PROPERTY group Chesterton has gone into receivership with the loss of 300 jobs, including over 30 in Manchester.

The firm, one of the leading firms of surveyors and residential estate agents in the country, ran into trouble on its commercial property side and has been making heavy losses.

It is the commercial arm, which in the last seven months has posted a loss of '2m, which has borne the brunt of the job losses. The Manchester office at St James's Square has been closed with the loss of 34 jobs.

Receiver Nigel Morrison from Grant Thornton said: "Chesterton has been making significant losses over the past few years, partly due to the competitive trading environment particularly in commercial property and partly due to the level of rent voids.

"As a consequence its cash flow has been under pressure. Approximately 300 staff have been made redundant by the receivers to streamline the commercial business."

Mr Morrison said there had already been a number of serious expressions of interest in the residential business,which is based around the London area.

A well-placed source in the Manchester commercial property scene said: "It is incredibly sad what has happened. I think there are two main reasons behind this situation. First I think they expanded too fast.

"Secondly I don't think they looked after their people. For instance in Manchester when they were expanding in the 1980s they bought a niche commercial consultancy called Guest Shaw.

"They bought it out but did not hold on to the good people, who left over time. This is a service sector business and your biggest asset is your people and if you can't keep your people your business will suffer." Tweet