Mansell McTaggart’s history stems back to the 1800s, when it was a traditional firm of surveyors based in Pall Mall. In 1947, a young employee, Jack Taylor, opened a Sussex branch to be nearer his family. Later, estate agents were beginning to concentrate specifically on residential homes.

Jack, now in his mid 70’s, was looking to retire and was approached by local agents Gordon Andrews and Justin Wallden with a business plan to buy Mansell McTaggart. This was the peak of the property market before a huge recession that lasted until 1995 and numerous agencies closed their doors.

Despite the challenging market, they were confident enough to open a second branch in Haywards Heath, under the directorship of Justin’s brother, Jaime Wallden.

Mansell McTaggart’s dominance went from strength to strength and expanded their network into Cuckfield (now run by Michael Lambert) and Newick (Martin Willats). The recognisable and trusted brand was proving to be a very strong brand in East and West Sussex, specialising in town, village and country properties.

Following the opening of a fifth branch in Uckfield, senior directors Gordon, Justin and Jaime gave branch managers the opportunity to buy into the business and Mansell McTaggart expanded their reach with some of them opening second or third branches of their own.

The Crawley branch, now under the directorship of Chris Hounsome, later moved to much larger premises and a prime location on The Broadway in 2022 with a showcase two-floor refurbishment, accommodating a large Lettings arm of Mansell McTaggart.

Martin Storey, Director, snagged a wonderful building in the heart of the village and is a fundamental part of the community.

Jaime Wallden bought the Lindfield branch, and as he is still based mostly at Haywards Heath, Paul Franklin is Branch Manager here and runs this quaint and quintessential village High Street office, not far from the beautiful pond.

Interest rates rose and UK house prices dropped significantly, falling by around 15% to 20% from their peak in 2007 to their trough in 2009. Millions of borrowers defaulted, causing a liquidity crunch that crippled global banks, destroyed consumer confidence and sparked the Great Recession. The market recovery was slow, and it took several years for prices in many areas to return to pre-crash levels. Because estate agencies rely entirely on a liquid, transactional property market, the subsequent freeze in the credit markets decimated the industry overnight. Mansell McTaggart weathered the storm with no branch casualties.

Following a recovery period, Mansell McTaggart opened two branches this year in Patcham, Brighton and in Forest Row; a strategic expansion further into East Sussex. Today, Tom George is Director of our Brighton branch (and Hove), and Tim Luckin is head of our Forest Row operation (and East Grinstead).

Through the acquisition of Mallards estate agency, Mansell McTaggart absorbed three new branches in Horsham (Guy Bateman), Storrington (Joanna Eldridge) and Billingshurst (Oliver Paterson). The Crowborough branch was a brand new office in its epicentre, under the directorship of Lee Hubble.

Julian Thorpe (Crawley) expanded his network and opened the doors to a new branch in Copthorne, and Tim Luckin (Forest Row) opened a larger office in the High Street of East Grinstead.

The arrival of the Horley branch completed a mesh of strategic openings for Julian Thorpe and Chris Hounsome. All 5 branches in Horley, Crawley, Copthorne, East Grinstead and Forest Row offer lettings services to renters and landlords, as well as residential sales.

The COVID-19 Pandemic led to a sharp recession due to lockdowns. Contrary to previous recessions, the housing market experienced a boom due to a temporary Stamp Duty holiday initiated by the Government which encouraged buying. Coupled with historically low interest rates and a shift in demand towards larger homes in more rural locations as remote working became prevalent, we were busier than ever.

Tom George (Brighton) widens the reach of Mansell McTaggart into the beautiful village of Steyning with a corner building and a great team in situ to run it. Rebecca Harrison-James serves the homeowners here.

Tom George (Brighton, Steyning) identified an opportunity to broaden the services offered across his two branches in Brighton and Steyning by introducing lettings. This allowed both offices to provide a more complete service to clients, supporting landlords as well as sellers and buyers, while also creating an additional revenue stream for the business.

Tom George (Brighton, Steyning) took a brave leap and opened Mansell McTaggart Hove…actually. With so many other estate agencies in the area, there was a lot of work to do and a lot of investment to make. It paid off and the Hove branch is a beacon on Church Road, having refurbed the architectural victorian building that was once Emery’s printers.

An opportunity arose to secure a small building in the village of Ringmer and the David Lee (Lewes) sought to buy and extend. This exciting development marked another milestone in the journey of growth and commitment to providing exceptional service to Mansell McTaggart clients.

Letting services were covered by many branches now in East and West Sussex, but Mansell McTaggart saw a gap in the mid-Sussex area. Subsequently, established agency ‘The Lettings People’ sold to Mansell McTaggart and went under a rebranding to Mansell McTaggart Mid Sussex Lettings. This branch is 5 doors away from the sales branch in Burgess Hill.