Valuation & Property Management

Roche Surveyors Enjoy Summer Team Building Evenings with Norwich Pétanque Club

Thank you to everyone that attended the second of our annual Pimms and Pétanque events at Hoveton Hall in glorious sunshine last week to compete for the Roche Cup, first played for 30 years ago in 1995.

Congratulations go to the ‘Paris Pitchers’, the winning team of Adam Smith, Andy Howard, Alice Liddle and Chris Williams, appropriately captained by James Allen in his last competition as a member of the Roche team.

In an evening of light-hearted but keen rivalry, additional prizes were also awarded to Diane Harber, Tim Place, Chris Cubitt and Simon Watson for making the extra effort with their Gallic attire and being adjudged the best dressed players.

The guests included several Roche alumnae as well as James Allen’s clients and associates. James presented the prizes and gave a speech with anecdotes from his 35 years at Roche, thanking clients, professional contacts and colleagues past and present for their support over his career at the firm. 

Pimm’s and Pétanque 2025 Championships – Week 1

Thank you to everyone that attended the first week of our annual Pimm’s and Pétanque event at Hoveton Hall. Despite the forecast we ended up being incredibly lucky to be able to play all the games and run the event largely as normal, although the hand towels came in very handy.

Congratulations to the ‘Strasbourg Slingers’ team from Birketts, comprising Andrew Ridout, Thomas Maxey and Luke Gower, captained by the ever-competitive Adrian Fennell, for winning the Roche Shield. They have now achieved the rare feat of holding both the Shield and the Cup.

A special mention also to the ‘Bordeaux Bowlers’ team from Mills & Reeve (Callum Ross, Dani King and Amy Arkell-Hardwick) for making the extra effort with their costumes to be awarded the best dressed team.

We look forward to doing it all again next week and are keeping everything crossed for good weather.  

Norwich’s first dedicated indoor padel centre – Court de Padel

Roche Chartered Surveyors are delighted to have acted for the landlord in securing a new lease to Norwich’s first dedicated indoor padel centre. Court de Padel are expected to be up and running in the 29,000 sq ft property located at 5 Whiffler Road this September. The new centre will offer 6 doubles and 2 singles courts together with a social family zone.

Ben Common, Senior Surveyor at Roche said “This letting provides an exciting new leisure offering for Norwich and demonstrates the continued demand from national occupiers for industrial premises within the city. We were able to secure a long term lease for the landlord in a location that has now become a prominent leisure destination following the relocation of Highball Climbing Centre who are also located on site within the adjacent property”.

Managing Director, of Court De Padel, Alan Forsyth, stated, “It was great working with Ben at Roche to find the ideal location for our brand, and to house indoor Padel in Norwich.  We believe this location, with ample parking, and close to the city centre and the University of East Anglia, will be the perfect location for us to provide an excellent Padel experience for Norwich.  Our team are busy working away to ensure opening this summer.”  

High Street Property Refurbished

Roche’s Project and Building Consultancy team have delivered a major refurbishment of a prominent 5,800 sq ft Norwich City Centre retail property. The appointment included providing planning, design and project management of the scheme.

17-21 White Lion Street was formerly largely vacant with a dated frontage and difficult internal layout for efficient use of the space. Roche’s involvement has seen the external envelope comprehensively refurbished with balconies introduced to the upper floors to facilitate external seating and new windows and render applied to improve the appearance. The ground floor has had new shop frontage installed attracting the national high-end hot chocolate retailer Knoops to open their latest store.

The upper floors have been converted to open plan with planning permission for Use Class E, with the external balconies providing fantastic views over the city centre.

David Hall, Partner at Roche, said: “It has been great to be involved in a project to breathe new life into such a prominent city centre property and help retain the vibrancy of the Norwich retail scene. ”

Roche Chartered Surveyors Announces Key Promotions and Leadership Changes

We are excited to share several significant promotions and leadership changes, reflecting the ongoing growth and evolution of our team.

Graham Jones and David Hall, who have both made invaluable contributions as Salaried Partners, have been promoted to Equity Partners. Their elevation to this new role is a testament to their dedication and the pivotal roles they have played in our firm’s success.

In our Agency and Project and Building Consultancy teams, Ben Common and Sam Freakley have been promoted to Senior Surveyors. Ben’s work in the Agency team and Sam’s contributions to the Project and Building Consultancy team have been exceptional, and we are proud to see them step into these senior roles. Additionally, Hiedi Collis has been promoted to the position of Agency Surveyor, further strengthening our Agency team.

We also want to recognise the contributions of James Allen, our longest-serving Partner and former Senior Partner. After many years of outstanding service, James has chosen to step down from his Partner role to take on the position of Consultant. James will continue to serve his existing clients and oversee ongoing projects, ensuring continuity and maintaining the high standard of service that Roche is known for.

Our Managing Partner, Sam Kingston, says: “These promotions highlight the depth of talent within Roche and our commitment to recognising and rewarding the hard work and achievements of our team members. I am delighted to welcome Graham and David as Equity Partners and congratulate Sam, Ben, and Hiedi on their well-deserved promotions. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to James for his remarkable contributions and look forward to his continued involvement as a Consultant.”

Roche provides building consultancy for Fuel Studios

Roche have provided building consultancy advice at the property over a number years, including overseeing a number of major refurbishment projects, renewal of major mechanical and electrical services and planned maintenance. Due to this relationship, Roche have unique insight and knowledge of the property.

The owners of the property have taken the decision to sell the freehold of the property and wanted to provide a comprehensive seller’s pack to any interested parties.  David Hall MRICS, the partner heading Roche’s Project and Building Consultancy team undertook a full RICS compliant due diligence survey of the property, teaming up with external Mechanical and Electrical engineers to provide a report.

The client now has a fully detailed set of information to provide to any interested parties and give them a realistic view of the property, the issues it faces and the works required in the future to keep the property in good condition and compliant with all legislation and regulations.

David Hall said, ‘The property is large and complex with many challenges, our background knowledge of the property meant we were uniquely positioned to provide an in depth report providing a rounded picture of the condition and challenges the building faces. The speed of response from Roche and the team of consultants was important to meet the client’s tight time frames’.

Pimms & Petanque championships 2024

It was wonderful to host guests for our 28th annual Pimms & Petanque championships at the stunning Hoveton Hall estate.

Despite a rainy June, we were fortunate with the weather and even enjoyed rare sunshine as our guests came together for some very competitive play across two weeks.
In week one despite the occasional bout of drizzle we managed to get through all the group games and then the finals, with Ben Common’s team the ‘Marseille Musketeers’ (Norwich City Council, Peter Colby and Alan Boswell) emerging the victors to claim the prestigious Roche Shield with a dominant performance against Sam Kingston’s team the ‘Paris Pitchers’ (Price Bailey).

Special mention to the ‘Calais Chuckers’ (Leathes Prior Solicitors) for going the extra kilometre to claim the French Dressing for the best dressed team
In week two the group games were very competitive with the standings going down to points difference. In the finals, the champagne and much coveted Roche Cup went to the Birketts LLP team the ‘Lyon Lobbers’, captained by David Hall beating Adrian Fennell’s team the ‘Rouen Rollers’ (comprising FOUR Agency and Real Consulting).

Congratulations also go to the ‘Calais Chuckers’ (Mills & Reeve) for the extra special effort made with their French themed attire resulting in them claiming the French Dressing for the best dressed team.
Thank you to everyone for making it such a wonderful event, we are already looking forward to the 2025 championships.

New build industrial unit let at Snetterton Business Park 

Roche Chartered Surveyors has completed the letting of a new build 16,440 sq ft industrial unit on Plot 4 at Snetterton Business Park to M&A Coachworks, a supercar manufacturer-approved vehicle repair specialist. Acting on behalf of the Landlord, Roche were able to negotiate a new long term lease for the property in conjunction with Dangerfield Property who represented the Tenant.

Ben Common, Surveyor at Roche said “This represents an excellent outcome for our client and enables M&A Coachworks to expand their operations into East Anglia within this high specification new build unit. The business park has seen a significant amount of development and expansion over the last few years and has become an established centre for distribution and employment”.

Roche brings new redevelopment opportunity to the market

Roche has been instructed to seek offers for £3.95 million for a prime freehold city centre property.

Situated at 48/72 St Stephens Street, the subject property is on a highly prominent gateway location and sits on a key junction with the inner ring road.

The area is surrounded by student accommodation and in close proximity to some of Norwich’s most desirable housing.

St Stephens Street is Norwich’s high street and appeals to numerous retailers as well as benefiting from being the city’s primary bus route.

The property is within close proximity to Chantry Place shopping centre, two multi-storey car parks (NCP, St Stephens Street (264 spaces) and Chantry Place (1000 spaces)), Norwich bus station and large retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Superdrug, WHSmith and Iceland.

Formerly the Co-Op Department Store, the property spans 112,618sq ft (10,463 sq m) which has been divided into two retail stores – the former Poundland store and Wilkinsons.

Adrian Fennell, partner at Roche, comments: “This property provides significant potential and is situated in a prime location. Norwich is an affluent city, and this presents the perfect redevelopment opportunity for interested parties to capitalise on.”

Roche carried out a building survey on Grade I Listed former yarn mill for Jarrolds

Roche was engaged to carry out a comprehensive Building Survey to evaluate the condition of a Grade I Listed former yarn mill including the building fabric and any legal or regulatory issues facing the property.

Upon receiving instructions, the property was surveyed within two weeks and the findings were reported on within four weeks.

Located on Whitefriars in Norwich, the historical building was originally constructed as a yarn mill. Over its lifetime, it has been used for a variety of purposes and currently provides office accommodation over ground and five upper floors offering circa 28,000 sq. ft. of office and conferencing space.

A detailed survey report was provided to ensure the client is fully aware of the condition of the property and the challenges facing it over the coming years. All recommendations were accompanied by cost estimates, giving the client an extensive overview of the condition of the property, any works required to rectify issues and plan for the future being fully informed.

David Hall, Partner overseeing building surveying, commented: “It was fantastic to be involved in such a historically significant property and to be able to advise the client on the best strategies for its future preservation.”

David Hall, Partner at Roche