A memorial service is being held to celebrate the life of a founder partner of our firm, Ian Youdan.

Mr Youdan sadly passed away on Friday, January 21, aged 77.

Charles Whitaker, Managing Partner, said: "Ian was a founder partner of Brown&Co and our senior partner for our first 10 years and was at the heart of and led our management buyout of Brown&Co in 1993 from Royal Life Insurance owned William H Brown.  A few of us still around from that original group of 12 led by Ian.

"Quite apart from Ian’s prowess as the original senior partner in our firm and as a land agent renowned for his dealing skills and successful accumulation of land/estate and property assets for his clients, Ian was an accomplished horseman and former master of hounds as well as eventing at national level.

"Ian started his land agency career in the Lake District in the 1960’s after graduating in Land Economy from Corpus Christi College Cambridge. Ian then joined William H Brown in 1967 and was managing director of William H Brown from 1985 through to our MBO in 1993 and I had the pleasure of working with him on many challenging and boundary breaking jobs – both in WHB and across into B&Co as the limits were pushed of what we might have been comfortable or even capable of doing!  Ian’s work and appetite for pioneering and supporting new ideas and ventures within B&Co had him heavily involved in our valuation, agency and management work both In Poland from 1994 and throughout the Caribbean from 1998.

"It was in the end a happy release from the cruel illness, PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy), from which he had been suffering for some time. His last months had been in a care home. PSP causes deteriorating physical and mental faculties, though I suspect and indeed know having spoken to Judy his wife over recent weeks, that his brain remained alert even though he could not speak in response to conversation. Those who knew Ian well, will know just how frustrating that must have been for him.

"Throughout these past years Ian’s considerable intellect provided leadership, strategic perspective, canny negotiating skills and good common sense resulting in all that was achieved. Brown&Co is his legacy."

A memorial service to celebrate Ian’s life will be held on Thursday 17th February at 1:00pm at The Olde Bell Hotel, Barnby Moor, Retford DN22 8QS.