LEADING North West property agents Kings Business Transfer are top of the shops!

The Bury-based commercial property agents, one of the largest independent players in the region, saw sales up by 28 per cent last year.

"It was a record year for us and we are delighted with the results," says partner Gerry Murphy.

"The market in the North West has proved extremely buoyant on the back of low interest rates and we anticipate 2003 will carry on in the same vein. There is a lot of confidence generally about the state of the commercial property market."

He added: "The results are also down to a lot of hard work from our staff. We have grown rapidly since we set up in 1994 and much of our success is down to the dedication the Kings team."

The company specialises in the retail and leisure sectors and Gerry says there was plenty of interest in fish and chip shops, sandwich bar take-aways and another growth area was children's day nurseries. He went on: "The market for traditional fish and chip shops was as solid as ever in 2002 while nurseries have proved increasingly popular.

"There was also a steady increase in the number of pubs sold. The year before foot and mouth had a negative effect, particularly for country pubs."