Christopher Birds BSc (Hons) MARLA FNAEA MARLA
Director – Chartered Surveyor-RICS Registered Valuer
Background
As a Chartered Valuation Surveyor, Chris has many years’ experience and is considered to be an expert in his field, offering help and advice in all areas of commercial sales and management. Chris is also an Equity Partner in Boxall Brown & Jones and BB&J Commercial, who are Residential and Commercial property experts, with offices in Derby and Belper.
Chris has worked in the Derby property market since he left school, working for several high-profile firms of Estate Agents and Chartered Surveyors. He completed a degree in Estate Surveying before going on to become a Chartered Surveyor in 2002. Chris is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), organisations with which he is actively involved at both local and national level.
Having been the Chairman of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire branch of the NAEA for many years and serving on National Committees, Chris was awarded a Distinguished Service Honour in 2009.
In August 2025, Chris was selected by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) to become a Valuer Member in the First Tier Tribunal Service (Property Chamber). In this judicial role, Chris presides over a wide range of property disputes in the United Kingdom, with specific focus on the Midlands.
What Chris does
Chris is an Equity Director in Rushton Hickman and supports the team in all areas of the business, offering expert advice in relation to commercial sales and management.
Other interests
Chris devotes a great deal of his time to his local community and is proud to serve as Presiding Magistrate on the Southern Derbyshire Criminal Courts.
He became the Deputy Under Sheriff of Derbyshire in 2024. In this role, he supports the High Sheriff of Derbyshire who is appointed by His Majesty the King to represent him in matters relating to the judiciary and the maintenance of law and order in the country.
Chris is honoured to be a Trustee of Foundation Derbyshire, which is a brilliant charity managing donated funds and effectively distributing grants to the country’s grassroot charities / community groups. Chris is also a Trustee of The Arkwright Society, which is focused on the preservation of Sir Richard Arkwright’s historic mills in Cromford, Derbyshire.
Chris enjoys walking and has climbed to Everest Base Camp raising over £18,000 for The British Heart Foundation. He has run the London Marathon and competed in The Great North Run on five occasions. Chris loves sailing and is a qualified RYA Day Skipper.
He lives locally with this wife and two daughters