Text by Richard Cartwright. Photo by Donovan Torres

You’re a top civil servant, top job, well established, good pension -You’ve got it made man! But lo’ and behold, you give it all up and become jobless. All you’vegot is an idea to go it alone in the risky property world.... Some people are off their rocker, or very brave!!

He’s just celebrated a 21st birthday - his successful business, not him! He’s soon to be 58 years old, became a chartered surveyor in 1974 and a Fellow in 1986, (making him a proud RICS man), and now heads the BFA Group, which comprises BFA Valuers, BFA Estate Agents and BFA Management - not necessarily in that order. Just under thirty employees help to run the business, and to put it in a nut shell, things are going well. “Yes, I suppose I was quite brave. I was at the time Director of Crown Lands with the Gibraltar Government and just took the plunge.” Managing Director Brian Francis who, together with his wife, set up a business to see if they could make some progress in the development industry. “I already had some experience in the process from a Government standpoint, but I was keen to find out how it worked from the developer’s side.” The ICC building, Queensway Quay, Watergardens and one or two other places were just coming on stream and Brian could see development opportunities. He soon set about bringing interested parties together to form a consortium for what was about to take place. “Shortly after my getting off the ground I could see there was an opportunity to take advantage of a major development opportunity coming our way - the Montagu Basin reclamation project.” Brian was at the forefront of the Gibraltar Homes and Westside Developments, which created what was to become a watershed in low cost housing for the local population. Today almost half the local population own their own property. “It was not an easy exercise in one respect in particular, trying to convince prospective buyers to give it a go. Not surprisingly, they had concerns about the common areas of the estates. They feared they would not be looked after. When we explained that there would be management committees and that residents would have to contribute financially towards the upkeep of the properties in general, they came round to accepting the idea. Time has shown that things have worked out.”

Enter Maggie - always very pleasant and smartly dressed - Mifsud, Director of Sales and Marketing and boss at BFA Estate Agents, who joined Brian a couple of months into his venture way back in 1986. So where do you want to live? Well, for a start, ‘Get to know the facts and they will steer you in the right direction,’ as their publicity blurb informs. Anywhere from Both Worlds to Highcliffe House and everything in between, including looking forward to Mid Town, The Anchorage, King’s Wharf, Ocean Village and its neighbour and the ‘to come sometime in the future’ Eastside. They do rentals too. The BFA Estate Agents are next to The Methodist Church at the top end of Main Street. There you will be well attended by Maggie’s staff. Valerie, Shireen, Kyran, Zoe or, even Maggie herself if she’s not giving some open air advice in Main Street or is on leave, ten pin bowling!

BFA Estates, The Property Gallery, is Jackie’s domain, where she is ably assisted by Natalia and Melanie. They deal with the Spanish market and the hundreds of properties available to them. I had to ask about the `fishy stuff’ going on in Spain with private properties and if it was safe to buy there. “We have a group of reputable lawyers that we work with. That is key, a good lawyer,” sound advice from one of Brian’s sons. 34 yearold Mark is also a chartered surveyor, with a few ‘wins’ to his name. He obtained a First Class Honours degree at Westminster University and got the RICS Central London Prize for best student. Mark is also a member of the local band Seven Sins, which we hear so much about. Well, for his sins, he spends much of his time in Spain valuing residential properties at the higher end of the market where, I’m told, there have not been significant changes. Properties have held their value. I understand that looking out for a property that is on land given the ‘green light’ - so to speak - by the Junta and not a town council, is also a good piece of advice well worth bearing in mind.

So Mark is all set to take on much of Dad’s work, as Brian is beginning to take a bit of a back seat. The workload is increasing, valuation work such as rent reviews, lease renewals, smaller mortgage valuations and arbitration work, where their experience is invaluable. Apart from Land Property Services, who work for government, BFA are the largest on the Rock able to tackle these projects efficiently. “We do valuation work for banks and other lending institutions, developers and private clients.” Much of that means, if you know nothing about these matters like I don’t, that with BFA’s expertise clients can properly fund these schemes, especially as BFA becomes aware of projected developments early in the day. International institutions are also keen to contact BFA because of their well researched local knowledge. So because of this heavy workload BFA need to attract yet another surveyor or graduate who they would train to become a qualified Chartered Surveyor.

Well, this company just seems to have so much on its plate. BFA Management is also responsible for lots and lots of private estates, built before the war and after the war, around the Rock - management, maintenance and/or collection of rents. Yvonne Edmonds heads that team. Gloria, Audrey, Daniel and, yes, another of Brian’s sons, and another musician, Colin, who is Senior Estate Manager, are all kept on their toes with their bulky portfolios.

So we’ve pretty much gone full circle. BFA got started, I imagine, with a desk, typewriter, a couple of mugs and a kettle at Don Arcade and has ended up with very nice offices in Main Street, Casemates and Hadfield House in Library Street, where the bunch of hard-working individuals in administration include Heather, Gillaine, Susan, Gianna Claire, Elaine, Carl, Ashley, Christanne, Glynis, Zoe, Stephen, Pepe and, lest we forget, Vera, AnneMarie and Jeanice, the valuers’ PAs - and I hope everyone’s got a mention. They seem a contented lot!

As a result of a happy and prosperous family at BFA, who can enjoy subsidised membership of the Ocean Village Health Club and a private pension scheme funded by the company ( ‘not yet woken up to the reality private sector firms on the Rock,’ take note), what is required, Brian, for a continuous fruitful time ahead for all and sundry? “ Well, one thing is that despite the negative knock-on effect being felt in the property market elsewhere, Gib has not yet experienced the downturn and I think we will be alright. Demand still continues to exceed supply, including in office space. Gibraltar has the lowest homeownership rate in Europe. The Government has taken bold decisions with its plans for the airport and all the infrastructure there, and the Eastside and Midtown developments also augur well for the local economy. Despite the global recession, things are looking good and we should see consolidation in a few years of the progress made over the last fifteen or twenty years.” The little blip on the horizon, I’m led to understand, is the much awaited EU Court of Justice ruling on Corporation Tax Reforms, which, we hope they’re right, most analysts think we will succeed in, given the significance of the Court’s ruling in respect of the Portuguese island of The Azores. However, locally there is one issue that Managing Director Brian would like to see addressed. “I would very much like to see regulation in our sector, the property sector. Licensing is required so that estate agents should have proper clients’ accounts and professional indemnity is a must. Also, advertising needs to be regulated, so that, for instance, what’s being advertised lives up to what is being claimed. The finance centre is regulated so we should be also, as in the UK.”

Well, there are just under 50 of them locally - that’s estate agents - not all as professional as one would like, I’m told, and a mere handful of the other lot - valuers.

Clearly, prospects look positive for this professional outfit which is of ‘sound body and mind,’ if one is to follow in the footsteps of our sports enthusiast managing director, Brian Francis. He has marathons, rowing and cycling under his belt, and although retirement, he intimates, is not quite on the horizon, the company appears to be in good and enthusiastic hands.........

I’m hastily moved out of the boardroom. One of the boss’s busy sons has an estate management meeting!

© 2008 Insight Publications LTD