Johnson Fellows secures Orbis contract

Johnson Fellows has been appointed as agents by Orbis, formerly known as SitexOrbis Ltd, a leading specialist in vacant property security and empty property services.

The Birmingham-based chartered surveyors will be the primary point of contact in respect of all property related matters across Orbis’ commercial property portfolio, totaling 30 different sites around the UK and comprising offices, depots and alarm monitoring facilities.

Johnson Fellows will be working closely with Orbis, a company that protects and secures more than 50,000 void commercial and social housing properties throughout the UK, as well as 10,000 lone workers and cleans 20,000 properties annually.

Ian Starbuck, Associate Partner at Johnson Fellows, said that it is a significant appointment for the company. He said that the team at Johnson Fellows’ aim is to assist Orbis in reducing its liabilities through a full review of its leasehold property portfolio. It will be the intention to achieve occupational cost savings, regulate and restructure lease agreements and help the company to acquire new sites where necessary.  The full range of property services that Johnson Fellows will be providing include estate management, budget management, lease renewals, rent reviews, acquisitions, disposals and building/dilapidation surveys.

“We are delighted to announce our appointment as property agents to Orbis, who will be a major client for us. As the first point of contact for all property-related matters, we will be taking that burden away from Orbis, which will allow them to focus on their core business.”

Phil Tonks of Orbis said: “We are confident that with the appointment of Johnson Fellows to handle all aspects of our commercial property portfolio we are in safe hands. They are amazing.  They manage every aspect of property from leases, service charges, dilapidations and so on and then report back regularly. We just sit back while they save us money.”