History

The Early Days:
John D Wood is a company with an incredible history and provenance. It dates back over 135 years to 1872 when it was founded by the young entrepreneur John Daniel Wood. He was a remarkable and visionary man who started the company at the age of 23 and finally retired in 1928.

The first premises of the company were situated in Mount Street, London W1. Mount Street in the late 19th Century was a street of rather dilapidated Georgian houses which included the Parish Workhouse, whilst becoming much smarter at the Berkeley Square end, housing the Coburg Hotel, later renamed “The Connaught” at the outset of the Great War.

Moving Forward: The company expanded rapidly, advertising regularly in Country Life in the early 1900's an arrangement that continues to this day. The post war decade saw the business develop an exclusive reputation for dealing with high-end property as well as successful and illustrious clients. This era included the sale of Dorchester House, Park Lane, for £400,000 to the McAlpine family who rebuilt it as the Dorchester Hotel.

In 1930 John D Wood moved to new headquarters in Berkeley Square, a mere stone’s throw from where our HQ is on Berkeley Street, today. During this period in Berkely Square the company even boasted current Prime Minister David Cameron’s late father as a director.

Commercial and development work became an important part of the company's business in the 1950's and 1960's and in the late 1980s the residential arm of the Company was spun off and now boasts offices around the U.K, advertising and perpetuating the name John D Wood.

Today:
The commercial business continues to grow from strength to strength with the London based practice handling a wide range of services including, leasing (office, industrial and retail), investment agency, asset and estate management, valuations, rent reviews, arbitrations, rating, lease renewals, project management, dilapidations, energy performance certificates and fire risk assessments throughout the U.K.

John D Wood has a great name with a huge amount of brand recognition throughout the U.K, brand recognition that is continually underpinned by the substantial advertising undertaken. It evokes a sense of history and quality, while giving an immediate sense of confidence to our clients who feel secure, well advised and protected in dealing with a firm with such a long and established history.

John D Wood, Central London currently acts for major corporate companies such as Diageo plc, individual private property companies such as Structadene Ltd, and individual private investment companies such as GSC Property holdings plc. All of these businesses are well established companies, with years of experience and expertise. It is a pleasure to be able to say that John D Wood has been chosen to work with these businesses. Other clients include; International Petroleum Exchange, Liberty of London, Deutsche Bank, Wealth Management (Ireland) Ltd to name but a few.