21st Oct 2026 (6 days ago)
A £510,000 valuation, questionable financial assumptions and a deeply disappointing response to serious concerns.<br><br>In March 2019, Fraser Wood (Midlands) Ltd, Chartered Surveyors, valued a commercial business at £510,000 for NatWest, ahead of its purchase by my company.<br><br>I subsequently identified serious concerns about the financial information underlying that valuation.<br><br>First, the VAT discrepancy.<br><br>The valuation suggested that income from guest accommodation was exempt from VAT and therefore excluded from the VAT returns. This was an incorrect statement about the normal VAT treatment of such accommodation.<br><br>The assumption was used to estimate turnover, despite my concerns that the accommodation income was already reflected in the VAT figures. I have repeatedly questioned whether this resulted in turnover being overstated and why such a fundamental discrepancy was not properly investigated.<br><br>The valuation also referred to a separate property business, raising further questions about whether income and expenses attributable to other properties had been correctly distinguished from those of the pub. The valuer did not check or ask any questions.<br><br>Second, the valuation itself.<br><br>An independent professional viability assessment in January 2024 examined the business's historical performance and future commercial prospects.<br><br>The historical accounts showed EBITDA falling from £86,372 in 2016 to just £55,661 in 2018, a decline of approximately 36% before Fraser Wood's valuation.<br><br>The independent assessment estimated fair maintainable operating profit of approximately £33,500 annually, leaving only about £2,750 for the proprietor after illustrative borrowing costs.<br><br>It concluded that the business was no longer commercially viable as a public house.<br><br>Although the later assessment was not a retrospective valuation, it adopted a notional existing-use value of £450,000, compared with Fraser Wood's £510,000 valuation in 2019.<br><br>These findings raise serious questions about the original valuation's financial assumptions, especially given the deterioration in profitability already evident before the purchase.<br><br>Third, the firm's response.<br><br>Rather than providing a substantive reconciliation of the disputed financial information or explaining how its assumptions were verified, Fraser Wood has repeatedly emphasised that NatWest was its client and that it has no obligation to answer my questions or provide its underlying records.<br><br>In correspondence dated 21 October 2026, Stephen Smith MRICS also disputed the grounds for requiring the preservation of relevant records and warned of an application to strike out any court claim and seek costs.<br><br>I find this approach deeply disappointing.<br><br>My experience raises serious questions about the checks undertaken before a substantial commercial valuation was issued and the firm's subsequent willingness to explain its work.<br><br>A valuation is only as reliable as the information and assumptions underpinning it. When those assumptions are challenged with specific documentary evidence, surely a professional explanation is a reasonable expectation?<br><br>After years of correspondence, I remain without satisfactory answers to the central financial questions.<br><br>Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Fraser Wood for commercial property valuation services and I will continue to pursue this injustice which has cost me my life's earnings and likely bankruptcy.... Read more