THE owner of a thriving property investment company has described his decision to base his business in Bolton as the best he has ever made.

Peter Kiely launched Harewood in 2010 — the middle of the recession — and is projecting a £40 million turnover next year and £50 million the following year.

The 43-year-old former pupils at St Gabriel’s RC High School scoffed at any suggestion that starting the firm was a courageous thing to do in the recession.

He said: “It’s not brave to launch a business in those circumstances. A lot of businesses start in recessions.

"There was almost a perfect storm. There were large discounts and corrections in the market.

“Bricks and mortar is the best asset class of all in terms of investment, because people under-stand property.

“If you are trying to attract investment, you don’t want a hard sell.

“You want to deal with people with openness and transparency, and you can do that with property.”

Mr Kiely said 80 per cent of Harewood clients are above the age of 50. They buy shares in property developments, known as single purpose vehicles.

He said return on investments tends to be between 14 and 19 per cent.

Harewood has three offices, one in Chorley New Road, which runs alongside the property developer arm of the business under the Sherwood Homes brand from Burnley and run by Mr Kiely’s 38-year-old quantity surveyor brother David.

There is also a small office in Mayfair, London.

Bolton Wanderers fan Mr Kiely, who had a background in commercial property and spent several years wheeling and dealing in the volatile London environment before striking out on his own, chose the town as the location of his start-up very deliberately.

“I was from Bury, but living in Worsley,” he said. “I wanted us to be based in the nearest big town. OK, the town centre has suffered a little bit.

"Bury was the poor relation a few years ago, but The Rock has put it right up there.

“When I was growing up, Bolton was always the big town — you went to either Manchester or Bolton.

"But I didn’t want both me and the people working for me battling through the traffic to get into the city centre, so Bolton seemed to be the natural choice.

“We generally cover an area from Birmingham as far north as Lancaster and east Leeds. Bolton is right at the centre of that area.

“And Chorley New Road is a great location because of the availability of all the professional services there, like solicitors and accountants. Our clients really appreciate it.

“They don’t want to go into big flash offices.”