21/12/2011Graham + Sibbald to support our heroes at Christmas

Leading firm of chartered surveyors, Graham + Sibbald have donated £1000 to help the charity ‘Poppy Scotland - Supporting our Heroes’.

The money has been generated by sending an e-card at Christmas to the company’s clients rather than the more costly process of posting off traditional printed cards. This year Graham + Sibbald decided to donate to Poppy Scotland.

Robert McRae from Poppy Scotland who received the cheque, said he was delighted with this gift as the money will be put to good use for therapy, housing, mobility aids and retraining the veterans. Without these donations, none of this would be possible.

Ian Gillies, Senior Partner at Graham + Sibbald said: “At Graham + Sibbald, the environment and social responsibility rank high on our business agenda. We are delighted therefore to have reduced our carbon footprint by distributing e-cards once again this year, offering Christmas greetings to our clients. We are even more pleased to have been able to make a donation, to Poppy Scotland – Supporting our Heroes, a charity which provides support to ensure Scotland’s ex-Servicemen and women receive the best care and support possible.”

For more information please visit their website, where you can even plant your own virtual poppy for our nation’s heroes: www.poppyscotland.org.uk.

Photo (ltr): Ian Gillies, Senior Partner at Graham + Sibbald, Robert McRae, Scottish Poppy Appeal  Organiser.

20/12/2011Glen Eagles Ryder cup 'key views' saved by Graham + Sibbald

Graham + Sibbald’s Planning Team, acting for a local group – SEAG – was successful in persuading a Scottish Government Reporter to reject the Standingfaulds wind farm proposal.

The proposal would have seen the erection of 8 turbines,  each over 100m high near Muthil, which would have been clearly visible in some of the key, iconic “high camera” panoramic views of the Ryder Cup course at the event scheduled for broadcast throughout the World in 2014.

Ian Kelly, Head of Planning at Graham + Sibbald, stated that this was a model wind farm objection project, with the local client group – SEAG – commissioning a full assessment at the earliest possible stage, leading to submissions and presentations to Perth and Kinross Council, followed by submissions to the appeal process.

This early engagement meant that the local group and the Gleneagles Hotel were able to co-operate fully and present a united front at the appeal in support of the refusal of planning permission by the Council. The appeal result, issued on 15th December, reinforced the clear planning policy position that wind farms should only be approved for appropriate sites.

Ian also stated that being able to work alongside the Gleneagles Hotel team raised the overall seriousness of the issues involved.   

Bill Thomson, Chair of SEAG, commented that they were delighted with the quality of advice from Graham + Sibbald and with the way that they organised the whole project team including landscape sub-consultants Mark Steele. He continued that, after two years of stress and worry for the local objectors, the result was everything that they could have hoped for. We would not hesitate to recommend the Graham + Sibbald’s Planning Team.

Deramore Property

Graham + Sibbald were involved in providing full Project Management Services for Deramore Property Group for the property at 95 Bothwell Street, in respect of carrying out measured survey, making application to obtain building warrant and planning consents where appropriate in respect of providing internal office refurbishment.

Department:

Specialist

Partners:

Alastair Welch

Chevron Group

Graham + Sibbald's specialist Petroleum & Roadside Services Team completed an extensive portfolio valuation exercise on behalf of the Chevron Group's joint venture partnership between Texaco Investment Netherlands Inc & Norsk Hydro ASA, in Scandinavia. Following the valuation, the U.S.-based Chevron Corp. and Norsk Hydro ASA announced the sale of their joint Hydro Texaco gas station chain to Norway's Reitan Servicehandel group. Our portfolio review included the provision of strategic advice in relation to the value of the portfolio for existing use, together with an appraisal of the latent development value of the property base. When considering a disposal of this nature, it is essential that the Company is aware of the true underlying value of its property assets, for alternative use, which can frequently far exceed the value of the properties for their existing use.

Department:

Specialist

Partners:

Calum Campbell