90th Anniversary Timeline

On May 8th 1935, James Owen, Nick Davies and George Christie pooled their resources to establish a business agency then called Christie, Owen & Davies in Baker Street.

Christie, Owen & Davies sold Charles Forte his first "milk bar", the Strand Milk Bar in Regent Street, London.

One of our earliest advertisements that was posted in The Surrey Advertiser. 

We started to expand with our first regional office in Exeter, before opening further offices in Bournemouth, Hove, Ipswich, Cheltenham and Canterbury.

Facilitated the sale of the Marquee in Knightsbridge to the Hungarian restaurateur and journalist.

Sold the Berkshire-based French cuisine restaurant to the Roux Brothers, Michael and Albert.

Philip Gwyn and Brian Kingham were appointed to the Board after the acquisition of Christie & Co. 

Opening a new office in Edinburgh marks the first Scottish office.

A finance and insurance arm launched: Reliance Consumer Credit, which would later become Christie Finance and Christie Insurance.

A new holding company is created to unite Christie & Co and its sister businesses, this entity would later become Christie Group plc.

Offices open across Birmingham, Bristol & Manchester, while our first computer systems are installed.

Christie Group plc floats on the London Stock Exchange, marking its debut as a publicly listed company.

Our first international office opens in continental Europe.

Building on our European expansion, we launched our first German office.

We entered the Spanish market, extending our brokerage and advisory services to Southern Europe.

Facilitated the sale of four nurseries from Southern Cross for £12.6 million.

Christie Group transfers its listing to the Alternative Investment Market, a move aimed at fostering growth under a more flexible framework.

Sold entire share capital of Cannon Capital Group Holdings, a company which held the freehold interest in 91 care homes, for around £365.5 million.

Demonstrating our capability in high-value transactions, the Hotels team brokered the £417 million sale of the London and Birmingham-based hotels in Tonstate Group.

Our first Medical sector was established with the launch of our Pharmacy brokerage sector.

468 pubs were sold over a three year period giving us our then largest single fee.

A presence is established in Central Europe with a new office in Austria.

Growing on the demand following many dental practice valuations, we officially launched our Dental brokerage team, which quickly become, and remains, market leader.

We celebrate our 80th anniversary with the motto "80 years of business insight".

Completed the sale of 53 pubs, with a value of around £105m, to Stonegate Pub Company on behalf of Tattershall Castle Group.

We sold Houstons Dental Group, at the time one of the UK’s largest and most respected independent groups.

In a landmark deal we sold 146 properties on behalf of Wyevale Garden Centres.

Darren joined Christie & Co in 2001 and was appointed Global Managing Director in 2020.

Sold for £3 million, eventual buyer and the MD of the Mellors Group, James Mellors Snr noted, "When Christie & Co were appointed, we were in touch straight away."

Believed to be the largest recent independent dental deal in the UK, we facilitated a landmark partnership between North East-based dental business, Queensway Group and Dentex.

Full portfolio of 34 Whitworth Chemist pharmacies brought to the market, all of which were put under offer by 2024 after a sales process involving over eight prospective buyers.

We expanded into new territory with the Care sector in Germany.

The sale of a long-established, highly respected family-owned portfolio comprising four prestigious nursery schools, the renowned Pippa Pop-ins, to Dukes Education.

After the successful launch of our Care team in Germany, we expanded into France.

Acting on behalf of Boots UK we have offered for sale multiple pharmacies, including 75 sales in 2024 alone.

2025 marks a significant milestone for Christie & Co, as we celebrate 90 years of unparalleled expertise in advising, valuing, and selling businesses across our specialist sectors.