Property consultancy Vail Williams is celebrating 30 years as a property adviser in Crawley.
Founded in 1988, the firm opened its Gatwick regional office in May 1995 when the Rt Hon Nicholas Soames, then MP for Crawley, cut the ribbon at 9 The Boulevard.
Peter Ross led the Crawley office. The firm’s focus was on commercial property work across Sussex and along the M23 corridor, concentrating on Crawley/Gatwick, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Redhill and Reigate.
At the time, there were three staff and one of the first instructions after opening in Crawley in the 1990s was as a joint letting agent for a 45,800 sq ft Wilson Connolly office development in Crawley High Street.
Today, Vail Williams’ Crawley office at Peveril Court is home to around 20 people, with a wider family of 180 colleagues across 12 offices throughout the firm.
The Crawley team provide a broad range of property advisory services to occupiers, landlords, investors and developers of commercial and residential property – from planning and building consultancy expertise to business rates advice, commercial agency and more.
After Peter Ross, regional managing partners have included Peter Sudworth and Danny George, who are both still with the firm.
Suzanne Holloway, who took on the mantle last year, said: “As we celebrate our 30th year here, we do so with an immense sense of pride in the role we have played in developing Crawley and promoting inward investment from businesses into the town.
“I think the breadth of our advisory services has proven to be a competitive advantage as we have grown, enabling us to become involved in many major development schemes over the past three decades.”
As a result, the firm has built strong relationships with a range of regional stakeholders – from local authorities and major lenders to institutional investors, developers, landlords and occupiers, enabling them to play an instrumental role in shaping the future of Crawley and the wider Gatwick Diamond region.
Suzanne continued: “We have worked in close partnership with the Manor Royal Business Improvement District (BID) – now home to more than 700 businesses – and the Crawley Town Deal Board, as well as local authorities including West Sussex and Surrey county councils, and Crawley, Horsham and Mid-Sussex at borough and district level.
“Our firm is founded on relationships built on trust, and our people have developed some incredible, collaborative partnerships – both with our clients and our wider professional advisory family, without whom we could not do what we do.”
Vail Williams assisted Surrey County Council in acquiring land and securing planning permission for two high-quality office buildings at Manor Royal, helping major occupiers and investors to come to Crawley, including one of the top aviation academies in the UK, Acron Aviation Academy, and the South East Coast Ambulance Service headquarters.
The firm also provided planning, acquisition and development advice to radiotherapy solutions specialist Elekta for their 110,000 sq ft flagship home at Manor Royal, following a four-year design and build project.
Suzanne said: “We will now be monitoring the impact of the decision on the northern runway at Gatwick Airport, due in October, which will further shape the region, and other new developments carefully for our clients.
“We really feel that we are part of the fabric of Crawley, and I hope that this will continue to be the case for many years to come. We look forward to making the most of the opportunities that lie ahead – both for us as a firm, as well as for the area.”
Partner Andrew Osborne, who has been with Vail Williams for 29 of its 30 years in Crawley and retires this year, added: “It has been a pleasure to be involved in the work we do here and in the surrounding region. Not only does it underpin the development of Crawley, but it also ensures we build on and develop skills for the future too.”
The latter is of great importance to Vail Williams and has seen them play a notable role in the delivery of educational facilities in the area, securing planning permission for new educational facilities for Chichester College Group’s STEM building, as well as a brand-new facility at Crawley College – the Surrey and Sussex Institute of Technology (SSIoT), which is currently under construction.
