Key appointments made to agency’s relaunched lettings division

Just weeks after announcing that it was launching a new residential lettings and property management division, regional agency Dacre, Son & Hartley has made two new appointments to support the new offering.

Dacres has appointed Joanna Speight as a senior lettings manager in its Ilkley office and Chelsey Illingworth has joined the firm’s Harrogate office as a property manager.

Speight has spent more than two decades working in property rentals in the Wharfe Valley, including eight years at Dacres between 2012 and 2020, prior to the company’s previous lettings division being acquired. She has always lived in the surrounding area, which further enhances her knowledge of the local market.

Illingworth brings over 15 years’ experience in the lettings and property management sector to her new role, after working in both North and West Yorkshire for several well-known property companies.

Dacres launched its lettings division in early February, specialising in high quality and premium rental property in towns and villages surrounding Harrogate, Ilkley and York. Its services for landlords include both a fully managed offering and a tenant sourcing service.

The team is headed up by Sophie Tillisch, who is based at the firm’s Harrogate office. She has worked at Dacres for nine years and has more than 15 years’ experience in both property rentals and sales. The fourth member of the team heads Dacres’ York office. Neil McGroarty deals with both rental listings and property sales in the city, after previously working for two other high profile estate agents in York.

Tillisch comments: “Although it’s early days, our new lettings division is already generating lots of interest from landlords wanting a bespoke range of services from a well-established Yorkshire based estate agent with a large online reach that’s complemented offline by our extensive branch network.

“Establishing dedicated local teams in Ilkley and Harrogate, with the appointment of Joanna and Chelsey, further strengthens our offering in both towns as we begin to build our market share. Crucially, they both bring a wealth of experience to their new roles and have a thorough understanding of the lettings market, making them the perfect people to represent landlords and ensure their investments are successful, at a time when demand from tenants is higher than ever, so they’re very welcome additions to our team.”

Dacre, Son & Hartley was founded more than 200 years ago and is Yorkshire’s largest independent estate agent with 20 offices across North and West Yorkshire.