Director of Penrith Business becomes first female president of National Association CAAV

Julie Liddle a Director of PFK Rural has been elected president of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers by the association members. Julie was elected at the 81st Annual General Meeting of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), a national specialist professional body representing, briefing and qualifying those acting and advising on agricultural and rural property and business matters across the whole United Kingdom.

Julie becomes the first woman to hold this position in the Associations long history since it was founded in 1908 by local valuers' associations to provide a national organisation with professional authority to represent valuers and ensure professional standards.

Julie is a Director of PFK Rural Limited, in Penrith, Cumbria and also a Board Member of the parent Group. A farmer's daughter, raised in County Durham. Her key work experience relates to landlord and tenant arrangements (both rural and commercial).

Julie started on her career, later than most, at Harper Adams University in 1998, first taking a placement year at H&H in Carlisle. She returned to Carlisle in 2001 with a BSc (Hons) in Rural Enterprise & Land Management and passed her APC in 2002. 

In 2005 Julie became a director of H&H Land & Property and at the same time started a part-time degree from Northumbria University in Advanced Commercial Property Law (LLM).  In 2015 she left H&H to set up Robson & Liddle (Rural) Limited with her business partner, based at Penrith. In December 2022 she and her business partner sold their firm to PFK Rural Limited where she is now a director.

She became Chairman of the Junior Valuers of the Northumbria & Cumbria Branch of the CAAV in 2002 and started a successful examinations self-help group. She qualified as a Fellow in 2004 and became Tutorial Organiser of the Branch shortly thereafter. In 2017 she joined one of the CAAV National technical committees (Property) becoming chairman for four years in 2020, then followed appointments to CAAV Council and election to the Executive Committee of which she is still a member.

Her principle area of work is dispute resolution. Julie was appointed to the RICS President's Panel in 2017, and to the CAAV Panel from inception in 2020. She is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb), and also receives private appointments.

Julie was involved in appointing arbitrators through an interview process to the newly formed CAAV Panel in 2020, and thereafter appointed to the Oversight Board of the CAAV which oversees governance for their dispute resolution service.

In her Presidential year Julie will continue to meet members of the CAAV around the country and continue to enjoy seeing the differing farming systems and issues around the UK. In these challenging times for the farming sector, it should prove to be a very interesting period in post.