About
John Watkins founded Central Property Estates in 1998 which he closed at the end of 2013. He formed Central Real Estate LLP in 2014, which was replaced by Central Real Estate Limited in March 2020, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise in Property Consulting.
John is a Chartered Surveyor who began his career with property agents Hartnell Taylor in Bristol where he dealt with a wide range of property activities in the Bristol Area.
After working in Bristol John moved to London to join the property division of J Lyons and Company Limited. There he gained substantial experience of working with a large corporate. During his time with J Lyons, John dealt with property valuation, acquisition, development and sales work. He was responsible for rationalising the J Lyons property portfolio and headed the team responsible for the property assets of the J Lyons Pension Fund.
After 10 years with the J Lyons property portfolio, John moved to Warwickshire to work for a property development company which shortly thereafter acquired effective control of Five Oaks Investments PLC.
John became Managing Director of Five Oaks and built this property development and investment company in to an active company with gross assets of over £65 million and a development portfolio which carried out some £129 million worth of developments. Five Oaks’ advisers included Robert Fleming and Co Ltd, UBS Limited, Lloyds Bank Plc and Clifford Chance. The principal shareholders were British Land and UBS. This company was sold to Milner Estates plc in March 1998.
After the sale of Five Oaks’, John set up Central Property Estates, providing his expertise to property owners and corporates alike. Since its formation John has advised institutions, corporates, pension funds and private investors on their property portfolios. Between 1993 – 2000 John was a Consultant to the Property Division of The National Grid Company PLC and was a non executive Director of NGC Properties Limited, its development and trading company, for the majority of that period. At the end of 2013 Central Property Estates was closed. John formed Central Real Estate LLP in 2014, this was closed and replaced by Central Real Estate Limited in March 2020. John Watkins is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of The Chartered Management Institute.