Susan Fitz-Gibbon, who founded leading Richmond-based Fitz-Gibbon, has been named of the new president of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).

Susan founded Fitz-Gibbon Residential in 1988, the company now called Fitz-Gibbon, is a specialist residential letting and property managment company with offices in Richmond, Chiswick and St Margarets. Susan has been a member of ARLA for 23 years.

She said of her appointment: “It is an exciting time for lettings and lettings agents, with the private rental sector more popular than ever. Professional standards have become an issue that is widely talked about and we are on the cusp of some significant and welcome reform. I will continue to push up professional standards within the lettings industry and ensure the member base is effectively represented.”

Susan has also been sitting on the National Federation of Property Professionals board’s divisional council since June 2010, is a committee member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, is an ambassador for SPEAR, a charity for homeless people, and is a founder and main board member of Chordoma UK, www.chordoma-uk.org.

She co-founded Chordoma with her husband Gerald after she was diagnosed with this rare form of bone cancer in 2007. On its website she says: “One day I was a busy, happy mum, wife, sister, daughter, friend, business woman with not enough hours in the day to do all the things I wanted to do. Then out of the blue and with no prior warning I was told I had a life threatening cancer, one of the truly rare ones, and no-one was able to give me any real information about how my life was going to be from now on.

“Research into the diagnosis and treatment is in the early stages. I'm still getting my head around this. And then I think NO! I'm not going to let the simple fact that this is a rare cancer mean that it escapes scrutiny. I won't let it slip through the net of anonymity, I'm going to raise its profile so that it can be fought. More research will shed light on this cruel, indiscriminate cancer that hides itself away. And more research will help to fight it and offer real hope to its sufferers. But research costs money and rare diseases struggle to attract funds."