Landmark for major Coventry property figure

A leading Midlands property figure is celebrating 50 years in professional practice – by returning to where he started.

David Shortland, chair of residential agency Shortland Horne, started his professional life as a trainee in New Union Street in Coventry, and is now back there after his firm created another new office in the property quarter of the city.

Shortland started just a few doors down when he joined Robinson Osborne and Moules from university in 1972. He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and became a Partner in the firm in 1980. ROM was taken over by Hambro Countrywide PLC in 1987 and David became a group director with responsibility for Countrywide Commercial and Countrywide Surveyors.

He launched Shortland Horne in 1995 and the company rose to be one of the leading selling and rental agents in the area and a specialist in new homes.

It now has four offices in Coventry and Kenilworth and employs around 30 staff. Shortland has also been active in strategic land, opening up many sites for new homes to be created for local people around the region and beyond.

He said “Property has given me the most amazing career journey – so it is ironic that I have ended up just yards from where my working life kicked off.

“ROM was a great firm to work for and they were very strong in several key disciplines and represented many of the large industrial names that thrived in Coventry in the boom years. It is the natural cycle that since then we have helped in the redevelopment of some of those sites for local homes.

“I really wanted to get back to dealing directly with development opportunities and that is why I started Shortland Horne. The firm has gone from strength to strength, and it is really rewarding to see it thriving today.”

Shortland is a Freeman of Coventry and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Coventry University in 2006 followed by an MBE a decade later. Both awards were recognition of his services to the city.

He is a former chair of the city’s Belgrade Theatre and headed up its £7 million fundraising campaign which saw the creation of a new theatre space B2. He is also a member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Place Board, a CW Champion and was formerly an Associate Director of Coventry City FC.

Shortland Horne is now headed up by his daughter, Laura, and son-in-law, Will Green.

He added: “My family has a long connection with the city both professionally and through sports and culture so it is great to see Laura and Will continuing that going forward.

“Coventry is a very vibrant city which has transformed itself once again in recent years. While my career has returned me close to where it all started – we just need to see the Sky Blues return to the Premier League.”