Collapsed property agency Chesterton is back in business following a high-profile takeover.

Receivers have sold five of Chesterton's commercial property offices, including its star performer in Southampton, to Atisreal UK, a subsidiary of French banking group Paribas.

The four offices sold are in the City of London, Cardiff, Newcastle and Leeds.

Together they employ 120 of the former 700-strong workforce.

It is understood that all 21 jobs at the Southampton office at Alleyn House, Carlton Crescent, have been saved by the deal.

Frontline staff include James Prowse, David Rusholme, David Ferriman, Robert Haynes and Tim Cann.

The office is headed by Stuart Cook, pictured, who told the Daily Echo all of the office's former Chesterton clients have been taken on under the Atisreal deal. They will not notice any change under the new owners.

He added: "It's business as usual. Atisreal's strengths blend with the areas where we are looking to enhance the business."

With Chesterton's enviable book of contacts, Atisreal has netted hundreds of clients in the south coast, stretching from Portsmouth to Bournemouth.

Among them is Fareham Borough Council, which has the firm as its ratings advisor. As reported in later editions of the Daily Echo last Wednesday, the Southampton team is widely acknowledged as having particular expertise in management and valuations.

These strengths are said to have come into their own with the commercial property boom along the M27 corridor.

Receivers Grant Thornton said 200-year-old Chesterton, including the core estate agency, had fallen victim to the property slowdown; a crash crunch pushed it over the edge.

Chesterton has struggled since at least 2001, when the top end of the property market in the capital slumped after the stock market collapse and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA.

The commercial part of the business lost £2m in the seven months since the end of June last year.

Originally a family-owned business and then a professional partnership, Chesterton was listed in 1994 until it was bought by private owners in 2003 and de-listed in March 2004.

Skillglass, a subsidiary of finance group Resurge, controlled 87 per cent of the group.

But trading in the latter's shares was suspended following Chesterton's receivership.

Resurge said Skillglass had outstanding borrowings amounting to approximately £7m, which could not now be repaid, and discussions had begun with the lenders about restructuring the borrowings.