Eric Walker has left his role as managing director of Belvoir, seven months after being appointed.
A long commute, together with the frequent need to stay in hotels to be close to work, is behind his departure.
Walker was promoted last August after a five-and-a-half year stint as managing director of Northwood.
He was with Hampshire-headquartered Northwood when it was sold to Belvoir in 2016 in a £22m deal, and he went with the business.
He originally joined Northwood after the death of his friend, the then managing director Nick Cooper who had made it clear that he wished Walker to succeed him.
Before joining Northwood, Walker was briefly a regional managing director with Your Move, responsible for the south-east, and prior to that was managing director at London firm Bushells until its acquisition by the firm now known as Portico.
Walker left Lincolnshire-based Belvoir last Thursday with no update on what his next role might be.
Group CEO Dorian Gonsalves paid personal tribute: “Eric wasn’t particularly enjoying travelling to Grantham from London, and being away from home for three nights each week wasn’t ideal for him.
“We have parted on amicable terms and we remain great friends, as we have been for many years even prior to Northwood becoming part of the wider Belvoir Group.
“Eric has made a significant contribution to Northwood in recent years, and to Belvoir in recent months, and I wish him every success in a new role closer to home.”
Comments (14)
Eric, I know where you are coming from having done a 10 year stint living out of a suitcase. No quality of life, those boring evenings after that meal! Life slips by and not recommended to anyone.
All the very best with your next venture Eric, you will be missed
All the best Eric, family and personal happiness should always come first.
Yes a loss of a major asset to Belvoir and wish him well .Surprised that such an important departure hasn’t warranted a RNS
Common sense dictates that often, founding directors once sold out, lose the fire in the belly and hang on until the tie in time expires and enjoy their proceeds of sale. However, those with ambition would surely realise that now that Belvoir is a PLC which has grown alot in recent years, these are exciting but challenging times. You would want all of the top names to be fired up; its a new game! With a big job come responsibilities and if he was committed to being a city player, he’d move home to be near work…just like all other ambitious directors. He resigned as a Director from Northwood last year and his name is not on the Belvoir directors list at all! That’s why there is no RNS and I guess his departure is good for both sides
Yes you are correct he does not sit on the main board .However Eric chose to take his further payout in respect of the acquisition in shares( which warranted a RNS) as opposed to hard cash which does seem to indicate some medium term commitment
Could be of course that their growth might be a little more pedestrian as the market dictates-steady as she goes.and not a lot to be fired up about .The major shareholder of retirement age probably looking to cash in his chips
Maybe Eric has a slight aversion to the colour purple. Good luck to Eric and Belvoir.Belvoir are part of a very small club of listed estate agents who consitentally perform with merit
Eric’s a legend , and will be an amazing asset wherever he goes next
All the very best Eric, I’m sure you’ll be missed and wish you all the very best with your plans. Quality of life and a good work life balance is a vital part of happiness and health.