The property profession has firms dating back to the early 1700s. Here, in order of foundation, 45 firms – drawn from the EG Top Agents list – recount their beginnings and how they have evolved into today’s leading players
Drivers Jonas
Established 1725
Drivers Jonas was founded in London in 1725 by brothers Samuel and Charles Driver – bakers, nurserymen and landowners, who turned from tilling the land to measuring it. An independent partnership to this day, it remains the oldest firm of chartered surveyors.
The business prospered and branched out into auctioneering, estate management and land “improvement”. Properties on the firm’s books included entire villages and towns, such as Wetherby and Hemel Hempstead landed estates, such as Cliveden and London properties, such as the Vaudeville Theatre and a shop in New Bond Street (let to a Mr Asprey). In 1878, a Henry Jonas married into the family and the firm became Drivers & Jonas & Co.
Over the years the partnership has flourished, responding to market changes and developing its property advisory services. Since the 1980s, the firm has expanded its network of offices throughout the UK and on the Continent, and today it is a multi-disciplinary practice of more than 650 partners and staff.
King Sturge
Dates back to 1760
JP Sturge was established in Bristol as an agricultural practice in 1760, and flourished in the 19th century with the development of the Great Western Railway, buying the site of Temple Meads station for Brunel. William Sturge led the firm for the second half of the 19th century and in 1868 was one of the founder members of the Surveyors’ Institution, which became the RICS. He was elected to the first council and became president in 1878.
King & Co was founded as an estate agency in north London in 1920 by Herbert King, and he was succeeded by his son, Douglas, who developed the commercial property consultancy after the second world war.
Subsequently, Herbert’s grandson, Malcolm, led the business until 2005. The firm initially became the leader in the industrial market and then expanded throughout the UK, as well as opening offices in Europe from 1973 onwards.
The merger of the two firms in 1992 created King Sturge, with a national network providing a comprehensive commercial and residential property service. The then combined turnover of £18m grew as the firm expanded to create today’s unified European partnership, which has a turnover of £200m from a network of 53 offices in 16 countries throughout the Continent.
Cluttons
Established 1765
Cluttons traces its roots to 1765, when William Clutton took over his father-in-law’s land agency business in Sussex and began trading under his own name.
Two generations later, in 1837, John Clutton started the London practice, leaving his brothers with the Sussex business, which continues today as RH & RW Clutton.
Cluttons grew steadily during the 20th century, adding new areas of operation and expertise to the firm’s traditional management base and merging in other firms.
Today, Cluttons remains an independent, multi-disciplinary business, with a turnover of £50m, 700 partners and staff, 24 UK offices, six in the Middle East and representation in Russia, South Africa, Spain, France and Italy.
Cluttons especially values long-term relationships with its clients and with its people. If William Clutton could have seen into the future, he would have been proud that, in 2008, the senior partner completed 40 years with the firm and managing partner Gareth Clutton is the seventh successive generation of William’s family to work at Cluttons.
Caxtons
Dates back to 1770
Caxtons’ roots in Kent extend back to two surveyors, Mr Dann and Mr Lucas, who set up business in Dartford in 1770.
Although the present firm embraces Burrows of Ashford (1815) and Cobbs of Rochester (1834), it is mainly an amalgam of property firms started in the 1880s: Porters in Gravesend (1880) and the respective firms of Pralls, Watermans & Champions, all of which started in Dartford in 1893.
Several of these firms had their origins as market auctioneers at markets long since closed.
Until 1991, Caxtons occupied the original offices of Porters. When it commenced trading in 1880, the opening hours were 9am to 8pm with early closing on Saturdays at 6pm. Generously, staff were allowed two weeks unpaid holiday a year!
Absorbed – along with Worsfolds of Canterbury – into General Accident Property Services in 1986, the ethos and many of the clients of the earlier firms were, following a buyout, rejoined in 1990 under the present trading name.
Lambert Smith Hampton
Established 1773
LSH’s earliest incarnation was founded by Robert Herring in 1773. Its first sale was completed on 1 April that year, according to a notice listing the auction of: “The genuine remaining Part of Stock in Trade, Householder Furniture, etc of Mr Peter Soumellier, deceased,” which appeared in the London Daily Advertiser.
There have been various name changes as the firm expanded, took on new partners and acquired other firms. By 1852, the firm was describing itself as “auctioneers, estate agents, surveyors, upholsterers and decorators”.
In 1858, Estates Gazette reported on the results of a sale – 21 Brunswick Square for £400 and two shops in Fleet Street for £1,150. In 1903, the firm made a £1,500 profit and some of the proceeds went on the installation of an office telephone.
LSH started trading under its current name in 1987 then, in 1996 – following a decade of M&A activity – the firm went public on the London Stock Exchange and, in 1999, engineering giant WS Atkins acquired LSH as part of a bid to create a construction-to-property “one-stop-shop”.
Lat year, LSH completed a £46.5m management buy-out to take the business private. It continues to expand the range and breadth of its national service lines, offering a combination of national strength and specialist local/regional expertise.
DTZ
Dates back to 1784
With beginnings dating back to 1784, DTZ is today one of the world’s largest and long-established real estate advisers.
Built on the strong foundation of the company’s core values, DTZ has grown from a purely UK-based transactional business to a full service global market leader.
The DTZ story starts in 1784 when Chesshire Gibson, a forerunner of today’s DTZ, was established in Birmingham. In 1853, Frank Gissing Debenham founded a second predecessor firm in the City of London. He was joined by Edward Tewson and a merger in 1913 created Debenham, Tewson & Chinnocks.
The partnership floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1987. Mergers with the founding Chesshire Gibson Partnership and Bernard Thorpe & Partners in 1988 and 1993 respectively gave DTZ its leading network of UK regional offices.
A European joint venture with Jean Thouard of France and the Zadelhoff Group in Germany and the Netherlands created the DTZ brand in 1993, and in 1999 the listed company renamed as DTZ Holdings. European consolidation continued during the 1990s as DTZ extended its network and, following an equity exchange with Asian partners CY Leung & Co and Edmund Tie & Co, the DTZ brand extended to Asia.
In 2000, an alliance was formed in the US with The Staubach Co to provide joint global occupier services. In recent years, DTZ has been increasing its presence in the Americas with the acquisition of a 50% interest in DTZ Rockwood, an investment in DTZ FHO Partners and the acquisition of JJ Barnicke.
DTZ’s global growth has continued to accelerate, opening offices across India, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. In 2006, DTZ acquired 100% of DTZ in North Asia to complete its integration of the Asian offices.
In 2007, DTZ greatly enhanced its European capability through the acquisition of Donaldsons, understood to be the largest-ever merger of European property advisory businesses.
Stiles Harold Williams
Dates back to 1798
John Blake established his surveying practice in Croydon in 1798. Harold Williams, an articled pupil of Blake & Co, rose to become senior partner of Harold Williams, Bennett & Partners, with offices in Croydon, London and around the M25 south.
Meanwhile, further south, John Ledger was a surveyor for new roads and his son, Horton Ledger (1794-1843), opened a surveying office in Brighton. The practice merged with HDS Stiles & Co, founded in 1935, to form Stiles Horton Ledger, with offices in Brighton, London, and across Sussex. Harold Stiles, former senior partner, died in January 2008, aged 102.
Stiles Harold Williams was the product of the union in 1987 of these two, long-established and well-respected practices. Today, Stiles Harold Williams turns over in excess of £10m and is owned by a number of its working directors. The company employs 150 people in its seven offices, in London and across the South East, making property work for clients throughout the UK.
Farebrother
Established 1799
Farebrother’s history is entwined with that of London and chartered surveying as a profession. A private practice for over 200 years, the business was founded in 1799 by Charles Farebrother, who, at just 20 years of age, conducted auctions at Garraway’s Coffee House, Cornhill, in 1803.
Among the firm’s earliest treasures are auction particulars for the sale of Newstead Abbey Estate, Nottinghamshire in 1815, for Lord Byron.
Charles Farebrother became Lord Mayor in 1833 and was also three times Master of the Vintners Company. In 1875, the practice, then known as Farebrother, Clark & Co, merged with Gadsden, Ellis & Co of 18 Old Broad Street.
It is noteworthy that one of the partners, Mr Musgrave, also became Lord Mayor of London. John Whittaker Ellis, a partner, was also to become the firm’s third Lord Mayor in 1881. Ellis took the business forward under the name of Farebrother, Ellis & Co and, in 1882, moved to 29 Fleet Street, an address it retained for over 100 years.
Farebrother continued as a town and country practice, with sales including the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square, the London Coliseum as well as country houses and estates including Stowe House in Buckinghamsire. In the 1950s, the post-war era prompted a focus on central London commercial property.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Farebrother focused on London’s Midtown market, which was fast becoming its strongest niche player. The firm can be credited in leading the establishment of the Holborn Business Improvement District, the Chancery Lane Association and the Midtown Business Club.
Today, the practice is still privately owned, located in London’s Midtown and having expanded to meet the growing landlord and tenant work from UK and international clients, landed estates and listed property companies.
Cushman & Wakefield
Dates back to 1820
While Cushman & Wakefield’s history stretches back to 1911 in New York, that of Healey & Baker started in London in 1820, when George Healey set up business, taking building leases on Crown lands to the east and north of Regent’s Park at the time when Regent Street was being built.
In 1910, George Henry Baker joined the firm and by 1920 George had become a partner and the firm had become known as Healey & Baker, focusing on commercial property.
In the 1970s, the firm set its sights on the rest of Europe. In 1972, an office was opened in Paris and by the end of the decade the firm had offices in Brussels, Amsterdam, the City of London and Glasgow. Expansion continued in the 1980s and 1990s, by which time it had over 20 offices throughout EMEA.
When Cushman & Wakefield and Healey & Baker merged in 1998 following a 10-year alliance, the firm became one of the world’s leading real estate consultancies known as Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker (C&W/H&B).
In 2006, C&W/H&B became known as simply Cushman & Wakefield in EMEA. Today, the firm in EMEA has 2,100 employees serving clients in more than 30 countries. Globally, the firm has 12,000 professionals in over 50 countries.
Dacre, Son & Hartley
Established 1820
In 1820, John Dacre, originally a shoemaker and collector of taxes before becoming an auctioneer and appraiser, laid the firm foundations of Dacre & Son from his front room in Otley.
In the nearby town of Ilkley, Thomas Hartley dealt in the sale of household furnishings, auctioneering and undertaking. In 1928, his business moved to The Grove in Ilkey, where the present-day residential head office of Dacre, Son & Hartley is located, and later opened an office in Otley, directly opposite Dacre & Son.
The two firms were in direct competition and so amalgamated to become Dacre, Son & Hartley.
After a period of institutional ownership in the early 1990s, Dacre, Son & Hartley returned to independent ownership in 1995 and in 1998 today’s managing director, Jonathan Isles, was appointed. Operating in residential and commercial property from 20 offices across Yorkshire, Dacre, Son & Hartley remains one of the more significant property consultants in the region.
Fleurets
Established 1820s
Founded in the 1820s as a firm of licensed property brokers by John Beach Fleuret, in 1866 John was joined by his son and the firm’s name became JB Fleuret & Son. In 1899, the firm became Fleuret, Adams & Haxell and when Mr Adams retired Mr Vine joined the partnership so becoming Fleuret, Haxell & Vine.
Fleurets then merged with two firms: JJ Orgill, Marks & Barley and Barker, Finch & Jordan in 1932. In 1950, it took over CG Anderson in Brighton and in 1952 the name changed again, this time to Fleuret, Haxell, King & Shoard.
Throughout, the firm has always been known simply as Fleurets, the company name since 1978, with a board of directors some of whom you might just recognise. Today, Fleurets continues to offer a full portfolio of services across all areas of the leisure and hospitality industry in the UK.
Parsons Son & Basley
Established 1825
The firm was founded in 1825 by Joseph Parsons and the first office was opened in Marine Parade, Brighton. Since then, the firm has moved from Marine Parade via Buckingham Place and North Street to its present offices in Queens Road.
In 1955, a residential sales office was opened at Church Road, Hove, to cater for a number of large-scale and high-profile residential developments in which the firm was involved in for one of the largest housebuilders in the area.
Parsons Son & Basley has always been a general practice firm. The firm has grown considerably over the years to include every facet of property, including residential and commercial sales/lettings, auctions and professional work, surveys and valuations as well as commercial and residential property management.
In recent years, the firm has opened offices in Hastings and Bognor Regis as part of its ongoing expansion along the South Coast, which the firm covers from its four offices with around 60 staff.
Speirs Gumley
Dates back to around 1827
Speirs Gumley can trace its routes through three separate lines, each going back to the 1800s.
The oldest strand, Turnbull Parnie & Adam, dates back to before 1827 when the firm was involved with compensation negotiations for the development of Glasgow’s Central Station.
In 1888, Speirs & Knox was formed, becoming one of the earliest property management companies in Scotland.
The two firms merged in 1967 – a mere 40 years ago – to form Speirs, Parnie & Adam.
In Edinburgh, meanwhile, Gumleys was established in 1898, and rapidly became synonymous with property in the capital. Fast forward 90 years and the two firms combined to form Speirs Gumley.
A further 30 years on and from bases in Bath Street in Glasgow and Rutland Square in Edinburgh, Spiers Gumley advises clients in Scotland with approximately 80 staff/partners.
Bidwells
Established 1840
When Charles Bidwell founded his business in 1840, little did he know that he was paving the way for it to be the largest independent firm of property consultants outside London. The founder of Bidwells may have been a brewer had the family not sold the brewery after the death of his father.
Bidwells has grown from this one-man business concentrating on Fenland interests to over 500 partners and staff. It now has offices across the Eastern region, three in Scotland and an investment team in London. Originally land agents, the firm’s profile is now 75% commercial, residential and consultancy.
After Charles senior’s death in 1874, his son Charles took over the business and in 1880 he opened an office in Cambridge.
The Bidwell family’s involvement finished in 1960 with the retirement of John Bidwell, the third generation.
Although a partnership, Bidwells is run along corporate lines, the current senior partner being James Buxton and the firm’s first CEO Graham Comfort.
GVA Grimley
Dates back to 1855
GVA Grimley’s roots go back 153 years to HN Grimley & Son, which was first recorded as “House and Estate Agents of 13, Bennett’s Hill, Birmingham” in White’s Directory of 1855. Since this time, the company has undergone several makeovers and is now unrecognisable from its original form.
In 1957, Grimley & Son merged with Frank Smith & Wilson and had around five partners and 30 staff.
In 1988, a “super merger” took place between three firms: Grimley & Son, JR Eve and LR Macdonald & Associates. These were joined by Vigers London in 1991 and McEvoy Vigers in Edinburgh a year later.
The most dramatic changes have taken place in the past 15 years. In 1994, Grimley, Vigers and US network Advantus launched GVA Worldwide as a wholly-owned subsidiary of all the worldwide businesses. The UK firm itself adopted GVA Grimley in 1998.
The defining moment for the company to date was in November 2007, when the firm secured a £40m investment from Lloyds Development Capital and converted from a limited liability partnership to a limited company.
Today, GVA Grimley is the seventh-largest property consultancy in the UK, with a network of 12 UK offices providing a range of property services nationwide.
Savills
Established 1855
Savills celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2005, having grown from a family firm of chartered surveyors, with its first office opened by Alfred Savill at the age of 26 in Rood Lane in the City of London, into an international property services group. Proud of its history and tradition, today the company is a dynamic, forward-thinking organisation that ranks as one of the top five agencies in the world.
Savills’ core business is concerned with providing advice and information on sales and acquisitions, valuations, property management, planning and market research. Over the years, its client base has expanded to encompass financial institutions, manufacturers and multinational corporations, alongside developers, landowners, public bodies and private individuals.
In 1985, the firm became a private limited company, and in 1988 it obtained a quotation on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, trading as Savills plc.
Today, Savills has some 180 offices and associations based throughout Europe, Asia-Pacific, Americas, Africa and the Middle East. It employs approximately 18,000 people worldwide. The firm has retained its position as number one agent, based on UK turnover, for eight consecutive years in the Estates Gazette survey and has been recognised as “number one employer” in a survey by Reading University for Estates Gazette.
Savills will continue to strengthen its presence across the globe by organic expansion and acquisition, extending its property expertise across a wide spectrum of markets and disciplines. The name is longstanding and the firm is built on a solid foundation. As a listed company, Savills is only 15 years old and considers itself young, dynamic and forward thinking.
Atisreal
Dates back to 1860
Atisreal’s roots date back to 1860, when Henry Weatherall and James Green started a practice in Chancery Lane, London. They were mainly concerned with the settlement of compensation cases arising during the acquisition of land for railways, docks, waterways, defence and road works. Sydney A Smith, who joined the company in 1896, became a partner in 1910 and the company became known as Weatherall Green & Smith.
Atisreal was formed during the 1990s when the Vendome Rome Group acquired three European companies: Weatherall Green & Smith in the UK, Auguste-Thouard in France and Müller in Germany.
In 2004, Atisreal became a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Real Estate, a division of the leading French financial services group BNP Paribas. Today, BNP Paribas Real Estate has 3,500 employees across Europe, of which Atisreal contributes over 2,500, covering the entire real estate cycle.
Edmund Kirby & Sons
Established 1864
The firm was founded in 1864 in Fenwick Street, Liverpool.
Edmund Kirby was elected FRIBA and FSI in 1888 and surveyor to the Board of Trade. His sons Frank and Bertie joined the company in 1905. The firm worked throughout the North and Wales, designing many churches, schools, domestic and commercial buildings.
Frank Kirby, compensation surveyor, acted for the original Mersey Tunnel and was an official arbitrator for land compensation.
More recent successes include site assembly for the Royal Insurance headquarters and the assembly of a £200m-plus portfolio for Merseyside Pension Fund, the Met Quarter and Grosvenor’s Paradise Street, Liverpool, developments. Other major transactions have included Liverpool’s Cunard Building, Exchange Flags and Mann Island.
Today, Edmund Kirby & Sons operates in Edmund Street, Liverpool, offering expertise in valuation, compensation, rights to light, party walls, town planning, building and property consultancy.
Matthews & Goodman
Dates back to 1865
Matthews & Goodman can trace its history to 1865 when Post Office records show a Marmaduke Matthews, auctioneer and surveyor, registered at 1 Albany Street, Regent’s Park, London. This sole practitioner developed into Percy Matthews & Matthews, opening a City office in Old Jewry in 1893.
In 1901, following the appointment of Alfred Goodman as partner, the firm changed its name to Matthews, Matthews & Goodman. Sons of both families subsequently joined the firm, and there was either a Matthews or a Goodman at the helm until the retirement of Geoffrey Goodman in 1970.
Following a merger with John Postlethwaite & Co in 1978, the firm expanded its coverage into Liverpool and Manchester. It was renamed Matthews, Goodman & Postlethwaite, only dropping the tongue-twister of a name 10 years later and reverting to the previous form.
Matthews & Goodman, now a limited liability partnership, has its headquarters in Regent Street, but has retained offices in the City since 1893. It also has offices in Manchester and Liverpool, providing services across the UK and into mainland Europe.
Freeth Melhuish
Established 1874
The firm was founded in 1874 by Edwin Fergusson Taylor in Barnet, Hertfordshire, with the first recorded instruction being an auction sale held at the Railway Hotel, New Barnet, on 21 July 1874. Mr Melhuish subsequently joined Mr Fergusson Taylor in partnership before the end of the century and the firm called Taylor & Melhuish was formed.
New partners Reg Symonds, Jimmy Richards and, somewhat later, Jack Addenbrooke robustly carried Taylor & Melhuish through the second world war and post-war periods. Great characters all of them, they consolidated and strengthened the multi-disciplined nature of the practice.
In 1990, Taylor & Melhuish merged practices with Freeth & Co, which, at that time, had commercial agency offices in Hemel Hempstead and St Albans. The new practice traded as Freeth Melhuish and continues to this day, albeit with limited liability partnership status.
storeys:ssp
Established 1891
In 1891, George H Storey, a 27-year-old chartered surveyor, set up in business in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was joined by his sons, Russell and Winship, and Geo H Storey & Sons moved to Higham House, where the firm continues to practise to this day.
Robert Parker joined in 1930 to create Geo H Storey Sons & Parker. The company expanded and opened offices across the region, most notably on Teesside, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007.
Black Horse Agencies took over the business in 1988, splitting out the residential practice, and, in the centenary year, the commercial activities were the subject of a management buyout to trade as Storey Sons & Parker.
A change of name followed in 2003 to storeys:ssp and the firm continues as a multi-disciplinary commercial property consultancy from its offices in Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Teesside.
Knight Frank
Established 1896
Knight Frank & Rutley was founded in 1896 as a valuations, surveying and auctions business. Its first sale was held on 23 April at Conduit Street, London. Since then, Knight Frank has grown to become the world’s largest privately owned global property agency and consultancy.
In the 1960s, the firm expanded into Europe and, in the decades that followed, acquired offices in Asia-Pacific, Australia, Africa and the Caribbean. Its global network, including US-based Newmark Knight Frank, encompasses more than 165 offices in 37 countries across six continents. More than 5,400 professionals handle some £18.3bn ($36.1bn) worth of commercial, agricultural and residential real estate annually, advising clients ranging from individual owners and buyers to major developers, investors and corporate tenants.
Operating as a limited liability partnership, the firm’s 46 proprietary partners (increasing to 60 from 1 May 2008 to include its continental European operations) run the business in such a way that has led to sustained success and a corporate culture that helps it recruit and retain the best people who are the essence of the firm.
In June 2008, its 850 head office staff will relocate from Hanover Square, its home since 1910, to its new global headquarters at 55 Baker Street, London. There it will be combining its commercial and residential teams over three large, predominately open-plan, floorplates, totalling 100,000 sq ft, and strengthening its ability to offer its clients a truly multi-disciplined global property consultancy service.
Today, Knight Frank remains wedded to its core values of increasing global growth and capitalising on market share opportunities in both the residential and commercial property sectors. It continues to preserve and attract excellent talent in order to provide exceptional service to its clients.
Alder King
Established 1911
Alder King was founded in 1911 and traded as Stanley Alder & Price until 1986 when a merger with King Miles resulted in a change to the present name. Since then, it has been an independent partnership, with the exception of 1986-91, when it was part of the Lloyds Bank Group. The present partnership was formed in 1991 and became a limited liability partnership in 2004.
Alder King has over 190 staff, in Gloucester, Bristol, Cardiff, Swindon, Exeter, Taunton and Truro. It is an established market leader in the South West and provides expert advice nationally.
Turnover has grown from £3m to £13m during the past 10 years, due to Alder King’s involvement in many high-profile regeneration, development, planning and property projects in the South West and Wales. This has resulted in Alder King winning EG’s Most Active Agent in the South West award six times, the EG South West Property Adviser of the Year and several South West Commercial Property Awards.
Montagu Evans
Established 1921
The surveying firm established by Captain Montagu Evans in 1921 learned early to overcome adversity: its founder never properly recovered from wounds he received during the first world war and the firm’s High Holborn office was levelled by the Luftwaffe in 1940.
Post-war, the captain attracted other entrepreneurial and gifted individuals to the firm to develop the areas of valuation, planning, rating and compulsory purchase, and in 1962 the Edinburgh office was established, followed by Glasgow in 1978. Further new teams of talent specialising in commercial agency, landlord and tenant, investment and development consultancy and, most recently, residential development have joined in the 1990s and 2000s.
Although the late captain might not recognise the faces at Montagu Evans in 2008, he would certainly recognise the spirit and guiding philosophy of the firm.
Hartnell Taylor Cook
Established 1922
Hartnell Taylor Cook was founded in 1922 as a residential practice trading as Arthur Taylor & Co in Clevedon, Somerset. It was purchased by Marcus Hartnell in 1945 and, with Raymond Hartnell and Godfrey Cook, expanded the estate agency business into Bristol. They were succeeded by St John Hartnell in 1979, who continued to enlarge the business, especially the commercial department.
The business was radically transformed in the 1980s with the opening of a London office in 1982 and the sale of the residential agency section in 1986. St John Hartnell retired in 2002 and in 2005, under Andrew Batchelor’s leadership, the business expanded into Plymouth.
Hartnell Taylor Cook remains an independent partnership, following the adoption of limited liability partnership status. It prides itself on being one of the leading practices serving the South West, with a niche team focused on the retail market in London. The drive of the business is to stick to established markets and offer first-class services to high-quality clients.
GL Hearn
Established 1923
In 1923, George Leonard Hearn set up in private practice and since then the company has grown steadily, now employing 200 people with offices in Soho Square, London, Manchester, Glasgow, Bath, Southampton and Sunderland.
In 1999, GL Hearn changed status from a partnership to a wholly independent incorporated business.
The range of professional activities has broadened to encompass valuation, planning, agency, building consultancy, landlord and tenant and compulsory purchase. The most recent expansion, which reflects the growth of the residential market, is mixed-use development and a new homes advisory service.
GL Hearn is a specialist provider of property and planning services, providing market-leading advice through quality people. With continuing client support, GL Hearn’s vision – to be among market leaders in its selected business areas – is becoming a reality.
Vail Williams
Dates back to 1929
Vail Williams was formed in 1988 following the merger of LS Vail & Son (1929) and Pearson Williams (1976). Some 15 years later, in 2003, the firm once again merged, this time with Robert Shaw & Partners but still retaining the name of Vail Williams.
In 2006, Vail Williams acquired City Property Management Services and became a limited liability partnership.
Under the directorship of chief executive Ian Rudland, Vail Williams is now a leading real estate adviser with more than 150 staff in a network of nine offices.
Vail Williams’ knowledge and insight of the local real estate markets where it operates is unparalleled, while its broader regional presence allows it to identify opportunities for clients throughout the UK.
Gerald Eve
Established 1930
Established in 1930 by Charles Gerald Eve, the firm started as a seven-strong team in a single office in Chancery Lane.
The firm has helped to shape government policy by advising on legislative changes and policy developments in areas such as property taxation and planning as well as the requisition of land and buildings for war purposes.
Gerald Eve has consistently given evidence as expert witnesses in major planning inquiries and in some of the UK’s highest-profile cases heard by the Lands Tribunal, High Court, Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
Today, over a quarter of the firm’s partners today regularly provide expert witness evidence.
The firm has acquired a number of niche practices, including Howarth, Wickman & Buchele (oil), Sidney & Graham Motion (leisure) and Moseley & Webb (planning).
Today, Gerald Eve is an independent partnership with over 330 people in nine UK offices. It is a member of the Global Network of Realtors and has formed an alliance with AEC International on global property taxation.
Innes England
Dates back to 1933
Innes England was formed by a management buyout of the commercial division of Frank Innes in 1991 to focus on the East Midlands market, with representation in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester.
Frank Innes has been operating in the East Midlands since 1933 and the opportunity to take back control from Black Horse Agencies was too good an opportunity to miss.
As specialists in the East Midlands, Innes England attaches high importance to its network of contacts with agencies that shape and influence the market.
As a top 50 ranked UK practice and a winner of the Estates Gazette Midlands Property Adviser of the Year and EMPD Agent of the Year in 2007, the business is looking to, and investing in, the future with new offices in Nottingham and the launch of its Market Insite data book, which provides statistics on the past five years for the office, industrial and retail markets.
Colliers CRE
Dates back to 1934
Colliers CRE was established in 2000 by the formal merger of Conrad Ritblat and Colliers Erdman Lewis. Colliers Robert Barry (hotel agency), Locum Consulting (destination consultants), Accurates (rating audit), Vista (architecture), Colliers Capital (fund management), Deanwater Estates (property co-investment), Colliers Jackson-Stops (Dublin) and Colliers International (Madrid) are part of the current group.
Conrad Ritblat was formed in 1959 by Sir John Ritblat, the current chairman of Colliers CRE, and was subsequently part of the publicly listed Union Property Holdings and then British Land from 1970-1984. Edward Erdman & Co was formed by Edward Erdman in 1934, later merging with Clive Lewis & Partners and becoming the UK member of the Colliers International affiliation in 1994.
Through a combination of organic growth and multiple acquisitions, the company, which has been quoted on AIM since 2001, now has more than 900 employees based in 21 offices in the UK, Spain and Ireland.
Other antecedent firms include Sinclair Goldsmith, Oliver Kitchen & Flynn, Milner Estates, Gooch & Wagstaff, J Trevor & Co, Webster & Co, Fisher Wilson (Scotland), Campbell & Co, Fletcher King (Manchester), Lipfriend Dawson, Paul & Co, Jansons, Huthwaites and Dodson Jones. Colliers CRE is also a member of Colliers International Property Consultants, an affiliation of independent firms with 266 offices in 57 countries.
Aitchison Raffety
Established 1935
Aitchison Raffety’s roots began in 1935 when Robert Aitchison opened the first office in Berkhamsted. Robert’s son Neil still plays a prominent role in today’s successful practice. Among its early activities, the practice conducted surplus property auctions on behalf of the Commission for New Towns, the forerunner of English Partnerships. The practice continued to expand with commercial activities until its sale to TSB Bank in 1989.
Following the takeover of TSB by Lloyds Bank, an opportunity arose in 1997 for a management buyout to be effected and the new company took the name Aitchison Raffety, the Raffety name reflecting the long-established Raffety Buckland commercial practice based in High Wycombe, which was part of the buyout.
Today, the Aitchison Raffety Group comprises the commercial property practice Aitchisons estate agents and the town planning practice Brian Barber Associates. Its 160 staff are based in offices from London to Birmingham and provide a range of services, including well-established national specialisms in healthcare, rating, investment, planning and valuation.
Edward Symmons
Established 1943
Born out of Teddy Symmons’ war-time role assisting the Ministry of Defence in identifying sites for airfields, Edward Symmons was founded in 1943.
By the 1950s, Edward Symmons was valuing plant and machinery, a discipline in which the Machinery & Business Assets division now leads, both in the UK and internationally.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the firm exprienced a period of rapid growth in an active insolvency market. Edward Symmons soon became a national player and opened offices in Manchester in 1975 and subsequently in Liverpool, Bristol, Southampton, Leeds, Plymouth and finally in Birmingham in 2004.
During the past decade, the firm has adopted an aggressive growth strategy. Investments have been made in sectors such as hospitality and leisure, healthcare, agency and investment, building consulting and corporate services. The MBA division has experienced significant growth with the acquisition of John Foord & Co and the introduction of an asset-based lending team.
Edward Symmons is now a multi-disciplinary property and asset consultancy with 57 partners and more than 200 staff.
Ryden
Established 1959
Ryden was founded in Edinburgh in 1959 by Kenneth Ryden.
The early years saw the first wave of commercial property development in Edinburgh and subsequent office openings in Glasgow and Aberdeen. Global ambitions dominated the 1990s, with a return to a UK focus towards the end of the Millennium and new opportunities to strengthen the Scottish business and expand the Leeds office, which opened in 1995.
The firm’s current success has come from building teams of sufficient size, with specialists by sector and discipline in each of its offices.
Establishing a strong and dominant force in its chosen locations has enabled Ryden to compete successfully with the firepower of much larger organisations. Ryden’s staff are strong, ambitious characters their persistence keeps the firm moving forward and maintains its distinctive profile in the industry.
FG Burnett
Established 1960
FG Burnett was founded in Aberdeen in 1960 by Frank Burnett on his return to Scotland following several years working in the then state of Rhodesia.
Frank was very definitely old school – a model professional who took the utmost pride in everything he did. He was a tough but fair negotiator who took as much pride in reporting to clients that his opposite number’s proposal was fair, reasonable and eminently supportable as he did in securing a more favourable deal.
Today, FG Burnett is quite different in its shape and form, having grown on the back of a vibrant economy in the north-east of Scotland over the past 40 years.
Now a limited company, it opened an office in Glasgow five years ago as part of its ambitions to provide Scotland-wide coverage and indeed the odd foray south of Hadrian’s Wall on the back of key clients. However, Frank’s traditions still hold true – honesty, endeavour and the desire to succeed, balanced with a sense of fair play – all these qualities are there in abundance.
Robert Pinkus & Co
Established 1970
Established in 1970 by the founding partner Robert Pinkus, the firm began life in Preston, as a one-man band servicing clients looking for sound, honest, commercial property advice.
Now 38 years on, it is the largest firm of commercial agents in Lancashire, employing 15 staff and having moved offices twice to support its expansion. However, the original business ethos remains in place. The firm is proud of the fact that a number of its original clients have remained loyal to this day, including EH Booth & Co and Bodycare.
The main areas of activity are Lancashire and Cumbria, with services offered including agency, investment, development and professional advice. Sister company Robert Pinkus (Management Services) was established in 1979 to provide an asset management service for the practice’s expanding client base.
Robert Pinkus & Co continues to grow as a firm and looks forward to celebrating its 40th birthday in 2010.
Bond Wolfe
Established 1983
Bond Wolfe is owned by Rory Daly and Paul Bassi, who started working together on 4 July 1983 and this year are celebrating 25 years in partnership. These two inaugural partners still remain the two senior partners of the firm.
Originally a firm of estate agents and surveyors, the company grew rapidly and continued to develop both as property investors and auctioneers.
Bond Wolfe has been conducting property auction sales for over 20 years. It is currently the appointed auctioneer for Birmingham city council, Wolverhampton city council, Sandwell metropolitan borough bouncil, Coventry city council, Stoke-on-Trent city council and British Waterways.
It is recognised as an established regional property investor with a strong focus on the retail and office sectors. It has developed an outstanding track record in creating value through intensive management, refurbishment and development. Its portfolio comprises retail, office, and residential properties and, in 2006, it became the major shareholder in AIM listed Real Estate Investors.
Briant Champion Long
Established 1985
In 1985, Messrs Briant, Champion and Long bade farewell to Lambert Smith & Partners and set up a niche firm specialising in retail professional work for the likes of Norwich Union, Sun Alliance and Freshwater. An agency team was established in 1991 and secured The Carphone Warehouse as a client.
This relationship, now one of the longest standing in the industry, was instrumental in the firm becoming specialists in retailer roll-outs. Clients now include a host of retailers – from Costa Coffee to Sweaty Betty – and landlords such as British Land, Land Securities and Grosvenor.
Disaster struck Briant Champion Long on Boxing Day 2004 when founding partner Mike Long was killed in the tsunami in Thailand. After the shock, the directors took stock, restructured and embarked on a period of growth through recruitment. An investment department was also created. The result is a top five, UK, retail-focused firm with a reputation for continually achieving excellent results.
Chase & Partners
Established 1995
Chase & Partners commenced trading on 1 June 1995 from premises owned by Great Portland Estates, on the fourth floor at 23-25 East Castle Street, London. It was created by Graham Chase following his departure from Colliers Erdman Lewis in a difficult economic climate and where the property market had been in recession since 1991.
He was soon joined by four of his former colleagues, Gregory Moore, Mark Paynter, Keith Nelson and John Shuttleworth, who became the founding partners, with Jim Morrissey, the former head of planning at Colliers Erdman Lewis, joining a year later to set up the planning department.
The firm is now some 25 strong and operates out of offices owned by the Crown Estate in St James’s. As a niche agency it covers all aspects of agency, development, consultancy, valuation and professional activities of in-town and out-of-town shops, shopping centres, retail warehouses, food stores and leisure property.
CB Richard Ellis
Established 1773
Richard Ellis first opened its doors in London’s Fenchurch Street in 1773. Established by William Ellis, the company’s early success continues today both in London, where it advises the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange and the Financial Services Authority, and across the world.
The firm’s global success can be traced to the late 1960s when it opened offices in Paris, Brussels, Australia, Canada and South Africa, with expansion across Europe and in Asia Pacific following in the 1970s and 1980s. The breakthrough into the US, and the establishment of CB Richard Ellis, came in 1998 with the acquisition by CB Commercial of Richard Ellis and Hillier Parker May & Rowden, together with other major firms. It was, however, the merger with Insignia/ESG in 2003 that created the leading international property adviser and the world’s sixth-largest professional services company.
The next four years were characterised both by organic growth and the acquisitions of over 30 businesses in France, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and the UK.
On the global stage, the merger with Trammell Crow Co in 2006 significantly strengthened the firm’s occupier services offering, which advises over 70% of the world’s largest corporations.
Throughout its history, geographic growth has been matched by service innovation to meet changing client needs. In the past two years alone, a new joint venture with GFI to launch the property derivatives market in Europe, the creation of a global energy and sustainability consultancy platform and the introduction of a specialist debt and equity finance offering has led the property sector into new areas of financial and operational sophistication.
2007 was another record year of growth for CB Richard Ellis, testament to the business innovation and enhancement of client service that continues to drive the business 230 years on.
Strutt & Parker
Established 1885
Strutt & Parker has its roots in agriculture but today is active right across the property spectrum.
Its traditional land management and estate agency businesses are thriving, while its September 2007 merger with Lane Foxgave the firm a significant presence in the west London residential market.
The commercial division is also a strongperformer, contributing around 40% of the firm’s annual turnover, which, following the Lane Fox merger, now totals over £100m.
The division, born out of the post-war rebuilding boom of the 1950s and 1960s, specialises in shopping centres, West End and City offices and hi-tech business parks. And, building on the success with Middle Eastern clients, offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been established.
The firm has come a long way since the day in 1885 when Edward Strutt sent a telegram to his friend, Charles Parker– then working as a tea planter in India – inviting him to set up a land management business.One of their first challenges – finding tenant farmers for estate owners in the face of an agricultural depression – set a pattern for today’s business:maintaining long-term relationships with clients and addressing the ever-changing challenges of property ownership.
For over 60 years, land agency was the business’s bedrock but, sensing post-war opportunities, the firm began the merger and diversification process that evolved into today’s multi-discipline practice.
In 1967, the firm acquired C Harman Hunt, a London commercial property agency, and consolidated this shift through the booms of the 1970s and 1980s until, in 2000, it acquired Wright Oliphant.
If the past 123 years have taught Strutt & Parker anything, it is that the process of change in property is endless.
Jones Lang LaSalle
Established 1783
In 1783, Richard Winstanley established business as an auctioneer in Paternoster Row in the City of London. In 1806, Winstanley was joined by his son James, who formed a partnership with James Jones in 1840. The business moved to King Street, near the Guildhall, in 1860. James Jones’s son, Frederick, took over the King Street practice on his father’s retirement and renamed the firm Frederick Jones & Co.
With Frederick Jones’s retirement in 1872, the firm became Jones Lang & Co, with CA Lang as the sole partner and the first of three generations of Langs to serve the firm. In 1939, this firm merged with Wootton & Son to become Jones Lang Wootton & Sons.
Global expansion began in 1958 with offices in Sydney and Melbourne. A Scottish office opened in 1962, followed by Ireland and Brussels in 1965. Capitalising on political changes in Eastern Europe, the company opened offices in Budapest, Prague and Warsaw.
Meanwhile, LaSalle Partners was founded in 1968 as IDC Real Estate in El Paso, Texas. IDC quickly outgrew its local and regional commercial real estate markets and, in 1972, its headquarters were relocated to Chicago. The company became LaSalle Partners in 1977.
LaSalle Partners grew rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1997, LaSalle Partners Incorporated listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Since the 1999 merger that formed Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, the firm has moved from strength to strength, with more than 170 offices in over 60 countries and 22,000 employees.
Sanderson Weatherall
Dates back to 1833
Sanderson Weatherall was formed following the merger of Weatherall Green & Smith North and Sanderson Townend & Gilbert five years ago.
The first recorded presence of WGS in Leeds dates back to 1833 when Thomas Hardwick set up his own business, becoming Hardwick, Best & Young in 1867 and Bramham & Gale in 1870. At a similar time, Joshua Bramham set up a business in rent collecting in 1843, which eventually developed into Hollis & Webb in 1919.
After the war, the two firms became active in commercial property and merged to form Hollis Webb & Gale in 1969, and then becoming Weatherall Green & Smith in the 1990s.
In Newcastle, STG’s roots start in 1858, making 2008 its 150th year in business. William Sanderson started “Sandersons”, a name that remained until 1973 when it became Sanderson Townend & Gilbert.
STG and WGS merged in 2003 to create Sanderson Weatherall as it is today, operating out of offices in Leeds, London, Newcastle, Manchester and Teesside.
Allsop
Established 1906
In 1906, the same year as William Kellogg invented Cornflakes, Ben Allsop founded Allsop and advertised for a clerk in The Daily Telegraph, which cost 16p in today’s money.
Ben served in the first world war and told his secretary there is £100 in the bank and to carry on as long as it lasts. On returning, he found £1,000 in the bank and made Elsie a partner – probably the first female partner in any property agent.
In 1923, Ben opened the West End office in 15 Soho Square, moving to 21 Soho Square in 1936 due to expansion, the freehold of which was purchased for £50,000 in 1937. In 1986, Allsop then moved to its present offices at 27 Soho Square.
The Allsop group now comprises: 21 partners four offices ARIM, a residential management subsidiary and a turnover of around £40m, with the core commercial and residential services being investment, auction, agency and professional services.
Glenny
Established 1892
Glenny was established in 1892 when Samuel Glenny became an auctioneer.
Samuel’s great grandfather, Alexander Glenny, a Scottish farmer, first made the trek down to Barking, east London, after the landing of Bonnie Prince Charlie on the coast of Scotland in 1745.
The practice is now one of the largest regional firms in the country. Until 1986, it was trading under the name of A Glenny & Son, the practice taking its name from Samuel’s eldest son Alexander (1871-1935) and his son Kenneth Glenny (1900-1997).
Brian Glenny Cooper’s retirement in 1997 broke the final link with the Glenny family but the name continues to this day.
The original business strategy of A Glenny & Son was to develop along the Fenchurch Street line, expanding to 16 offices and dealing both with residential and commercial business.
The residential estate agency business was sold in 1996 in order that the practice could focus fully on the commercial and residential land markets.
Strettons
Established 1931
It was a bold move, in the early 1930s, under the national government of Ramsay MacDonald with unemployment at 3.5m, to establish a new firm of estate agents, but that is what John Stretton Tobin did in 1931.
Following the war, the firm grew with the mass of bomb damage claims and slum clearance CPOs to its present complement of nearly 100 with – apart from Strettons’ base in the north-east quadrant of the M25 – offices in the M11 corridor, south-west London and Buckinghamshire.
Strettons’ areas of operation now include commercial management throughout the UK, auctions, litigation and expert evidence, enfranchisement, commercial agency and valuation.
Strettons says it has a knack for doing things at the wrong time: it developed a 10,000 sq ft head office in 1991 and, in the present uncertain times, three directors are about to retire “Never mind,” says the agent, “we have a strong board in place and a high-quality team of staff.”
