Estate agency in the UK has a major new player joining the fray after one of Nigeria’s leading surveying and property firms revealed it is to establish a presence here.

Multi discipllinary firm Jide Taiwo & Co has 41 offices in Nigeria, 400 staff and was established in 1980.

The estate agency is to open for business in the UK with an initial online offering with an office on Baker Street in central London, the firm’s first foray outside its home country.

Its new office will be managed by Olawunmi Olashore (main picture), the firm’s Head of International Markets.

She and her team will be offering services across several disciplines including sales and lettings, valuation as well as property, facility, project and development management.

Estate agency

Olashore knows the UK well having completed her BA and MA degrees at the universities of Cardiff and Kent respectively, and is MRICS qualified. She has worked as an estate agent since 2013.

Jide Taiwo’s MD Ibrahim Mohammed says: “We have already been assisting some clients overseas, for example in Dubai and London, with great success.

“It seemed a logical next step to bring our quality service closer to our international client base and offer them a talented and experienced team enabled with the best technology.

“Our ability to connect our clients’ portfolios across borders gives the added benefit of a single well-managed portfolio providing optimal returns.”

His company is only one of a handful to have tried gaining a foothold within the international-orientated London market. Most recently German firm Engel & Volkers returned to London after quitting in August 2019.