A few weeks into his new job heading up the land agency business at Hopes of Wigton, Craig Brough is overflowing with ideas to make it bigger and better than before.

Before joining the business in May, he had previously spent 11 years at H&H Land and Property, first as a graduate land agent and most recently as associate director.

“You get to that point where you’re ready for a new challenge and a change,” he says, sitting in his office at Hopes’ offices on Syke Road.

Craig has a long association with Hopes both as a shareholder and through its dealings with the family farm near Dalston where he grew up.

At the end of 2016, Hopes faced debts of more than £6m and a plunging share price, but Craig is confident he can continue the work which has steadied the ship in the intervening years.

“I was fully aware of where the company had been and the difficulties it had faced, but I feel it’s going in the right direction now,” he says

“The company has been through a difficult period in relation to historic debt levels.

"The board is dealing with that and there is a strong plan in place to bring that down, with a view to returning the company to profitability within the next financial year.

“One of my main aims is to expand the base that we can offer. I want there to be very little reason why someone can’t use us.

“We want to get to that point where we can do everything. We may have to work with consultants to make sure we can service all our clients’ needs.”

He says Hopes has now put the necessary professional indemnity insurance in place to allow it to carry out bank valuations of land and property.

Another growing area is working with people acquiring land as part of a pension or SIPP (self-invested personal pension) schemes.

“More and more people are wanting to acquire property through their SIPP and they all need valuations and three year rent review valuations,” says Craig.

“Historically the land agency at hopes hasn’t carried out much traditional estate management in the past, we’ve done basic grass letting work, but not managed let properties.

"I have brought with me a let portfolio of properties and we will look to grow that work in the future.

“Carlisle and West Cumbria are currently seeing plans being developed for increased development, with the St Cuthbert’s Garden Village potentially bringing 10,000 homes to the south of Carlisle.

"We are heavily involved in both the proposed new Southern Link Road and the promotion of land for the garden village.”

The team will also turn their attention to marketing Hopes’ own estate in the Wigton area as well as letting more of the property it owns on Syke Road, parts of which are already rented out to businesses such as the Carrs Billington Country Store.

A range of professional firms also have offices within the auction building.

Craig says the company is still regularly acting as an agent for property sales, despite the chilling effect of uncertainty over Brexit.

“I think there has been some hesitation,” he says.

“There hasn’t been the volume of property on the market in the last 12 to 18 months. I think that’s because people are not sure where things are heading, but those that have come on the market have sold very well so there is no real reason to hold properties off the market.

“There will be a period of turmoil, there has to be. There could be a difficult trading period but equally we’ve had swings in the market before.

“In all these things it’s about cash flow management, reacting to the market, reviewing your business – if you need to make changes, make them quickly and that’s all you can do.”

This interview appeared in this month's edition of in-Cumbria magazine. Read the e-edition

here