Record annual sales for West Midlands group

Bassi Capital, the group company for property brands such as property company Bond Wolfe, Watling Real Estate, CBGA Property Management and Bond Wolfe Bridging Finance, as well as leisure and hospital business such as Asha’s Restaurant, is anticipating accelerated growth across 2024.

Sales across the group including Birmingham-based Bond Wolfe and Watling Real Estate totalled a record £330 million last year.

The group is currently talking to a number of senior talented individuals and entire departments across key property sectors, with announcements likely in the first quarter of 2024.

Chief executive Gurpreet Bassi said that while 2023 was a year of unprecedented growth for Bassi Capital, 2024 was already set to surpass that.

“During 2023 we brought CGBA Property Management into the fold and have seen the business grow to where we currently have £3 billion of commercial property under management, with some flagship announcements to come early in the New Year.

“In June we backed the management buyout of the former real estate restructuring division of Avison Young.

“The business was relaunched as Watling Real Estate and is headquartered in London with a network of offices in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol, providing national coverage with the benefit of local and regional expertise.

“It has made tremendous strides under its new, young and enterprising management with major instructions for Watling Real Estate including a portfolio of 25 hotels and pubs in the North East.”

He said that Watling Real Estate had sold around £150m since its launch on June 1, with a very active pipeline and completions pending this year.

But the engine room of Bassi Capital is Bond Wolfe, which once again performed magnificently.

The company, which originally started in West Bromwich in 1983, saw its auctions division raise an impressive £150m in sales across seven auctions in the last 12 months.

On top of this, the commercial agency side of the business, which also has offices in West Bromwich and Wolverhampton, added another £28.1m, taking Bond Wolfe’s total property sales to £178.7m for the year.

Gurpreet Bassi said: “The agency side, under the direction of James Mattin, starts the year with over 200 live instructions, making it one of the most active property agencies in the Midlands.”

Mr Bassi said he expected a major influx of talent to drive the group’s expansion in 2024.

“We are open for business. We have a young and driven management team that has its eyes set on the prize, and this opens the door for talented individuals and their teams to come and join us.

“Together, we can grow both their business and their aspirations for success.”

Paul Bassi, originally from Hagley, near Stourbridge, who founded Bond Wolfe in 1983 with the late Rory Daly, has been pleased to pass the day-to-day running of Bassi Capital and Bond Wolfe to the management team of Gurpreet Bassi, Bobby Bassi and James Mattin.

He said: “I continue to take a close interest in all our plans and developments, but my focus now is on our plans for the quoted property business, Real Estate Investors, the only Midlands-focused real estate investment trust, which has a £165m property portfolio.

“Many of the Bassi Capital team are also shareholders and REI is very much our public face to the market.”

Bassi Capital also has a number of other interests in the hospitality and leisure sector, particularly the legendary Asha’s Restaurant in central Birmingham – a firm favourite of celebrities including Tom Cruise and the Rolling Stones when they are in town.