Another Professional
Mills Fitchet Team -
Mills Fitchet (KZN)

Combining the sharp thrust of commercial property valuations and today’s “binge working” with the desire to claw back some work-life balance, resulted in setting up the Dargle office 10 years ago in the Midlands of KwaZulu Natal. An area within easy reach of both Durban and Johannesburg that has attracted a flotilla of corporate consultants.

Today the office has a strong and stable practice within the Mills Fitchet Group. Our core specialisation is relatively complex valuation instructions throughout South Africa and in particular:

• shopping centres
• commercial and industrial property
• hotels
• hospitals

Some of the larger instructions include Canal Walk, Lakeside Mall, The Glen Shopping Centre, Golden Walk, Woodlands Office Park, Lanseria airport, The Colony and the Home Centre in Durban. We value numerous shopping centres on an annual basis for various listed funds.

We also provide advice to Pension Funds, act for most of the major banks, a number of public companies, firms of accountants and various listed funds. We currently value in excess of R2-billion of property assets held by listed funds on an annual basis.

The office has been deliberately kept small and simple with a staff of only four. Tom prefers to team up with the other Mills Fitchet offices on larger projects or matrix with other firms of consultants. Working within such a matrix has given us access to an enormous research database. Over 75% of the office fees are generated from corporate clients in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Tom is a Chartered Valuation Surveyor. He has spent 26 years as a valuation and property consultant and gained extensive experience with various international firms in London, Vancouver and Sydney. He also ran a professional practice in Johannesburg and Cape Town before setting up the current office.

As a Chartered Surveyor with a degree from Central London University in Urban Land Economics and Masters from Reading University, he places a strong emphasis on research, the quality of report writing and the need to conform to international standards.

This is an ethos that he shares with the other associates and one that is rigidly maintained by a policy of in-house consultation and teamwork. Extensive exposure to litigation and review appraisals has contributed to this standard. The continual scrutiny by external auditors and the need to comply with JSE standards is seen as a welcome requirement.

Tom specialises in discounted cashflow (DCF) valuations and was awarded a distinction for the DCF modelling he submitted for his MSc. He has been using MDA for the last 10-years and sees it as a critically important tool in the valuation of larger more complex property.