CEO MONTHLY / Global CEO Excellence Awards 2022 14 Commercial Property Business Leader of the Year 2022 (UK): Graham Chase Graham Chase has been running his own business, Chase & Partners since 1995, which covers all aspects of commercial property and provides a comprehensive range of services that are tailored to match individual client requirements. These clients include the likes of retailers, businesses, institutions, government and statutory bodies, local authorities, independents, and private individuals. In light of Graham’s success within the Global CEO Excellence Awards 2022, we got in touch with the man himself to learn more about the company and his career. raham Chase’s professional career within the commercial property sector stems back to 1975 when he worked with the BBC as a property manager and building surveyor. In 1978, he specialised in retail and leisure property and went on to work for Ladbroke Racing Ltd, Clive Lewis & Partners, and Colliers Erman Lewis, before starting his own business, Chase & Partners in 1995. Graham and his team at Chase & Partners are commercial property consultants who, combined, have more than 100 years’ experience in a range of areas, including agency acquisitions and sales, landlords and tenants, valuations, compulsory purchase and compensation, expert witness, and much more. This extensive experience coupled with personal advice on high-end value properties ranging from £5m to £100m truly puts clients of the company at an advantage. On the legal front Graham is an experienced expert witness who has appeared in Planning Tribunals, the Lands Tribunal (Upper Tribunal – Lands) and the High Court for nearly 40 years. In one well known Lands tribunal case he was subjected to some 21 days of cross examination, reportedly the second longest cross examination in the history of the Tribunal. A key to his success in this area is an examination of the client’s position up front and then an honest discussion with the client and his legal team on where Graham’s professional opinion lies, as he only accepts an instruction where his opinion sits squarely with the client’s case. Following on from this activity, Graham, after some persuasion by the RICS, agreed to train as an arbitrator and independent expert in Alternative Dispute Resolution. He followed that up by training and completing his qualification as a Chartered Arbitrator with the CIArb and has sat on both Institutions Dispute Resolution Panels for some 20 years. He has delivered many awards and determinations on a wide range of property disputes and recently was appointed as one of the 3 panel arbitrators, chaired by Lord Neuberger, on the Ministry of Defence rent review dispute following the controversial sale of the estate by Michael Portillo in 1996 of some 57,400-armed forces homes on a long lease. Another celebrated case where Graham acted as the Independent Expert was on the value of assets in the transfer of ownership of Sheffield United FC. In order to ensure top service for each client, the Chase & Partners team works with strong discipline and acts with integrity, honesty, and humility. They make sure they understand what drives the client and what their overall objective is, while being honest and using professional opinion to advise on alternative options as necessary. Most importantly, they go the extra mile, are polite, understanding, and considerate at all times, and appreciate that any instruction is ultimately in the client’s ownership. Having been in a position of leadership since the age of 30 and floated companies on the London stock market, Graham Chase has an extensive understanding of the commercial property industry. He comments, “Success is invariably the result of the ability of others I work with and my ability to understand and work with them on a cooperative and supportive basis as part of a team.” Graham leads his team with what he describes as a “simple” style, making sure that everything is discussed and agreed with every staff member. Where agreement cannot be reached, this is noted with options identified to monitor and adapt as circumstances change. Graham shares, “As Chairman and CEO, my role is to explain, listen, and then make decisions based on the best outcome of discussions, as the most important requirement is May22234 G
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