Estate agent and property group Andrews has sold its surveying business Landmark Chartered Surveyors for an undisclosed sum to The SimplyBiz Group.
Keynsham-based Andrews said the jobs of all 55 staff would be protected in the sale to the Huddersfield-based group, which since its launch in 2002 has become the UK’s largest provider of compliance support and business consultancy services for financial services professionals. 
Landmark, which has its head office in Surrey, was set up in 2007 by Andrews to specialise in the survey and valuation of residential property, including providing mortgage or security valuations for most banks and building societies.
It grew steadily to offer professional property services from more than 45 locations in England and Wales. As well as its head office, Landmark has seven offices in Surrey, Kent, Essex and London.
Group chief executive David Westgate, pictured, said Landmark had grown into an “incredibly successful, well-respected and profitable operator within the surveying sector” but was no longer seen as part of Andrews’ core focus. “So when we were approached by SimplyBiz, it made sense to give their offer serious consideration,” he said. 
“We have completed a detailed process of due diligence and feel certain that in The SimpyBiz Group we have met a like-minded operator which shares the same moral fibre as Andrews – an operator which will take the business on to the next stage in its exciting evolution.”
It joins 12 other businesses within The SimplyBiz Group offering services ranging from mortgages and financial compliance to workplace benefits.
The SimplyBiz group joint group chief executive Matt Timmins said: “Andrews is known throughout the property sector for its integrity, professional service and quality delivery. These are all values that we also hold in high esteem and so expanding our own operations through the acquisition of Landmark made perfect sense.
“We are very much looking forward to welcoming the Landmark team and can reassure all existing and future clients that no disruption to the high standard of service they’ve been used to will be experienced.” 
Andrews Property Group was established in 1946 by Cecil Jackson Cole who also founded Oxfam and Help the Aged. It now operates from nearly 60 offices across the South of England.
The group is owned by two charitable trusts to which it gives a minimum of 35% of its profits every year.
