Fifteen Years of Craigard

Craigard is a vibrant and opportunist organisation adept at looking ahead to future market trends. 

In our formative years the overheated investment market led us to target vacant properties for enhancement and refurbishment where there was a balance of risk and return. Over 600,000 sq ft of primarily industrial property was either let or sold in our first three years.  

We then battened down the hatches through the worst of the economic storms between 2008 and 2010 – letting up any vacant space and stabilising bank debt. 

Since then we have contracted about £86million of acquisitions, secured around £68million of private equity and exited twenty projects with a value very close to £65million. We have an exciting twenty one asset portfolio under management valued at just under £50million.
 
In 2019 we saw an overheated investment market aligned with Brexit uncertainties, and as a consequence we adopted a more cautious approach to new acquisitions.  Economic recession as a consequence of the Covid19 pandemic will further impact on tenant demand so our caution was fortuitus.  We now expect a stalled occupier market but do expect to see select opportunities over the coming months.

We endeavour to bring inspiration to our projects and aim to add value in a proactive and focused style. There are, as a result, some sparkling successes in our story and robust recovery plays made from the depths of the recession.

Our progress over fifteen years has been built on a philosophy of thoughtful identification of opportunities, careful analysis with particular attention to detail, and hard graft.

Track Record

David and Paul Foster Web 2
Paul and David Foster

Grounded in comprehensive experience over 40 years within the industry-chartered surveyor Paul Foster founded Craigard in 2005. Paul built an impressive track record with IM Properties over 15 years, handling and securing many major deals and playing a leading role in the strategic direction of the company’s growth from £15m to £500m of assets over that period. With the desire to be back by the sea and his sailing, Paul returned to the south to use his experience, contacts and local knowledge to put Craigard on the map. Paul remains as an active consultant.

In 2015 Paul was joined by his son, David. Also a Chartered Surveyor, David brought over eight years of experience, primarily in the Business Space sector. He has both local experience on the South Coast with Lambert Smith Hampton, and most recently national experience based in London with Cushman and Wakefield. He was part of the Property Week Industrial Agency Team of the Year 2014, and has worked for both occupiers (including SIG PLC, Ford, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer's) and Landlords (including M&G Real Estate, AVIVA, SEGRO, Exton Estates and Hutchison Ports). After four years in the business, and working closely with his father, David took over the day-to-day management of Craigard in the Summer of 2019.