South West commercial property agent Simon West has retired from the profession after a career spanning 45 years, in which he earned the unofficial title of "Mr Dorset" from colleagues in the region.
A fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, West specialised in general agency, development and investment work, with colleagues paying tribute to the way he "goes about business quietly and efficiently, and always with his trademark sense of humour".
West is best known for his role in co-founding Dorset-based partnership Cowling & West in the 1980s alongside David Cowling. The Bournemouth company merged with national property consultancy Vail Williams in 2021, one of the biggest independents in the sector.
West's first deal in 1978 was for agency Goadsby & Harding, leasing an industrial unit to a double-glazing firm, Seyward Windows. The business is still trading from the same premises at Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole. He then left the firm to join surveyor friends in London, but as he puts it "got no further than Southampton".
West returned to the South West and was soon asked by another property consultancy to establish a market presence in Bournemouth. There he impressed clients and went on to set up Cowling & West in 1985.
West said about that time: "We had a lot of traction and the second half of the 1980s was a boom period for Cowling & West, with significant growth in a very positive market – you could not build and let property quick enough."
In his time leading the firm he also reflected on having to take difficult decisions during the recession of the early 1990s, when interest rates peaked at circa 15% and brought soaring repossessions.
“Residential went off a cliff in 1989 and commercial went the same way six months later. It was the worst time, up there with the global banking crisis of 2008, and we had to lay people off. These are people’s livelihoods you are in charge of. It is important to get it right in business because, if you don’t, people get hurt."
West, who is also a past president of Dorset Chamber, plans to spend his retirement tending to his 33-foot yacht berthed at a marina in Poole Harbour, in preparation for trips along the South Coast and across the English Channel.
He called commercial real estate a "wonderful industry" and added: "It is a people business and I am blessed to have worked with real characters, most of whom have been good to work for and have a sense of humour – a vital ingredient in our profession. I have genuinely enjoyed every minute of it."
Russell Miller, Vail William’s regional managing partner for the South Coast region, said it was "difficult to put into words" the contribution West had made to businesses.
"Simon is a gentleman of the industry; wise, trusted and highly respected by everyone who has had the privilege of working with him on deals. He has been incredibly supportive of the team at Vail Williams, of which he was a consultant, freely imparting knowledge and experience to grateful colleagues at the Bournemouth office.
"There are around 52,000 businesses in Dorset, including some 250 multinational businesses, and Simon has played a part in the future of many of them."