Board

Christie + Co offers a comprehensive range of professional services to meet clients’ needs and reflect the market conditions. Our reputation was built on brokering transactions and we pride ourselves on our ability to manage marketing campaigns and facilitate deals. Our position as the leading agent at the forefront of the leisure and hotels sector was confirmed by the Estates Gazette Group in 2011 when we were awarded the most active agent title, based on the volume of transactions we completed in 2010. Although the number of businesses we inspected in 2011 was down by 1.7 per cent compared to the previous year, our specialists were responsible for inspecting almost 15,000 businesses for sale or valuation purposes. Our chartered surveyors and advisers are just as active as our agents — in fact valuation and advisory projects accounted for approximately 40 per cent of Christie + Co’s business activity in 2011. Distress in our markets amplified the need for specialist advice in 2011 and we were able to work with banks and business operators to help improve operational performance, preserve value and avoid insolvency. Of the total number of businesses we sold last year, 25 per cent were distressed. In distress situations, the need for timely advice and decisive action is crucial and the decision to dispose of assets is not always negative — it often enables operators to recapitalise and move forward with other businesses. Our transactional evidence proves that there is a market for distressed businesses and many of the assets we sold in 2011 will be operated successfully in a different format. You can see some encouraging examples of successful distress sales throughout this document. Services to meet client needs and reflect market conditions

Percentage of instructions marked as distressed by sector

 Hotels  Public Houses  Restaurants  Leisure

60

 Care  Retail

50

40

30

20

10

0

Q1

Q2

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Q3

Q4

“ With increasing numbers of business failures an inevitable consequence of the continuing economic conditions, transactions involving distressed assets were always likely to hit the headlines. However, this should not mask the role played by business recovery services in assisting many companies to stay afloat. By providing sound and impartial advice, Christie + Co was able to work with banks and recovery professionals to assist distressed businesses in their decision-making processes — helping many with their turnaround and recovery strategies, and avoiding the need for disposal.”

Stephen Jacobs – Associate Director, Bank Support and Business Recovery

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