Dreweatt Neate –finally – merges with Carter Jonas

One of the most respected regional names in estate agency, Dreweatt Neate, is to disappear after finally doing a deal with Carter Jonas.

In what the parties insist is a merger, the new firm will be called Carter Jonas and looks set to be a national force to offer competition to the likes of Knight Frank.

Dreweatt Neate started trading as Thomas Davis in Newbury, Berkshire, in 1759 before becoming Dreweatts. It joined with Neates, founded in nearby Hungerford in 1876, to become Dreweatt Neate in 1987. Carter Jonas was founded in 1855 and has its head office in Mayfair, London.

The merger with Carter Jonas was first mooted more than a year ago but, after a lengthy silence, was only confirmed as going ahead yesterday. It will be effective from May 1.

It will result in a property consultancy with a combined turnover of £30m, 75 partners and more than 400 staff working from 31 offices covering almost all of England and Wales. However, there will be some job losses where the two firms overlap.

Currently, Carter Jonas operates 20 offices in the north-east, central England, Wales and London, while Dreweatt Neate is a business with 11 offices in southern England.

Both firms operate specialist sector teams – for example, Carter Jonas has an Energy & Marine sector team, while Dreweatt Neate has an architectural practice. In total, the new firm will have six main divisions.

Mark Granger of Carter Jonas will be chief executive of the new firm, David Smith of Dreweatt Neate will be senior partner, and John Henniker-Major of Carter Jonas will be chairman.

The firm’s management board will be made up of Mark Granger together with Alastair Martin and Simon Pallett of Dreweatt Neate, and Scott Harkness and Tim Jones of Carter Jonas.

Granger said: “The enlarged practice will have more than 400 years of combined trading experience behind it, arguably giving it one of the finest pedigrees of any business in the UK property sector.”

Smith commented: “The synergies between the two firms were too strong to be ignored. Not only are we very similar in terms of business mix, culture and heritage, but we are a perfect fit geographically. For some time, both organisations have felt that a merger could generate significant opportunities, and we’re very excited that this is finally happening.”