Our team of highly experienced Valuers has recently been further enhanced by Matthew Wallis who joined AWH as a Director in November 2024. Matt has over 40 years of experience in the surveying profession and has undertake all aspects of general practice work. While Matt has specialised in the London and Southeast property markets, he has also been involved with nationwide portfolios of mixed asset types.
Destined for Valuations
Working in Valuations seems to have been Matt’s destiny.
While he started his working life as a reinsurance accountant, Matt knew almost immediately that it was not the right path for him. At the time, a friend of the family was a chartered surveyor, and what Matt saw attracted him to a career in property instead.
What I found interesting was that, as a surveyor, you get out and about, being able to see different types of property, in different parts of the country. The fact that it is not just desk-bound was definitely one of the factors that attracted me to it.
His first job in the field was working as part of the valuation team of Richard Ellis, which he did for a year before leaving the company to study towards his degree. Returning to the firm as part of the course, he was again placed in the valuation team.
After completing his degree, Matt left his initial employer and went in search of experience in other aspects of the property profession. However, his next employer also placed him in the valuation team, which caused Matt to leave them after only a short period of time, as he sought to extend his knowledge.
While seeking a new role, he opened the classified section of the Estates Gazette, and with closed eyes, blindly dropped a finger onto a listing of job opportunities. The role in question was for Chesterton City office undertaking professional work such as valuations, rent reviews, lease renewals, and other advisory work.
While I was still in valuations at Chesterton, it did give me the opportunity to extend my skillset, giving me that experience I had been craving.
While in the post he completed his APC and remained in that position for 6 years, after which he moved to another property firm, Land Securities, again as part of their in-house valuations team. Feeling he was being pigeon-holed, Matt decided to speak to a recruiter to see what options he might have.
I remember it vividly. She was very nice and complemented by experience, but as she sat across from me, she looked me dead in the eye and told me: “You do realise that you are a valuer. That’s what you are.”
Variety is the spice of life
Despite having accepted his calling as Valuer, Matt loves the variety that working in Valuations provides. He admits that he is not someone who enjoys long, drawn-out projects and therefore enjoys the fact that a valuation is normally done within a relatively short period of time, the report is submitted, and you move on to the next project.
One of the things Matt has thoroughly enjoyed working for some smaller firms over the years, and since joining AWH, is the variety of properties that surveyors get to work on. Here at AWH we cover all asset types, and he loves seeing the different buildings and being able to travel around the country to do so.
You can be in South London one day valuing a commercial development, and the following day be in Southampton assessing a retail or residential block. It definitely keeps my interest levels going.
Having worked in property for over 40 years’ Matt has valued almost every type of property out there. The ones that have stuck with him over the years though are those that are a bit different.
One example is the “Frontline Club”, which is a club for war correspondents and journalists in London. A converted Victorian building that has lots of immediate history and was a fascinating project to work on.
A perfect fit
We are delighted Matt has joined our Valuations team. His experience in advising on large multi let assets and portfolios, plus his knowledge of providing valuation advice for secured lending purposes as well as investment valuations on monthly, quarterly or annual basis is a perfect fit within our team of expert Chartered Surveyors.
AWH is a good, professional film, with some excellent valuers, and I am delighted that I can complement that.
If you would like to speak to Matt or another member of our Valuation team about getting some valuation advice, do not hesitate to call us on 0800 071 5517 or email admin@awh.co.uk.