Retail Property - Belfast estate agent bought out by directors

Directors at commercial estate agency Lambert Smith Hampton's Belfast outpost have staged a management buyout of the office.

Keith Shiells, Paddy Brennan, Paul Thornton and Douglas Wheeler have launched themselves as BTWShiells.

The business is the main letting and managing agent for 'most of Northern Ireland's major shopping centres', including Forestside, Abbeycentre, Ards Centre, Foyleside and the proposed Cathedral Way in Belfast's Royal Avenue.

The four directors bought the business from Lambert Smith Hampton's parent, Atkins. Established in 1978 and acquired by Lambert Smith Hampton in 1988, it is the largest commercial estate agent in Northern Ireland and employs 50 people.