Private Practice

Paul Cressy

Paul is a Director at Savills, an international firm with more than 80 offices in the UK and over 500 worldwide. He is based in Exeter and covers the South West of England.

Typically I spend half my time in the office and the other half out dealing with client’s farms, estates and properties. My work includes dealing with estate in-hand farms, negotiating contract farming arrangements, letting farms and dealing with the on-going farm tenancy arrangements. I also deal with let cottages, commercial industrial units and offices, collecting rents and dealing with repairs and day-to-day problems. I must also help my clients to plan for the future and consider the options for future generations.

I am lucky enough to be involved in some spectacular properties in the west country from 200 room manor houses to beach huts by the sea. The range of work is diverse – as an example I was recently involved in the purchase of a flock of 200 sheep for an in-hand farming arrangement and at the other extreme, I was involved in the erection of a 120 metre wind turbine with all the planning issues that go with it. The job is interesting as you never really know what is going to crop up the next day – you could be dealing with a compensation claim against a water company or the purchase of 1,000 acre farm on behalf of a client. The job gets you out and about meeting a variety of interesting people.