A Mr Dowsett originally formed the organisation now known as Mann Countrywide. Dowsett at one time connected with insurance, opened as an estate agent in a small office in Guildford Road, Woking in 1891. He started the business from scratch and in the early days, spent the majority of his time writing touting and canvassing letters to local landowners. He then placed small advertisements in the local newspapers in the form of 'wanted' adverts. His methods worked and he began securing instructions. He would then write to possible interested purchasers in an effort to try and secure sales.

In the late 1800's, Woking was still very much a small village and relatively unknown. In those days, the only real point of interest and perhaps Woking's main claim to fame was Brookwood Cemetery, a few miles away, being the largest in Europe. It could be said that Woking initially owed its growth to the cemetery, as the first rail communications were from there to Brookwood. But for Dowsett & Mann, there were far greater implications regarding Brookwood Cemetery. A London firm purchased the land for the cemetery but in doing so never realised the vast implications of cremation, and when cremation grew in popularity, they naturally found themselves with a surplus of land.

Dowsett & Mann were fortunate enough to be given a golden opportunity, of being able to acquire plots at most reasonable prices. Yet they were faced with a hard task ahead of them, namely how to attract house buyers to the area. Formerly, letter writing had proved adequate but later, when instructions were more plentiful, they were forced to pursue additional avenues in order to increase their coverage. They were a resourceful partnership. When they obtained an instruction, Mr Mann would take to his bicycle, cycle clips and all, pedal round to the property and take instructions. He always arranged for instructions to be carried out in the morning because the afternoons were reserved for a trip to London. He would take the train to town, visiting the agents there and offering his instructions to them on a split commission basis. It may seem rather comical to us now, but his methods were successful and Frederick Mann managed to sell a large number of plots at Brookwood Cemetery.

A Mr William Agace purchased the company in 1938. By this time the firm was known as Messrs Mann & Co, Dowsett having previously left the partnership. It is believed that the sum involved for this transaction was in the region of £200.

Following the Second World War, the expansion of Mann & Co began to take place. In 1947, Mr Derek Winston joined the firm and soon became a partner, and later the Chairman. By this stage, the company was not only operating from a branch in Woking but also in West Byfleet and Walton on Thames. It was also in 1947 that the first Weybridge office was acquired and during this period, into the l950's, there was an upward trend in growth for Mann & Co.

It was in the early l960's that Mr William Agace's son, Jeremy, joined his father in the business. By l964, Mann & Co had 24 offices and departments, growing to 37 offices by the late l960's. This prosperous era for the company was sadly marred by the death of Mr William Agace, whose vital and outrageous personality had undoubtedly carried the firm so far. Mr Paul Locke first joined Mann & Co in the l950's as a Trainee Surveyor to Mr Winston. He found, however, that surveying was not his forte and decided to go to sea, where he worked as a purser aboard a cruise liner. On his return to England in l966 he rejoined Mann & Co as an estate agent, later to become Managing Director and Partner, with Jeremy Agace the Chairman.

By 1973, the partnership had expanded to 46 offices, but it was during this decade that the company went through, undoubtedly, its most difficult period. The oil crisis peaked and inflation soared. Radical action was necessary. Company cars and other assets were sold in order to raise much needed cash. Inevitably, redundancies took place. The partners and area directors were back running branches, often single handed, but the company pulled through. Careful Mortgage management, backed by a determination to succeed, kept the company afloat.

By the turn of the decade, Mann & Co could proudly advertise that they had over 79 offices. In l983, just ten years on, Mann & Co acquired the Kent based company of Bampton & Partners, with branches in Chatham, Gillingham, Maidstone, Rainham, Rochester and Strood.

A crucial turning point for Mann & Co was in l985 when the company went public, obtaining a full listing on the Stock Market. The flotation was hugely successful. The first acquisition was that of Abbotts Estate Agents, operating in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

In March 1985, Mann & Co plc merged with Bairstow Eves plc and 62% of this new enlarged company was purchased by Hambros Bank and, subsequently, Hambro Countrywide plc was formed. From l986 onwards, there were further group acquisitions to bring the network to its present size of over 800 offices. One of these acquisitions was the Kent based company of Furlongs, with offices in Bexleyheath, Catford, Dartford, Eltham, Gillingham, Maidstone, Rainham, Sidcup, Welling and Woolwich.

In May l988, the Kent operation was separated from the main Mann & Co group and a new subsidiary was formed, Mann & Co (Kent) Ltd.

In 2002 the group decided to re-brand all of the subsidiary companies with the countrywide name. Our trading name was therefore changed to MANN Countrywide.

Back