Savills

History

The business was established by Alfred Savill (1829–1905) in 1855 in London. By the time of Alfred Savill's death in 1905 his sons Alfred, Edwin and Norman were established in partnership. In the 1920s the firm moved to Lincoln's Inn Fields. During the Second World War Norman Savill went to Wimborne in Dorset, taking vital records with him. The remaining partners stayed at Lincoln's Inn Field. By the 1970s, the firm was re-branded as Savills. The firm was incorporated as a limited company in 1987 and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1988.

In 1997, Savills merged with First Pacific Davies () in Asia. In 1998 it bought majority stakes in the German, French and Spanish arms of Weatherall, Green & Smith. In June 2015, it completed the acquisition of Smiths Gore, provider of rural and residential property services in the UK. In June 2016, Savills plc announced its proprietary investment subsidiary, Grosvenor Hill Ventures, had acquired a minority stake in Yopa Property, a UK-based online hybrid estate agent.

Savills announced in August 2016 that it had acquired GBR Phoenix Beard, a Midlands-based commercial property consultancy, strengthening its UK real estate services. Expansion continued in July 2017, with the acquisition of Larry Smith Italia, a commercial management and leasing business in Italy. The company's European operations grew further in December 2017 when Savills acquired Aguirre Newman S.A., the independent Spanish and Portuguese real estate advisory; the newly combined business was rebranded as Savills Aguirre Newman in January 2018.

In November 2025, Savills was appointed by Expo City Dubai to manage leasing and commercial asset management for the district.

Operations

The company provides property consulting services from offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East.

References

References

1. "Preliminary Results 2024". Savills.
2. (2000). "Europe's Elite 1000 2001". Cadogan Publications.
3. (24 April 2006). "Title Deed". Mortgage Strategy.
4. (9 September 1997). "First Pacific Davies forms alliance with top British property agent". South China Morning Post.
5. (22 April 2015). "Land agent Savills buys Smiths Gore for £40m". Farmers Weekly.
6. (3 June 2016). "Savills squares up to Purplebricks by backing estate agent rival Yopa". Telegraph Media Group.
7. (12 August 2016). "GBR Phoenix Beard bought by global property agency".
8. "Savills acquires retail experts Larry Smith Italia". PropertyEU.
9. "Savilles completes acquisition of Aguirre Newman".
10. Celine. (2025-11-28). "Expo City Dubai Partners With Savills to Rebuild and Reposition Its Commercial Real Estate Portfolio".
11. (18 November 2022). "Savills bolsters property management and agency businesses with opportunistic buys, new hires [article]". edgeprop.sg.