mitigation.
Uncommon within commercial property services, Colliers Rating department share the risk with Clients and also share the reward of the savings achieved. Being results driven affords a strong collaborative relationship with Clients.
Recent highlights include;
- Regional HQ building - consent order to reduced an RV from £1,600,000 to £900,000 following an appeal to the High Court Lands Chamber.
- A client with multiple properties saved over £500,000 following work to get the assessments reducecd to RV £0 from a particularly advantageous date.
Damien's first position within the surveying world was as a graduate working for RMC, based at their International Head Quarters in Thorpe, Egham, where he specialised in the contractors test method of valuation for rating purposes and provided lease consultancy and valuation advice to internal Group companies.
After six years working client side he took a position within the Professional Department at Strutt & Parker where he specialised in business rates advice and was an RICS registered valuer, undertaking commercial valuaton work for secured lending purposes. He was instrumental in the creation of a business rates advisory team within Strutt & Parker, and was appointed Head of Rating.
Damien joined Colliers International in January 2012 and is a Director within the London team providing advice on all property classes and continues to advise his first employer on the opportunities to mitigate their UK property tax liability.
Matt joined Colliers International as a Director in September 2019 and provides business rates and lease consultancy advice to occupiers and investors throughout the South East of England.
In his role, Matt advises on Rateable Value appeals and business rates mitigation strategy, along with rent reviews, lease renewals, lease re-gears and dispute resolution. Matt has experience across all asset classes with a particular focus on the industrial and office sectors.
Due to his experience and market knowledge, Matt regularly acts as an Expert Witness in valuation based disputes.
Prior to joining Colliers, Matt was a Senior Director at Altus Group, based at their Heathrow office, where he'd originally joined as a graduate surveyor in 2010.
Louise's role within the Rating Department involves dealing with a large number of appeals on behalf of various local and national clients.
Louise has been involved in complex negotiations for a diverse portfolio of properties across the whole of Scotland in order to secure reductions in Rateable Value for clients.
Louise is also involved in Commercial Lease Consultancy comprising mostly of rent reviews, lease renewals and lease re-gears. Working for a number of national clients on their Scottish property porfolios.
I have over 20 years experience in the property industry, the majority of which has been in the Business Rates sector. My property career commenced with a well known rating practice based in London specialising in both the Lease Consultancy and Business Rates sectors. Shortly after qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor I moved to a Central London partnership to specialise solely in the Business Rates sector advising clients on all rating matters including Appeals, Rate Management and Rates Mitigation. After 16 years I joined Colliers International in 2016 to join the South East Rating Team.
I joined Colliers International in June 2015 as an Associate Director within the Rating team in Birmingham, UK. I previously worked for the Valuation Office Agency in Birmingham where I was responsible for settling Rating appeals on a variety of properties.