Knight Frank

A London-headquartered property consultancy and estate agency, founded in 1896, covering homes, commercial property and farmland across the UK.

About Knight Frank

Knight Frank advises people and organisations on property. Its UK website shows two main sides to the business. On the residential side it handles buying, selling, letting, valuations, auctions, short lets, country houses and estates, and super prime homes, along with landlord and tenant services. On the commercial side it offers valuations, building consultancy, development strategy, sustainability advice, capital advisory, property management and rural consultancy. It also publishes well-known research, including a Prime Central London Index kept since 1976 and an annual Wealth Report.

The firm was founded in London in 1896 as Knight, Frank and Rutley by John Knight, Howard Frank and William Rutley. Rutley was dropped from the name in 1996. Howard Frank was knighted in 1914. Its history includes some famous sales: in 1915 it arranged the purchase of Stonehenge by Cecil Chubb, who later gave it to the nation, and in 1922 it sold Chartwell to Winston Churchill. In 2005 it advised on the development of the London Olympic Village, and in 2013 it helped found the property website OnTheMarket.

Its mission, as stated on its UK about page, is: "We work responsibly, in partnership, to enhance people's lives and environments." The page also stresses professionalism, integrity and respect towards clients and partners, and a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion so that everyone can feel they belong.

In the UK, Knight Frank is headquartered at 55 Baker Street in London. Its residential offices listed in London include Battersea, Dulwich, Fulham, Islington, Notting Hill, Richmond and Wandsworth. Outside the capital it lists Bath, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Exeter, Oxford, Windsor and Yorkshire, and says it works from Central London to the Home Counties and beyond. Worldwide it says it has more than 21,000 people in 650 offices across 52 markets.

The company describes its culture as one of high performance paired with real enthusiasm for the work, with teams working together to give a connected, tailored service. That is a company claim. The range of services means many different jobs: sales and lettings negotiators, valuers, surveyors, planners, researchers, interior designers, property managers, and the finance, legal, marketing and technology staff behind them. Subjects such as maths, geography, economics, history, art and business can all be starting points. The Knight Frank website lists current roles.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Sales, lettings, valuations, auctions and specialist teams for country houses and prime London homes.', 'title': 'Residential property'}
• {'desc': 'Valuations, building consultancy, development strategy, capital advisory and property management.', 'title': 'Commercial property'}
• {'desc': 'Indices and reports on prime property and wealth, including the Prime Central London Index.', 'title': 'Research'}

Key facts

• Founded 1896 in London by John Knight, Howard Frank and William Rutley
• Arranged the 1915 purchase of Stonehenge and the 1922 sale of Chartwell
• UK head office at 55 Baker Street, London; residential offices across London and in Bath, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Exeter, Oxford, Windsor and Yorkshire
• Says it has more than 21,000 people in 650 offices across 52 markets (company claim)

Website: www.knightfrank.co.uk