Chesterton Humberts has appointed Diana Aliyeva to establish a Russian desk in its international office to handle the increased demand for prime London property from the Russian-speaking world.

Working closely with its Moscow office, Chesterton Humberts’ Russian Desk will provide a dedicated property service to Russian-speaking clients looking to rent, buy, sell or let property in London, the UK and overseas.

Originally from Turkmenistan, Diana is fluent in Russian, English, Turkish, Azeri and Turkmen. After studying Law and working as a paralegal for various legal firms in London, she embarked on a career in property, working as a senior sales and lettings negotiator in central London.

Diana is joining the existing group of Chesterton Humberts’ employees, such as Chinese specialist Shih Yu Phang (based in Docklands), whose language skills enable them to provide a comprehensive and personalised service to international clients.

Andrew Hawkins, head of International, commented: “Chesterton Humberts has a long history of dealing with clients from across the globe. Diana’s appointment is an example of Chesterton Humberts’ ability to service the needs and provide the right information to Russian clients coming to the UK and those already based here. In addition, this new service further increases Chesterton Humberts ability to gain exposure in an ever more international marketplace on behalf of our clients.”

Robert Bartlett, CEO of Chesterton Global Ltd commented, “As we increasingly expand our brand Internationally we are attracting more and more inward investment to the UK from overseas clients looking for the safe haven that the UK now represents. Our priority is in offering the very best client service and thus I am delighted that after a long search we have found Diana who I am very confident will enable us to develop our client services within the Russian speaking community.”

Nick Barnes, Head of the Chesterton Humberts research department, observes “International buyers have always represented an important component of the prime London residential market, and even more so since the recession. Foreign buyers account for over 55% of purchases in central London over the past 4 years, 6% alone being Russian, and this ratio increases further in higher price bands.”

Diana will be based at Chesterton Humberts’ International office in Knightsbridge and can be contacted on +44(0)20 7201 2052 or by emailing diana.aliyeva@chestertonhumberts.com