Lisbeth Macmillan, chair of the trustees of Kilravock Trust SCIO, said: “We approached Galbraith as we were impressed by their local knowledge and extensive experience in dealing with the sale of large estates in Scotland”.

 

Outlining the work undertaken by Galbraith, Lisbeth continued: “Galbraith has undertaken two separate activities but with both sides working closely together:

 

“Estate management - taking over the management of our 550-acre estate including several farms, agricultural land, woodland, tenanted residential properties and the management of a Grade A-listed castle and historical artefacts.  This included working closely with our accountants to rectify any issues with tenants.  They also dealt with other local landowners on boundary discussions. Dougal was personally involved with the local community liaison and Georgie (Milne) did a diligent job of managing the various aspects.

 

“In terms of the sale of the estate – the team gave recommendations on the best approach to maximize interest in the sale, with a decision taken to segment the estate into different lots.  This involved the sale of the Grade A-listed castle and immediate surrounds, tenanted properties, empty residential properties, farms and tenanted agricultural land (including reaching agreement with the tenant farmers).  Rod and Dougal were closely involved in the different transactions, providing very good advice and regular updates.”

 

Rod, who led on the sale of the estate, said: “The estate, although not large, is complex, with various management legacies that needed to be worked through in order that each element was as attractive and saleable as possible. 

“This meant the agency and management teams had to work closely together, to optimise the value of the property as a whole. There are very few firms that can offer this joined-up approach, which is one of our particular strengths. The overall result was the very successful sale of a multi-faceted estate”.

 

Lisbeth added: “I would highly recommend Galbraith for either estate management or the sale of a country estate.  They are very knowledgeable with a wide range of expertise to call on within their practice. 

 

“They are proactive but also careful to provide regular updates to keep us fully informed of progress.  We were able to exceed our expectations on the ultimate sale price through careful planning on the optimal sales approach to the different aspects of the estate. 

 

“Galbraith also helped us to manage the transition to the new owner - particularly in relation to communication with our tenants - which helped to ensure that the new purchaser had the best start in their ownership of this historic estate”.