GALBRAITH'S rural business team has welcomed experienced land agent Alice Wilson to the Ayr office.

Alice joins the firm having spent the last three years working as a chartered rural surveyor in Yorkshire, before which she grew up on a family run dairy farm in South Ayrshire, where her passion for rural affairs developed.

The Galbraith rural team specialise in helping clients with estate, farm and forestry assets, and currently provide advice on interests totalling some three million acres from their offices across Scotland.

Speaking of her appointment, Alice said: “I’m thrilled to join the Galbraith rural team and make a return to Ayrshire. Galbraith is a well-established and highly respected firm and to be part of a team that undertakes a diverse range of rural work across Scotland was an exciting prospect. My role will entail undertaking valuations, utility work and estate management amongst other general land agency work.

“Ayrshire is a particularly interesting region to be based from, with there being many ongoing rural issues such as the recent struggles in the dairy sector which have been most evident in the south west of Scotland. However, in the past few months we have experienced an increased interest in land and farms for dairy following a rise in milk prices during the latter half of 2016.

Partner at Galbraith Ian Hope commented: “We are delighted to welcome Alice to the Ayr office and our rural team. Galbraith continually invests in new talent and high calibre rural advisers and given Alice’s wealth of experience she is certain to be of real value to the company and our clients.

“Healthy competition within the Scottish rural market is likely to continue throughout 2017 due to the associated tax relief, historically low interest rates and the number of farmers keen to expand their existing operations. Therefore, bare land values are also likely to be maintained over the next 12 to 18 months making this a very exciting time to be expanding our rural team.”