We are an independent practice of chartered surveyors specialising in rural asset management and we take great pride in offering our clients a high quality and bespoke estate management service for some of the country’s finest estates.

Our founding principles are:
• professional independence
• doing what’s right for the estate and
• actively managing assets
• maximising value at every opportunity

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Living our values

We live our values every day. In case studies we show these principles in action in the decisions we take and how our commitment and hands-on management reliably delivers success.

The right people

We have the right people in the right positions and have a track record of maintaining role continuity for our clients. In our people we introduce them all.

Modern office infrastructure

In how we work we show how our people, organisation and digital infrastructure combine to deliver efficiently for our clients every day.

Our Estate Management service in detail

Maximising estate and land-based assets

It is easy put estates into categories, but in truth all estates fall into a category of just one. We know that every estate is unique, every estate owner is unique, and every estate family is unique. With this as our start point, we can then find unique solutions for maximising an estate’s assets to the full satisfaction of the estate owner.

Click on the headings below to read more:

Our philosophy

Our philosophy is one of naturally absorbing and responding to change, deploying our skills and experience in new and unique ways to meet our clients’ evolving needs. We do not attempt to shoehorn each estate into a historic management template. What worked for an estate owner in the 2000’s may well be ancient history for the sons or daughters in the 2020s. And though many of the skills and experience needed by the estate manager to manage that estate in both eras may be the same, the end goals may change subtly or even radically. This change will have a fundamental effect on how, when and where we deploy our our skills.

Our role

Our primary role, and our primary service, is to understand the estate owner’s goals such that we manage their estate to meet those goals and generate maximum value in doing so. We absorb the personality and philosophy of the estate owner and develop a deep understanding of how the estate fits into their business, family, social and leisure life. This information is, by its nature, deeply personal and confidential, and we are proud that all our clients have the confidence in us to allow a trusting and open relationship; one where ideas can flourish and difficult issues can be handled sensitively.

  • With these objectives fully understood, we can then build a detailed understanding of the estate itself, both its operation and its assets, seeing what works now and why, but also identifying areas of opportunity into the future.
  • Only with this background can we start to balance out the primary, secondary and tertiary objectives for the estate and its owner, and develop the short, medium and long-term plans that give the estate owner certainty and confidence, and where the estate assets are maximised to the estate owners personal objectives.
Defining value
“Value” has very different meanings to each estate owner. Income is one measure of value, but it is not always the primary objective. Where some estates demand maximised income, others are about maximising leisure opportunities. In our experience, each estate has an overarching objective and value measure which takes precedence over secondary and tertiary objectives. Here are the four most common types of primary objectives for estates:
  1. Income generation and increasing capital value – short and medium term income, or year on year investment gain, characterise estates with this as a value measure
  2. Personal enjoyment – with secure income elsewhere, some estates provide value for their owners through their leisure assets. Shooting, lakes or gardens are often central features of a leisure focused estate.
  3. Tax efficiency – many estates are bought and operated to take advantage specific tax regimes, eg agricultural tax, and thus provide specific value to a much broader business operation.
  4. Intergenerational wealth – some estates value long term ownership as the key measure of value, ensuring family ownership long into the future.
Professional collaboration

To complement our in-house skills we draw from a wide network of professionals. Whilst we have many experts on whom we call frequently for their skills and knowledge, we avoid a fixed roster. Our preferred mode of operation is to tailor a team of professionals to the specialities of the project and who are ‘best fits’ for the estate owner.

The Fowler Fortescue team