Ken Williams, founding partner of property consultancy Vail Williams, has died.
Williams, 69, passed away on January 28 following a short illness.
A member of RICS, Williams started his career in Manchester with Dunlop Heywood before moving south to join Mann & Co in Woking, Surrey, during the early 1970s. He founded his own practice Pearson Williams in Reading in March 1976.
The growing business opened offices in Camberley, Surrey and Bracknell, Berkshire before merging with LS Vail & Son in 1988 to form Vail Williams, where Williams was the managing partner and joint senior partner with John Vail. During this period, he acquired the businesses of Gibson Eley in Reading, Berkshire, and Shepherd Dear & Co at Heathrow. Williams retired from the business in 2004 to become a consultant, following which he continued to act as an expert witness and arbitrator.
Williams was involved in many high-profile development and investment transactions during the 1980s and 1990s in Thames Valley and Surrey. His clients included Marlborough Property Holdings, Crest Estates, Barratt Commercial, Systems Designers, Thorn EMI and NSS News Agents. Major developments led by him included Bartley Wood at Hook, near Basingstoke, Hampshire; Albany Park , Camberley, Surrey; and many of the major office schemes in Camberley, Woking, Farnborough and Fleet, all in Hampshire and Surrey.
He moved to Spain in 2004 but remained in close contact with Vail Williams throughout his retirement.
A memorial service will be held in the near future.
Vail Williams chief executive Ian Rudland said: “Ken was a visionary with an amazing capacity to look at business opportunities from a unique perspective. Ken’s commercial acumen enabled him to build Pearson Williams, the firm he founded in 1976, in to a hugely reputable commercial surveying practice with offices in Reading, Camberley and Bracknell. Ken led the merger of Pearson Williams to join forces with LS Vail & Son in 1988 which cemented Vail Williams’ position as the largest firm of commercial property agents in the South East.”
He added: “Ken was renowned for his social and inter-personal skills. He cared immensely about the people around him and spotted young talent which he mentored and nurtured, giving freely of his time and trust. He was never happier than when he was able relax and chat with his colleagues and acquaintances no matter their position. This aspect of Ken is very firmly embedded in the culture of Vail Williams. We are all very saddened to loose such a charismatic personality which has been made all the more poignant given that we have been celebrating the firm’s 25th anniversary, and less than 12 months after the death of John Vail.”
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
