Our People

Chris Day joined Christie + Co in 1985 and, having worked in the Manchester, Birmingham and London Offices, was appointed Managing Director in 1993. He has overall responsibility for all Christie + Co's specialist transactional and advisory activities. Chris has overseen the successful expansion of Christie + Co into a truly global firm, which currently has 25 offices throughout Europe and in the Middle East.

Based in the London office, Chris has particular responsibility for our international operations and he travels regularly. He specialises in the sale and valuation of hotels, public houses and restaurants and has led teams handling numerous disposal and valuation assignments for many high profile clients.

Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC). He commenced his career in the property profession in 1975, qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 1980. In recent years he has chaired the Central London Branch of the RICS, and is currently a member of the London Regional Board of the RICS.

Darren joined Christie + Co’s Birmingham office as a valuer in 2001, before moving to Leeds in 2004 as Valuation Services Manager and latterly Location Manager of the Leeds office in 2005.

In January 2007 Darren moved to London to take up the position of national head of Valuation Services and now has overall responsibility for our national team of valuers, our appointments to bank valuation panels, RICS regulation and compliance and the Company’s Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Darren is a RICS qualified Chartered Valuation Surveyor, a Registered Valuer and also enjoys participating as an APC Assessor for the RICS. During his time at Christie + Co, he has worked on a variety of valuation projects on a local, regional and national scale, gaining substantial experience across all six of our trading sectors. In particular, he has extensive experience in the valuation of petrol forecourts, holiday & caravan parks and the pharmacy & medical sectors.

David joined Christie + Co in 1972 and was Managing Director prior to the formation of Christie Group in 1985 when he was appointed Group Managing Director and later Chief Executive. David is Chairman of Christie + Co and has many years’ experience in the sale and valuation of businesses. In particular, he has extensive experience of the hotel sector worldwide.

Jon joined Christie + Co in 1984 and has extensive experience of the sale and valuation of leisure businesses, together with the development of leisure and hospitality property involving both solus and mixed-use schemes. He has worked in our Leeds, Newcastle and London Offices, being instrumental in the development of our corporate pubs business in the early 1990s.

In 1995 Jon established Christie + Co’s Leisure and Development business working throughout the UK with numerous operators, developers and investors including the likes of Academy Leisure, Aprirose, Berkeley Group, Esporta, Fitness4Less, FX Leisure, GL-14 Group, Genr8, Grantside Developments, Harrison Developments, Leeds City Council, Moto Hospitality, Neptune Developments, Nexum, Nuffield Health, Opus Land, Oxford Hospitality, Rushbond Group, St Modwen, Starboard Hotels and Tesco.

Peter qualified as an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1975 and has specialised in licensed property since 1977. He originally joined Christie + Co in 1996 based at the Milton Keynes Office, having previously worked for companies such as Allied Breweries, Grand Metropolitan Estates and Erdman Lewis. Peter re-joined Christie + Co in 2004 to be based in our London Office undertaking valuations, rent reviews and lease renewals, principally on behalf of corporate clients in connection with public houses, restaurants and hotels. In 1995 Peter was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

In 2001, Peter attained a Post Graduate Diploma in Arbitration from the College of Estate Management and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' Panel of Arbitrators and Panel of Independent Expert and is appointed in these capacities to resolve rent review disputes.

Simon was made a Director of Christie + Co in 2005 and moved to the Corporate Division to develop our coverage of the southern area. With over 20 years' experience in the pub and restaurant market Simon now heads our Corporate Restaurant division, based out of London, working with operators such as Gondola, Tragus, Davys Wine Bars and Little Chef.

The most recent activity has been the disposal of Sausage & Mash cafes, a chain of 6 sites in around central London.

Having started his career in the hotel industry, Simon Hughes moved into the property sector more than 20 years ago and joined Christie + Co in 1987. Originally employed as a hotel sector specialist, Simon has worked with a broad range of clients over the years — from independent hotel owners through to some of the most recognisable operators, including Hilton, Whitbread and Marston Hotels.

Initially based in the Nottingham office, Simon subsequently spent periods working in the Glasgow, Bristol and London offices, where he developed a full understanding of Christie + Co’s service offerings and a broad knowledge of all our specialist sectors. Having successfully managed the London operation for a number of years, he was appointed UK Managing Director in 2005. Simon now has overall responsibility for Christie + Co’s full range of agency and advisory services activity across the network of 14 regional offices. He is also responsible for directing the activities of Christie + Co’s sister company Christie Finance.

Simon continues to take an active role in client projects, most recently focusing on the development of business in the retail sector, where he has been instrumental in Christie + Co’s expansion into the forecourt and pharmacy markets.

Stephen joined Christie + Co in January 2008. With approaching 30 years’ experience in the licensed and leisure sector both in private practice and working for corporate operators, Stephen is Head of the Valuation and Advisory team in the Corporate Pubs, Bars and Restaurant sector. Stephen is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and is also on the RICS Panels of Arbitrators and Independent Experts who are called upon to resolve rent review disputes.