News Thomas joins


town lawyers MAIDSTONE law firm Brachers has appointed Thomas Hall as its newchief operating officer. Mr Hall, who started on July 1,


willwork alongside themanaging partner and the board “to drive growth and change”. He took up the new position on


July 1, following six years at inter- national


Sutherland LLP. Managing partner,


law firm, Eversheds Joanna


Worby, said: “Brachers is excitedto welcome Thomas to our teamand is fortunate to have the benefit of his experience and expertise.” MrHall said: “This is a fantastic


opportunity for me to share my skills and experiencewithmy new colleagues and I look forward to being a positive asset to the firm and our clients.”


Life saving gift


ALIFE saving piece of equipment worth £51,000 has been bought for Maidstone Hospital’s Emer- gency Department, thanks to the league of friends. The charity funded the portable


Sonosite X-Porte ultrasound ma- chine, which allows doctors to scan patients for a collapsed lung and blood in the abdomen or chest. These are symptomatic of conditions including abdominal aortic aneurysm – a bulge in the aorta that can cause life-threaten- ing bleeding if it bursts. It also provides images that


help staff place chest drains and find veins to administer drugs. The hospital trust thanked


Maidstone Hospital League of Friends for its generosit, adding: “This wonderful piece of kit has been used every day and has made a life-changing difference to numerous patients.”


Health debate


THEpublic canput their questions about health provision in the area to the chairman ofMaidstone and TunbridgeWellsNHS Trust. Board chairman David Highton


will take questions at an open ses- sion starting at 7.30pm. It will fol- low presentations by the Trust’s chief executive Miles Scott and fi- nance chief SteveOrpin. The meeting – the Trust’s AGM


– is in The Auditorium, The Aca- demicCentre,MaidstoneHospital, Hermitage Lane, from 6.30pm – 8pm, onWednesday, September 4. Those wishing to attend should


email assistant trust secretary claire.barnett2@nhs.net.


14 Dads play golf to boost school fund


IT STARTED as a normal Friday morning school run, but ended in an all-day golf tournament. Thirty dads from Thurnham and Roseacre schools


hit the greens at Tudor Park for a sports bonanza and some serious fundraising on July 19. Local businesses had agreed to sponsor holes and provide five trophieswhich included thewinner’s cup,


Maidstone Weald September 2019


longest drive and nearest the pin. Richard Turnill, one of the event organisers and a


parent governor at Thurnham School, told Downs Mail: “Final calculations are still being done, but we raised in excess of £1,800. The money will go to Friends of Thurnham, the school PTA.” The overall winner on the day wasMattMortimer.


downsmail.co.uk


Brexit ‘is not to blame for house sales slump’


MAIDSTONE auctioneerClive Emson has rejected claims that fears over Brexit are rocking the housingmarket. The celebrity TV property ex-


pert says blaming Britain’s im- pending split from Europe as the root cause for “flatlining” house sales and prices is too simplistic. Instead, he cites a hike in stamp


duty, toughmortgage application processes, and newrestrictions on landlords as having a bigger im- pact nationally. And locally, he says the surge


in housebuilding will inevitably dampen the market as greater supply reduces demand. He told Downs Mail: “With all


these other pressures, it’s far too simplistic just to blame Brexit. “If we really want to boost the


housingmarket,we have tomake buying property easier. It takes an average of 132 days between an offer being made and exchang- ing… a lot of things can happen during that time… people die, change theirminds, get divorced. It’s too long.” Mr Emson’s comments came as


the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) claimed its lat- est Residential Market Survey showed prices and saleswere los- ing momentum “as concerns, clearly voiced in the anecdotal feedback, both about Brexit and


political uncertainty heighten”. Simon Rubinsohn, RICS’ chief


economist, said: “The latest RICS results will provide little comfort for themarketwith all the key in- dicators prettymuch flatlining.” Mr Emson, himself a RICS


member, is chairman of a south- ern England auction empire that currently operates from Rocky Hill, and out of Bearsted before that. He said: “Our July auction was


our best for three years. We sold more than £22.5mworth of prop- erty and 80%was soldwithin four weeks,much of it above the guide


price. There were no signs of Brexit uncertainty there.” However, he did caution some


estate agents against distorting the market by over-egging a home’s value in a bid to secure a prospective client’s custom. “There are estate agents out


there who will overvalue a prop- erty just to get the business,” he said. “So sellers put their property on


the market at an unrealistic price then, when it doesn’t sell, some analyst blames Brexit… but it wasn’t down to Brexit, it was down to dumb advice.”


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