MATTHEW Williamson has joined Bywell-based Land Factor as an associate specialising in estate management.

He was brought up at Chesters, near Hexham, where his father was head keeper, and holds an MSC in Rural Enterprise and Land Management. He is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers.

Mr Williamson, 31, is married and lives in Ponteland. He spent six years as an assistant land agent before joining a national firm of land agents where he gained a breadth of experience.

A member of the British Association of Shooting and Conservation he is a former committee member of the Northumberland branch of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Land Factor manages estates throughout the north of England and southern Scotland and Mr Williamson will be principally involved with overseeing agricultural and commercial activities at the privately owned Blagdon and Belsay estates.