John D Wood & Co. was established 150 years ago by John Daniel Wood, who opened the doors to our first office at No. 6 Mount Street, Mayfair in 1872. Over the decades operations have expanded to 28 offices situated across London and the South of England, as well as having our international department with 3,000 affiliated partners across the world.
A brief history
In 1930, our headquarters moved to Berkeley Square, where an office remained until the late 1980s. Commercial and development work became a significant part of the company’s business in the 1950s and 1960s, which was followed by an important step in the central London residential market when the Chelsea Green sales office was opened in 1966 – where John D Wood & Co.’s current longest serving employee of 48 years, Andy Buchanan still works today.
In 1982, the commercial side of the company separated, and the Residential & Agricultural arm ‘John D Wood & Co.’ was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1987. Further growth as a plc, and embracing modern technology to better serve clients and customers proved attractive to investors and in 1997, John D Wood & Co. was acquired by Countrywide plc.
In 2015, the International Department was established to work with overseas partners, and the business expanded further in 2016 by merging with Faron Sutaria and Fitz-Gibbon, whilst also acquiring APW, CHK Mountford and Vanet Property Asset Management to their family of brands.
More recently, in 2021 John D Wood & Co. was acquired by Connells Group, the UK’s largest estate agency and property services provider, and operates as one of its prime estate agency brands.
Today
John D Wood & Co. is renowned for handling sales for a client base who prefer to transact anonymously, with an average of 28%* of their sale properties listed as ‘off-market’ for many confidential reasons. A recent quote from a private client summed up the company approach, and their reason for choosing John D Wood & Co. over the years in saying “nobody keeps a secret like John D Wood & Co.”. The business intends to continue offering this discreet and trusted service.
The milestone birthday also presented the opportunity to look at historical highlights, with records of success in the sale of impressive iconic country estate and property sales such as: Dorchester House on Park Lane in London, Donington Hall in Leicestershire, Leeds Castle in Kent and the National Sporting Club in Covent Garden.
To mark the occasion have adapted their logo to feature a typeface taken from John Daniel Wood’s signature handwriting paying homage to the heritage of its founder.
Polly Ogden Duffy, Managing Director at John D Wood & Co. says, “Our values, high standards and first-class levels of service remain at the forefront of our approach. We are trusted, respected and proud to consider our clients as clients for life, and we will continue to do the business proud for the next 150 years.”
*Data source: John D Wood & Co. internal data, 2021
