Talented teams and individuals are set to drive the growth of one of the UK’s most influential family businesses based in the West Midlands.
Bassi Capital, the group company for property brands such as Bond Wolfe, Watling Real Estate, CBGA Property Management and Bond Wolfe Bridging Finance, as well as leisure and hospital business such as Asha’s Restaurant, is anticipating accelerated growth across 2024.
The group is currently talking to a number of senior talented individuals and entire departments across key property sectors, with announcements likely in the first quarter of 2024.
Chief executive Gurpreet Bassi said that while 2023 was a year of unprecedented growth for Bassi Capital, 2024 was already set to surpass that.
Sales across the group including Bond Wolfe and Watling Real Estate totalled £330 million.
“During 2023 we brought CGBA Property Management into the fold and have seen the business grow to where we currently have £3 billion of commercial property under management, with some flagship announcements to come early in the New Year.
“In June we backed the management buyout of the former real estate restructuring division of Avison Young.
“The business was relaunched as Watling Real Estate and is headquartered in London with a network of offices in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol, providing national coverage with the benefit of local and regional expertise.
“It has made tremendous strides under its new, young and enterprising management with major instructions for Watling Real Estate including a portfolio of 25 hotels and pubs in the North East.”
He said that Watling Real Estate had sold around £150 million since its launch on 1 June 2023, with a very active pipeline and completions pending in the New Year.
But the engine room of Bassi Capital is Bond Wolfe, which once again performed magnificently.
The auctions division raised an impressive £150,642,410 million in sales across seven auctions in the last 12 months, selling 963 lots from the 1,116 offered – an industry leading success rate of 86%.
On top of this, the commercial agency side of the business added another £28.15 million, taking Bond Wolfe’s total property sales to £178,792,410 for the year.
Gurpreet Bassi said: “The agency side, under the direction of James Mattin, starts the year with over 200 live instructions, making it one of the most active property agencies in the Midlands.”
But as well as generic growth within the existing businesses, Mr Bassi said he expected a major influx of talent to drive the group’s expansion in 2024.
“We are open for business. We have a young and driven management team that has its eyes set on the prize, and this opens the door for talented individuals and their teams to come and join us.
“Together, we can grow both their business and their aspirations for success.”
Paul Bassi, who founded Bond Wolfe in 1983 with the late Rory Daly, has been pleased to pass the day-to-day running of Bassi Capital and Bond Wolfe to the management team of Gurpreet Bassi, Bobby Bassi and James Mattin.
He said: “I continue to take a close interest in all our plans and developments, but my focus now is on our plans for the quoted property business, Real Estate Investors plc, the only Midlands-focused real estate investment trust, which has a £165 million property portfolio.
“Many of the Bassi Capital team are also shareholders and REI is very much our public face to the market.”
Bassi Capital also has a number of other interests in the hospitality and leisure sector, particularly the legendary Asha’s Restaurant in central Birmingham – a firm favourite of celebrities including Tom Cruise and the Rolling Stones when they are in town.
