One of Cheltenham's best-known bricks-and-mortar estate agents, Peter Ball & Co, has a new owner.

The estate agency, formed 25 years ago by husband-and-wife team Peter and Linda Ball, has been bought by Alexander & Co, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Alexander & Co is one of the largest estate agents in the south east, with most of its offices in Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It specialises in residential sales, lettings, property management, and new homes.

"This is a great opportunity for us to build on the reputation that Peter Ball has established over more than two decades and help the business in the Cheltenham area to flourish and grow," said Paul Broomham, commercial director for Alexander & Co.

"It was the great people and reputation that attracted us to Peter Ball and having the agency as part of our wider estate agent family gives us a physical footprint in the Gloucestershire area, with experienced teams, each with solid local knowledge.

"It will allow us to offer customers in the region access to Alexander & Co's established network and systems, along with wider marketing exposure as well as expanding the range of services available to them."

Peter Ball has five branches, in Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Bishops Cleeve, Leckhampton and Charlton Kings. "Customers will still get great face-to-face service, with the same company name, staff and contact details," added Mr Broomham.

"We've now upgraded the digital systems and so customers will be able to access more on-line support and facilities, as well as additional services that will help ease their property journey."

Today, Alexander & Co employs more than 120 staff, representing more than 2,000 local landlords and more than 3,500 buyers and sellers.

Peter Ball said: ''In a world where modern technology is on the rise, we've never lost sight of the fact that it's real people with real families and real lives, who always come first. Working with a company like Alexander & Co, who shares our ethos will only enhance the ways that we can serve our clients and enable us to become stronger together."

The group says it prides itself on being experts in its local property markets and has a shared vision: to ease the property journey and give its customers the very best service.

Alexander & Co believe its thanks to this ethos and the loyalty of its clients that the business has grown to manage more than half a billion in residential property assets, generating £21m in rental income for its clients in the last year alone. In residential sales, it has sold more than 500 homes in the last 18 months, at a property value close to £165m.

For more information on the two businesses, please visit https://www.peterball.co.uk/  and https://www.alexanderandco.co.uk/.