Rumours swirled during the week that property adviser Spain Courtney Doyle was to close. Not so, said David Courtney, one of its founders, who said the business is still open but he admitted that “we have had some restructuring of late”.

In an earlier conversation he had said that “like lots of firms people have been laid off but we’re still open for business” and that he was unaware that emails being sent to the agency’s main email address were not being delivered.

Spain Courtney Doyle was formed in 1989 by Paddy Spain, David Courtney and Bernard Doyle and became a key adviser to the likes of Bernard McNamara and Jerry O’Reilly. Courtney and Doyle became involved in property development themselves and later invested in Superquinn and the Shelbourne Hotel amongst many such deals.

Courtney also said that as far as he is aware neither himself nor Bernard Doyle has had any involvement in Active Facilities Property Management for about three years.

Active was previously a subsidiary of Spain Courtney Doyle Commercial, the agency’s parent group. Courtney said that Active was made up of professional property managers whereas his and Doyle’s expertise was more on the agency side.

Active is chaired by industry veteran Charlie Costello and is staffed by a number of former Spain Courtney Doyle and Superquinn personnel. It has an impressive roll call of clients including Treasury Holdings, AIB Investment Managers, Friends First, Dunloe Ewart, Durkan New Homes as well as Superquinn and its parent company, Select Retail Holdings.