“Passionate about Peterborough” is how chartered surveyor Tony Barker describes
his attitude to his home city.
Tony has been involved with the development of the city through most of his professional
life, more than 25 years of which have been involved with local commercial property
development and marketing.
After graduating from university this former Deacons’ School pupil started a career
in the property world with a spell working for West End London surveyors Gerald
Eve before returning to Peterborough in 1981 as an employee of the former Peterborough
Development Corporation.
He then moved back into private practice in the city, opening a local commercial
property office for the former Ekins Dilley & Handley, subsequently acquired
by Prudential Property Services. In 1990 he was part of the management buyout team
which created Barker Storey Matthews, now a leading property practice covering a
large part of the region.
When the former Greater Peterborough Investment Agency (GPIA) was set up in 1998
to promote the city for inward investment, Tony was one of the founder directors.
He served on the board through to the winding up of GPIA in 2006, when Opportunity
Peterborough took on its marketing role.
He says: “My experience with GPIA helps provide us with some continuity with the
past.
“I’m involved with Opportunity Peterborough for the same reasons I was involved
with GPIA. I am passionate about Peterborough and want to play an active role in
ensuring the city’s future successful growth.”
Tony has a personal stake in the future of the city’s property market – not just
through his firm but also through his family. His eldest son has recently qualified
as a chartered surveyor and is now following in his father’s footsteps with a first
job in a West End London practice. His second son is studying planning at university.