Carter Jonas and Dreweatt Neate, two of the UK’s leading and longest established property firms, today announce a merger that will create a significant new force in the UK property market. The merger will be effective from 1 May 2009 and the new firm will be called Carter Jonas.

The merger will result in a new property consultancy with a combined turnover of £30 million, 75 partners and over 400 staff working from 31 offices. It will create a stronger, truly national brand, covering almost all of England and Wales.

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.

Key benefits of the merger include:

• Increased geographical coverage. Both firms operate in areas of the country where the other does not currently have a presence. The new firm will therefore be able to offer clients a truly national profile with offices across most of England and Wales
• Access to new specialisms and intellectual capital. Both firms operate specialist sector teams that will bring added value to the other firm’s clients. For example, Carter Jonas has a national Technology sector team and an Energy & Marine sector team, while Dreweatt Neate has a strong Architectural practice (Sutton Griffin) and a specialist Infrastructures team. In total, the new firm will have six main divisions
• Scale. The new, larger firm will be better placed to handle significant client projects and provide extra resources in times of peak workload
• Improved recruitment potential. As a national brand, the new firm will be more attractive to potential recruits and will be able to provide more opportunities for career development to existing staff

As a result of the geographical fit, there are only a few overlapping areas where restructuring will take place. Staff consultations have already started.

Mark Granger (Carter Jonas) will be the Chief Executive of the new firm, David Smith (Dreweatt Neate) will be Senior Partner and John Henniker-Major (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.

Mark Granger commented:
“The enlarged Carter Jonas will have a wider spread of offices and a fresh combination of skills to enable it to build on the strong foundations it already has. The two firms have been talking for more than a year and we are thrilled to have finally achieved an outcome which will help deliver an enhanced service to our wide ranging client base.

"I’m looking forward to leading the firm into a new era of prosperity, serving both private and corporate clients from the South Coast to the Scottish borders. 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.”

David Smith added:
“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. With its vast experience and considerable talent pool, we are confident that Carter Jonas will be one of the strongest and most dynamic property firms in the UK.”

About the merged firm

The new firm will have six divisions:

• Residential, headed by Richard Hatch
• Rural, headed by Tim Jones
• Commercial, headed by Chris Haworth
• Architecture & Building Consultancy, headed by Patrick Griffin
• Planning, headed by Steven Smallman
• Minerals & Waste Management, headed by Michael Metcalfe