Vail Williams has announced four key promotions across the Thames Valley, Surrey and the South Coast.

Charlie Nicholson (pictured top left) has become regional managing partner for the Surrey region, based in Woking.

Charlie has 20 years’ experience in the UK property market, specialising in the acquisition and disposal of commercial property.

He has expertise in the disposal of office, industrial and mixed-use schemes across the Surrey, Thames Valley and Heathrow regions on behalf of both occupiers and landlords.

He also represents a number of businesses in the acquisition of premises or development land for design and build opportunities.

His experience includes leasing campaigns across various mixed-use business parks, and, as a partner within the agency team, developing a reliable corporate client base.

David Podesta (pictured top right) has been promoted to head of development, based in the firm’s South Coast region.

He joined the firm as an associate in 2024 and has more than 25 years’ experience in the property world. He has worked extensively in residential development and as an estate manager for a Russell Group University.

Southampton-based David has experience of both residential and commercial asset classes. His property background includes expertise in estate/asset management, lease advisory, disposals and acquisitions, facilities management and, most recently, residential development.

He has particular expertise in the purpose-build student accommodation sector, having worked on projects that have delivered more than 2,500 beds of student accommodation.

He also has a specific interest in regeneration and working with clients to masterplan their landholdings to optimise the value from urban brownfield sites.

Matt Doe (pictured bottom left) has been promoted from associate to partner in Vail Williams’ Thames Valley region.

A lease advisory expert, Matt is responsible for supporting occupier and landlord clients with their lease review, renewal and restructuring needs.

He joined Vail Williams in 2021 from Smith Price RRG, where he spent seven years specialising in lease advisory work for owners and occupiers of retail property across the UK.

Reading-based Matt has been responsible for helping landlord clients maximise rental income, while supporting occupier clients in mitigating occupational costs at rent review and lease renewal.

He also provides advice in relation to lease restructuring opportunities, with a focus on the industrial and office markets in the South East.

George O’Connor (pictured bottom right) has been promoted to surveyor level 2 in the Surrey region. He joined Vail Williams in 2021 as a graduate surveyor having graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in real estate.

Based in Woking, he supports the wider agency team in the renting, letting, acquisition and disposal of commercial property. He provides multi-disciplinary commercial agency services across the Surrey region and progressing towards his qualifications with the support of Vail Williams.

Matthew Samuel-Camps, Vail Williams managing partner, said: “I firmly believe that Vail Williams is nothing without its people and thus it is very much incumbent upon us to develop and retain our top talent to provide the impetus to further grow the business across all sectors.

“These four promoted colleagues add significant value to our business and we congratulate them for this career advancement. They are part of a very talented, dedicated and hard-working team across all disciplines at Vail Williams.”

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