Growing valuations and disposals firm Pantera Property, based in Harrogate, has appointed property expert Colin Fell as non-executive chairman.

With over 40 years of building and developing property agency businesses, Mr Fell was responsible for growing King Sturge’s Leeds office from five to more than 100 people, before the firm was sold to JLL for over £200m in 2011. He then became JLL’s regional non-executive chairman for Yorkshire and the North East.

Tom Snook, Pantera Property managing director, said: “Although 2020 was an incredibly difficult year for us as for so many businesses, Pantera has never been busier than in the last four to six months of 2020 and we look set to taking that momentum into 2021. Colin’s vast experience in helping to build firms in our sector will be invaluable to us as we scale up in the months and years ahead.”

He added: “Unfortunately, the economic fallout of the pandemic is likely to trigger increasing numbers of distressed properties, with insolvency rates set to rise in the second half of this year. Colin’s appointment, with his four decades of property industry experience, will also enable us to prepare for what looks likely to be an extremely busy period for Pantera.”

Founded in 2016 by chartered surveyor Tom Snook, Pantera Property employs 13 people across its Harrogate and London offices. In 2020 the firm acquired Chelmsford-based Jordan Property Matters. Colin Fell is also non-executive chairman of Birmingham-based Elevation Wealth Management.