50th Anniversary

2019 was an exciting year at Shanly Group as it marked our 50th anniversary.

We partnered with the University of Reading and held an exhibition in September which we curated with their help, showcasing the changing face of property over the past 50 years and how it will change over the next 50 years. We sponsored a number of lectures throughout the year, the annual student structure and supported a student award. We would like to encourage more young people to develop a career in the property industry and hope our partnership with the University of Reading will inspire the architects, estate managers, construction directors and builders of tomorrow to consider a career at Shanly Group.

Furthermore, we increased the number of native trees we planted in some of the Woodland Trust's 1,000 woods for every house and apartment we build.

The Shanly Group donated £1.5 million to Shanly Foundation to donate to charity and community groups. Shanly Foundation donated £55,000 to seventeen additional charities as chosen by our staff, customers and tenants. In July, Shanly Foundation hosted a marquee for charities close to our heart at the annual Thames Traditional Boat Rally in Henley. We also held a number of fun staff events throughout the year too.

1969

A practical and determined Michael Shanly embarked on his housebuilding career in 1969 aged just 24. He bought a semi-detached house in Pinner to refurbish for approximately £3,000. He installed a heating system and then sold it for more money. With the money from the resale, Michael purchased some land on Love Lane, Pinner which he built his first property on.

"My passion for property began in the 1960s working in central heating and welding. For some reason I have always had great attention to detail and have always wanted to find solutions to problems. I guess this led me to go out on my own and work in the complicated but gratifying world of property."

Right: Our very first home in Pinner, Middlesex.

1969

Michael then tackled a larger project with a friend - 16 two bedroom flats in West Drayton.

"In those days there wasn't any machinery; we had to dig the trenches and load the lorries by hand - it was a tough ol' job but everyone mucked in and helped."

The development sparked Michael's enthusiasm to want to build both houses and apartments, so he set off to purchase some more land.

1970

Michael went on to purchase Elmslie School in Maidenhead for redevelopment into the first flats built by his own company, Michael Shanly Homes.

"Elmslie Court was a collection of 18 flats and not only was it our first site where we built flats but our first site in Maidenhead. The concrete slabs which were laid by my own fair hands are still there today! At the time I had not heard of Maidenhead, until I bought the school, but since then it has become a town close to my heart. Shanly Homes have been investing in this well-structured riverside town ever since."

1973

Shanly Homes' first office in Beaconsfield was located at 37-39 London End which took up the first floor above Domesticon, a kitchen shop, which is now Farrow & Ball, this housed a small team of 6.

Melanie Beresford (now Wills) joined the office as an 18-year-old secretary in 1977 and is still with us today as a Senior Estates Manager for Sorbon Estates: "We were next door to a family bakers and Michael was always treating us to cake with afternoon tea - especially 'lardy' cake."

1974

"In 1974 there was a huge property crash and it really makes you think about business, you have got to be strong enough to get through these tough market conditions. We were building a development of flats on the river in Maidenhead called 'Riverine' where I was doubling up as site manager and on the site was a vacant house, so I decided to rent it to three tenants in order to generate some much-needed extra income to cover my business costs at the time."

1974

Michael had a 'eureka' moment when renting out a vacant house on a development site and realised that this could help cover costs in market downturns. Sorbon Estates was established in 1974 and has grown over the past 45 years and now owns and manages commercial property in London and South East England, with a portfolio of over 300 properties and estates with more than 1,300 tenants.

1978

In the early 1970s Michael bought a home in Old Windsor to live in with his family. When he purchased his home, he bought additional land to the rear along the River Thames.

Seeing the potential of the land along the river, in 1978, Michael decided to dig out the basin and thus our first marina and moorings, Saxon Moorings were created.

"I saw potential in renting out moorings along the stream in the land at the back of the house. It was far too small so a team of about 50 men with their machines had to dig out the basin to make it wide enough and then we built a little bridge over to extend the footpath."

Since then Sorbon Estates have been offering berths to boat owners along the River Thames.

Sorbon Estates now manage a portfolio of 291 moorings.

Right: Saxon Moorings, Old Windsor

1979

In 1979, Shanly Homes expanded into their second office at 77 Horseshoe Crescent, Beaconsfield which was originally a residential home extended and renovated to use as offices. The team grew to 22 and was called "Sorbon", named after Michael's original investor, Jim Bonser.

Melanie Wills recalls,"I remember making all the curtains for our offices at Sorbon out of red velvet fabric! When we moved in, there were approximately 10 of us and by the time we moved out in 1985 there were about 30 of us. We couldn't all fit in the office so we had portacabins in the rear car park."

After moving out, Sorbon rented out 77 Horseshoe Crescent as offices to others until finally converting it back into a house in 2015 and selling it on.

1983

Grove Park Business Estate in Maidenhead was purchased from Ronnie Smart of Billy Smart's Circus. A former RAF site, over the next years, the team transformed it from a derelict series of buildings into a successful industrial and office park serving local and national businesses.

"Originally there was planning permission agreed for 4 flats in the office building. I went down in the basement of the building one day and stumbled across some old paperwork. It turned out the building was an old RAF commander's headquarters during World War II. I went back to the planners and changed our application to restore the building instead. Today the building is known as Grove House.

Once all the buildings were restored or built, we held a big opening event there which was a big army force celebration theme where everybody arrived by helicopter in a nod to the RAF roots from the sites original use".

1984

A former landfill site in Maidenhead caught Michaels eye in 1984 and he bought the land. Over the years, Michael considered building a number of commercial properties on the site including a supermarket. All of which did not receive planning permission. Then in 2007, Shanly Homes put in planning for a development of 426 new homes which was granted. This site is known as Boulters Meadow and is a flagship site for Shanly Homes.

Due to the site's history, it had to undergo a large remediation to transform the contaminated land to make it suitable to build on. At the time it was the largest remediation of its kind.

Boulters Meadow provides 249 houses and 177 apartments including shared ownership, as well as a large central green space and tree-lined avenues which have transformed the eyesore which was once in its place.

1985

Shanly Homes purchased land for their third 'Sorbon' which was formerly part of 'Tripps Yard', Beaconsfield at auction in 1985, as the team grew from 22 to 45. The new office building was developed and the team moved in in 1986.

The team grew quickly and purchased a parade of shops (which were let out by Sorbon) with offices above around the corner to expand into.

1991

Fawlty Towers Hotel, which featured in the 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers, was located at the Wooburn Grange Country Club in Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire.

The series is set in a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on the "English Riviera", centering on the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty, his bossy wife Sybil, sensible chambermaid Polly and hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel, showing their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests and tradespeople.

The Wooburn Grange Country Club burnt down in 1991 - it is not known whether or not it was started in the kitchen by an unlucky waiter!

Shanly Homes purchased the land and demolished what was left of the hotel before building 8 detached houses in 1993.

1997

Additional land that was originally part of Tripps Yard was purchased in order to convert the parade of shops on Aylesbury End and extended. Our fourth and current 'Sorbon' was built in 1997 to house the team which expanded from 45 to 83, as it is today.

Sorbon is now home to our group services team, Sorbon Estates and the Thames Valley and North London Shanly Homes regional offices.

1997

The Shanly Foundation was established following years of ad-hoc donations. To date the Shanly Group and Shanly Foundation have contributed in excess of £20m to support hundreds of local community groups and charitable organisations.

1999

Tom Jones Marina in Bourne End was purchased. It was a couple of basic sheds and a boatyard and it was contracted by Berkeley Homes, but Michael stepped and Bourne End Marina, a development of moorings, houses, restaurants and commercial units, was built in 2003.

2007

Candis Allen-Foote started at our Leatherhead office as Front of House Receptionist in April 2007, providing administration support to all departments, as well as holiday cover for secretaries and the PA to MD. In March 2010 Candis had the opportunity to train as Assistant Buyer,"I jumped at the chance to join the commercial team; I was trained in-house by my colleagues and found the role incredibly interesting.It's great to be able to work on a variety of different developments, some are more contemporary and others are more traditional.

My fondest memories relate to all the colleagues I've had the pleasure of working with and learning from over the years, some of whom have become my closest friends."

Candis was promoted to Buyer in 2013.

Right: Houses at Oaks Meadow, Woking

2010

Jess Groome joined us as Administration Support for our Technical, Planning and Commercial teams at our Leatherhead office after finishing college. Her role involved submitting information to the Planners to clear conditions, sending out enquires for Commercial and requesting services for Technical. Jess than began working more closely with the Technical team supporting managers with drawing issues, dealing with NHBC conditions and utilities.

Jess was then allocated her first site; Yew Tree Bottom Road in Epsom, a development of 8 chalet bungalows (see right). Since then she has been working as a Technical Co-ordinator looking after a range of housing schemes from four 5 bedroom houses to fourteen 2 and 3 bedroom houses. She is currently working on my her first block of flats.

Jess has recently completed a HNC in Construction.

2011

Originally home to a cinema between 1927 and 1985 before being rebuilt and demolished in 2008, Shanly Homes purchased the 'Old Cinema Site' in Maidenhead town centre in 2011. The site was earmarked as part of the wider Maidenhead regeneration in the Chapel Arches part of the town and was the first development to kick start the regeneration.

Works began on Phase I, The Picturehouse in 2015 which provided 40 luxury apartments and penthouses and 4,854 sqft of restaurant space. As part of the Maidenhead regeneration, the waterways flowing alongside The Picturehouse were rejuvenated, widening and deepening the channel to allow for small pleasure boats and canoes to pass down.

Chapel Arches consists of three phases in total - The Picturehouse (2016), Chapel Wharf (2016) and Waterside Quarter (2021). Once complete, these developments will provide 261 new apartments, more than 30,000 sqft of commercial space and a public amphitheatre.

Right: The Picturehouse

2012

"Realising a need for high-quality shared-ownership homes, the Shanly Group founded Shanly Partnership Homes to provide high specification new homes synonymous with the Shanly brand to the shared-ownership market". - Michael Shanly

Shanly Partnership Homes was granted Registered Provider status in March 2012 and since then, has delivered 62 new shared-ownership homes across the Home Counties.

2013

Across the Sorbon Estates portfolio there are a number of offices, business parks, retail/restaurant units, storage/industrial units and moorings.

In 2013, Sorbon Estates purchased their first island - Platts Eyot located in Hampton. The island is home to a number of office, industrial and storage units, as well as moorings along the perimeter, all of which are let out to tenants.

The Group has a long term vision for this site, with a view to develop the island in years to come to provide new build waterside homes and commercial units.

2014

Shanly Homes' Boulters Meadow development in Maidenhead won Best Regeneration Project at the Housebuilder Awards.

2016

At the Thames Valley Property Awards, Shanly Homes won the Housebuilder of the Year award. They went on to win this same award again in 2019.

2017

The Thames Valley region won the RICs Regeneration awards, for their Chapel Arches scheme in Maidenhead.

In the same year, Southern and North London won the In-House Gold Award for Customer Satisfaction, Thames Valley went on to win the same award in 2018.

2018

Sorbon Estates constructed a purpose-built nursery at Cliveden View Shopping Centre, Maidenhead. Sorbon Estates owned and let out the parade of shops above at Cliveden View Shopping Centre before deciding to expand the parade to include the new build children's nursery. The newly-built nursery had 4,900 sq. ft of internal space and boasted a large outdoor play area with a sunken sandpit, as well as a spacious and secure first floor terrace with views of Cliveden Estate.

"This was an exciting project to work on. Every classroom has been designed to comply with Ofsted regulations with each room being tailored for the children's age group. Building security is also paramount so it has a door entry system and separate lobby to maintain the children's privacy and safety." - Des McGuckin, Head of Projects, Sorbon Estates

This was the fourth nursery constructed and retained for investment by the Group in the last 15 years, the others being in Battersea, Windsor and Maidenhead.

2019

As part of a turnkey scheme we worked with the Desborough Bowling Club in Maidenhead for many years to purchase the site of their existing Bowls Club for redevelopment, and not only find a replacement site for a new club but build the new one too. Sorbon Estates found a site only a stone's throw from the town centre and project managed the development. After 9 months in construction, the club will move into their new facilities in time for the 2019 bowling season.

The new state-of-the-art facility offers a purpose-built clubhouse served by a generous car park, an eight-rink indoor green and a six-rink outdoor green.

"We're delighted to have worked closely with the Desborough Bowling Club to find them a new permanent home where we hope they'll be happy in their fantastic new facilities."

2019

For the past 50 years, Shanly Homes has built over 12,000 new homes, each one carefully designed by our team.

We are looking ahead to the next 50 years and are committed to changing in order to meet the needs of our customers and tenants whilst still upholding our traditional family values.

Michael comments "I'm delighted to be celebrating our 50th year, which is thanks to not only our valued customers, but also each one of the hard-working staff who have been with me over the years. If I could use one word to describe the last 50 years, it would be 'fun'!"

2019

Historically, at both Shanly Homes and within the housebuilding and commercial property industries, the company was very male-dominated with women in secretarial, PA, sales and accounting roles. At a time, there were no women heading up departments or taking on Director roles.

"We're delighted that over the years there are more and more women interested in the housebuilding and commercial property industry and across the Group hold roles in every sector of our businesses.

In 2019, 29% of our workforce is female; a figure which is increasing each year." Tamra Booth, Group Operations Director

Right: Just some of the women that make Shanly Group a success business.