Town hall property chief to lead ACES

THE council’s head of property and estates will be helping to lead the way in best practice in the industry across the country after being appointed the junior vice president of the association of chief estates surveyors and property managers in the public sector, known as ACES.

As part of his new role, Peter Gregory will work with major organisations such as the royal institution of chartered surveyors, as well as government departments, such as the department for communities and local government and the cabinet office.

The organisation rep- ●●Peter Gregory, Rochdale council’s head of property and estates, has been appointed the junior vice president of the association of chief estates surveyors and property managers in the public sector, known as ACES. resents surveyors in up to 400 public organisations. Members meet throughout the year and share best practice across the industry, as well as receiving professional training to help them stay up-to-date with developments in the field.

Peter said: “I’ve gained a lot from my membership of ACES. It is a privilege to be entrusted with this role by my peers and I’m really excited about giving something back to the organisation.

“At a challenging time for the public sector, working together with other people who do the same job as you in other boroughs gives you a valuable insight into what works and what doesn’t, and to have Rochdale at the top table is something I’m very proud of.”

Coun John Blundell, cabinet member for regeneration at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “I’d like to congratulate Peter on his new role.

“This new appointment comes at a very exciting time for property services in Rochdale.

“We recently launched an acquisition strategy which sees us buy strategic buildings across the borough and rent them out to generate an income we can invest in vital services.

“Our recent acquisitions are bringing in £1.4m a year.

“We’ve also got planning permission to build new small units on Kingsway Business Park in partnership with the private sector, following the success of our scheme in Dodgson Street, which saw all seven councilbuilt industrial units snapped up within weeks of completion last year.”

Peter will serve as junior vice president until November 2018.