Martin Hall grew up on a farm near Cockermouth and has worked at Davidson & Robertson for 30 years. As Senior Director, he reflects on the firm’s 130-year history and his 30 years’ service.

A matter of weeks ago I was privileged to be appointed to the CAAV panel of Arbitrators, I have now been with D&R for an unbelievable 30 years. When I think back to starting at D&R the image I have of myself is as a boy in short trousers arriving at Station House in Balerno, the 30 years since then have passed in the blink of an eye. At that time D&R was based from Balerno and was celebrating its 100th year as a well-established firm in Rural practice.

This year the firm is 130 years old, and we remain the oldest firm of Land Agents in Scotland, it was started by James Inglis Davidson a prominent arbiter back in 1891 working from an office in Saughton Mains outside Edinburgh, he was joined in the 1920s by Wilson Mathieson Robertson. James Davidson was the President of the Surveyors Institution and was knighted in 1926. D&R offices moved into Walker street in Edinburgh in 1943 and Ronald McKenzie became a firm partner in 1954. Michael Reid Thomas joined the firm in 1964 and as the firm moved offices in 1967 to the Station House in Balerno the doors of which I would then walk into as a wide-eyed apprentice in 1991.

In 1991 when I joined the firm the office had its first computer for word processing which was incredibly impressive at the time, we developed a programme for storing comparable sales details.

D&R has since the 1970s had a heavy involvement in the energy sector from the early days of the gas pipelines from the north sea to supporting the first wind farm in Scotland and in developing on farm generation. Energy production looking forward will be an integral way in which landowners can diversify the value generated from their land and a key part of our partnership with them.

My 30 years here have gone in a flash but looking back what gives me such great pride is the thick vein of tradition in our craft and our allegiance to the rural businesses that we service that hasn’t wavered since the days of Sir James Davidson. The other element I have taken great pride is the opportunity to be involved in the training and encouragement of young people joining our profession. This is something that the firm continues to invest considerable effort in which is regularly recognised in our CAAV results. The manner in which we operate and the care we have for our clients has been passed from generation to generation built into the fabric of who we are. The landscape in which we operate is a traditional one but one that is changing rapidly as we leave the EU landowners look to diversify and futureproof their business plans in a volatile economic landscape.