Teesside commercial property firms join forces after acquisition

February 5th 2025

Stockton-based Portland Estates Management has acquired Dodds Brown, Teesside’s 130-year-old commercial property business.

The directors believe the joining together of the two teams will set it apart from its competitors.

Portland specialises in property management. Staff from Dodds Brown bring an expertise in selling and letting commercial buildings, managing property and providing landlord and tenant services.

“We believe we’ve got every base covered,” said director Barbara Blenkinsop. “This is a very exciting step and we’re delighted to have joined forces with such a respected and well-known business as Dodds Brown.

“Over the years both Portland and Dodds Brown have acquired clients from longer established surveying companies because we provide a hands-on approach with transparent communication and a proactive service. We know clients want and prefer that.”

She added: “We’ve each also cherry picked very good individuals to build a group of like-minded people and it’s going to be great to see them work together.”

All employees have been retained and the combined team now numbers 14. Staff from Dodds Brown are moving to Portland’s refurbished offices in Stockton with its meeting spaces, conference suite and car parking. Dodds Brown’s office in Middlesbrough’s Albert Road will be sold.

A new role has been created to ensure a smooth transition of the facilities management teams and further positions are likely to be created.

The Dodds Brown partnership has been operating in excess of 130 years and originally based in Stockton.

Its former Senior Partner Stephen Brown is becoming a consultant and will continue to advise his clients.

“I could not be prouder of the business which has carried my family’s name for so long,” he said. “The joining together of Portland and Dodds Brown is fantastic news for the Tees Valley and beyond, where people are crying out for the services it will provide.”

Portland Estates Management was part of Robertson Simpson Ltd before becoming an independent company in 2020. Its clients include the Mandale Group, Rentokil and Landteam Property Investments. Portland also manages properties for clients in other parts of the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire and has a second office in Gateshead.

Olly Lawson from Portland joins Barbara as a director alongside Richard Wilson from Dodds Brown.

Richard, who was once a colleague of Barbara, works with companies such as Thirteen, AV Dawson and Ashall Properties. He said the acquisition creates the only full service agency – both managing property and buying, selling and letting - in the Tees Valley. Combining the businesses creates greater resources which in turn will provide a more efficient delivery of services to clients.

“We’ll have a team of in-house accountants, facility managers and valuers and will not outsource functions,” said Richard. “We believe that is so important to the smooth running of our clients’ operations who, crucially, will always know who they’re dealing with. It’s going to be a focused team working together in one office.”

Olly Lawson, who has previous experience in facilitating acquisitions, said: “I’m really looking forward to bringing all these skilled people together under one roof, taking advantage of economies of scale and sharing best working practices.”

He added: “We’ll continue to look outside the Tees Valley but this area has begun to take off and we want to play our role – as the only local agency of its kind – to ensure that business owners, their staff and their families see the benefits of the investment they’re going to make.”