A Chichester estate agency that can trace its roots back to the city’s livestock markets of 1826 is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year
For David Adams there was never any question about what he wanted to do as a career, as he had grown up around his father’s business – the property firm Henry Adams that can trace its roots back to when livestock markets filled the streets of Chichester.
‘I loved it,’ David, 57, says. ‘I would go into my father’s office and, as I got older, I’d work there during the school holidays. Every Wednesday I’d go with him to the livestock market in the city and run the sheets from the pens back to the office. All the buyers knew me as “young Henry” and even though it might have been wonderful to be a farmer I did the next best thing and joined the business.’
David became a qualified agricultural cultural surveyor specialising in advising landowners to gain planning permission. When he joined the firm in 1995, aged 25, he added a development land consultancy and dedicated planning consultancy to the company’s burgeoning expertise.
‘My father was fantastic in that he gave me my freedom and let me use my expertise to expand the company,’ says David. ‘It was incredible that he put so much faith and trust in me. I loved working with him.’
Now the agency, which sells almost half a billion pounds’ worth of residential properties each year and employs 175 people, is celebrating 200 years of business and is continuing to grow. ‘We have 200 years of heritage, trusted local knowledge and community values,’ says David. ‘But we are a modern, multi-disciplinary property business, offering everything from residential sales, lettings and commercial property to land and development, planning, agricultural advice, surveying, fine art auctions and holiday cottages across Sussex and beyond.’
It’s a far cry from when the company began in 1826 when Edward Wyatt, a farmer from Chidham who bred Southdown sheep at Up Marden Farm, expanded into agricultural valuations before later moving into auctioneering and surveying. His offices were in the city centre where, on market days, cattle, horses and pigs filled the streets around the Market Cross and East Street until a new purpose-built site opened in 1871.
In 1900 Wyatt & Son diversified, taking on the lease of Baffins Hall, a former chapel, which is now the home of Henry Adams Fine Art Auctioneers and where the firm holds regular antique and fine art sales though it continued dealing with livestock.
Between 1901-1914 the firm conducted the sale of horses at Goodwood. The rostrum used for these auctions was a particularly fine Sheraton piece, which folded for transport to the racecourse. When the business later moved from its East Street offices, the rostrum was presented to the Duke of Richmond, along with the auction sale books.
The company continued trading through two world wars and the volatile peaks and troughs of the UK housing market. David’s dad joined Wyatt & Son in 1952 as a chartered surveyor and auctioneer, working his way up to senior partner.
In 1990 Henry formed a partnership with Simon Lush and together, they expanded the firm’s services while maintaining its strong local roots. After briefly trading as Prudential in the late 1980s – a time when insurance companies were buying up estate agencies – by 1991, the company had adopted the Henry Adams name. ‘When I joined the company, it was a rural business,’ David says. ‘But it has continued to evolve with every generation.’
Sadly, Henry died in 2012. ‘It was very tough,’ his son says. ‘Even though he had retired in 1997, my father was still very much part of the business.’
Now one of four equity partners at the firm that bears his father’s name, David says the bicentenary is an opportunity to reflect on the company’s heritage and future.
The business has seen remarkable growth – as well as selling properties, it manages more than 3,000 rental properties and arranges more than 2,600 holiday bookings through its Holiday Cottages business.
‘But the values that shaped the firm in the Georgian era, of dedication, respect, teamwork and know-how, remain just as important today as they were nearly two centuries ago,’ David says.
And the company has embraced modern technology, using contemporary marketing tools including drone photography, social media, digital dashboards for sellers and landlords to track progress in real time and secure online document-signing to streamline property transactions.
‘We are innovative and entrepreneurial and will continue to grow,’ says David. ‘As we look ahead to the next chapter of the business, it’s incredibly rewarding to see that our partnership remains deeply rooted in the communities it has served for two centuries and counting.’.
henryadams.co.uk
