Hello, I am Christine Yorath, a Yorkshire girl who has lived in Lancashire as a student and Warwicks and London, Vancouver and Wales as a WAG. Numerous homes, four children, five grandchildren and careers as a beauty therapist, a football agent and a property developer have brought experience and diversity into my life. Whilst living in Vancouver in the early ‘80’s I was able to attend a formal interior design course to feed my passion.
Since 1980 I have had a skin care importing and distribution business and now share the Metrin Skincare European operation with my daughter, TV presenter, Gabby Logan.
In 1989 I bought my first investment property intending to keep it for rental but having fully refurbished it I sold it, made a good profit and for a few years I continued to do that with up to 3 houses at a time under development. This led to owning a rental portfolio of a few dozen properties and forming Flats in Leeds management company which managed over 1000 properties before I sold to Countrywide in 2013. I also developed a number of sites with new build houses and apartment blocks of up to 28 apartments.
I now concentrate mainly on interior design and consultancy for other property developers, details of both can be found on my website.
I bought my first investment property in 1989 building up a portfolio of over 30 properties and going on to become a developer in my own right mainly concentrating on developments of between 18 and 24 apartments in Leeds city centre and suburbs. Using my experience of professional team building I assisted in the development of one of the Norths largest waste transfer stations and have had other, albeit limited, experience on commercial development as I have concentrated mostly on high specification residential projects.
I am proud to have earned a respected reputation for my interiors and attention to detail in all the developments I have completed.
Refurbishing, furnishing, letting and managing my own rental portfolio led to the founding of my own rental and management company, "Flats in Leeds", which grew over a number of years with the assistance of my son, Jordan Yorath, and a staff of 14 to a company managing several hundred properties before we sold to Countrywide in 2013. I stayed involved with Countrywide in the capacity of returning vacated properties back to a good letting standard after tenancies.
The recession of 2008 saw the cessation of most new development in the Leeds area where I mainly operated and my business interests diverted to refurbishment works of private and rental homes through the REVAMP brand which was originally the brain child of my son. REVAMP is very active and I have completed some lovely projects in the last year totally remodelling several private homes.
As the building industry has crawled out of recession new opportunities have arisen. I am very actively involved in some really exciting projects with various developments and have completed work on 5 new mansion homes in Harewood, luxurious apartment conversions in York, new build cottages in North Yorkshire and I am currently project managing the build of 11 houses in Scotland and consulting on 4 large homes on a golf course in South Leeds as well as a large family home project in Shipley.
My skills and experience in design and development are being fully utilised and I enjoy all aspects of the work and enjoy working with all the professionals who make up the extensive team in a multi million pound development.
I liase with the architects on layouts and with the M and E contractors on their design, I meet with the solicitors to progress the lease details and sales packs and am involved in the sales and marketing and most of all I specify all the "touch and feel" elements of the development including, kitchens, bathrooms, wardrobes, tiles, floor coverings, light fittings, doors, paint colours, profiles of skirtings and architrives, pelmet and window dressing details etc as well as the communal areas design and finishes.
I work with buyers who want variations and where possible and practical come up with alternative designs and solutions to their requirements. By attending all site meetings I am able to see the week by week progress on site and and am on hand for the main contractor and site managers to discuss variations and solutions when unforeseen situations arise.
Apart from my work with developers I have private clients who may want a single room redesigning to a whole house or apartment. Sometimes this is a much loved but tired home of many years needing a facelift and refit or it may be a brand new house or apartment which requires customising and furnishing and turning from a house in to a home. I find most clients know what they like but just don’t know how to achieve the "look" or maybe don’t have the time or the trade contacts to source labour or materials cost effectively.
Each of these commissions is priced accordingly but my clients find that the purchasing power I have can mean that they often spend less or certainly no more than they would if they attempted to create the finished project without me. I love working with clients to achieve the finishes they seek and enjoy seeing their delight at finished jobs where they have been relieved of most of the tedium of arranging orders, deliveries, instalations and co ordinating trades.
Whether I am working as part of a development team on a large scheme of many millions of £’s of sales value or transforming the kitchen in a £100k flat I have the knowledge and expertise to achieve the desired result on time and within realistic budget.
See what my clients think about my work by reading some of their testimonials.
Read MoreChristine’s studio is based in
LEEDS, WEST YORKSHIRE