The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has announced the appointment of Simon Gerrard as president for the coming year.

Having been a member of the NAEA board for the past four years Gerrard was officially passed the NAEA ceremonial chain by the outgoing president Jan Hÿtch at the organisation’s AGM last Friday.

Gerrard has been in estate agency for 25 years and started his professional career in Conrad Riblat’s retail department, before moving to the commercial department of Druce & Co. He joined his father’s practise, Martyn Gerrard Estate Agents in 1991, initially running the commercial department, then moving on to the sales department, before becoming the managing director of Martyn Gerrard Estate Agents in 2000.

He has been a member of NAEA since 1993 and since then has been actively involved, taking on the role of chairman of the north and north west London branch of the NAEA in 2010. As president, his role will be to continue to promote NAEA and its standards, representing member agents, with responsibilities including speaking at NAEA regional meetings and local conferences.

He said: “I’m delighted to take on this role having been on the board of the NAEA for four years. My goals for this year include raising the profile of NAEA amongst the public, so they become more aware of what the NAEA qualification stands for and actively seek out members over non-members.

“I hope to improve recognition of NAEA as the industry’s leading voice at Westminster with the intention to shape legislation that will help improve professional standards and licensing across the whole property industry.

“I am fully committed to the values and standards of NAEA and very much look forward to the year ahead, and presidential roadshows where I will meet as many members as possible.”