Knight Frank LLP is an

estate agency An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged ...

, residential and

commercial property Commercial property, also called commercial real estate, investment property or income property, is real estate (buildings or land) intended to generate a profit, either from capital gains or rental income. Commercial property includes office b ...

consultancy founded in London by John Knight,

Howard Frank Sir Howard George Frank, 1st Baronet, (10 November 1871 – 10 January 1932) was an English estate agent and public servant. He was a co-founder of Knight Frank. Frank was born in Blackhurst, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Frederick Frank. H ...

and William Rutley in 1896. Knight Frank together with its American affiliate

Cresa Cresa is an international commercial real estate Commercial property, also called commercial real estate, investment property or income property, is real estate (buildings or land) intended to generate a profit, either from capital gains or r ...

is one of the world's largest global property consultancies. Headquartered in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, Knight Frank's global network have more than 488 offices across 57 territories and more than 20,000 people handle in excess of US$817 billion (£498 billion) worth of commercial, agricultural and residential real estate annually.

History

Knight, Frank & Rutley is an earlier name of the firm. Sir Howard George Frank, 1st Baronet was an English estate agent, head of the firms of Knight, Frank & Rutley of London and Walton & Lee of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and was president of the Estate Agents' Institute from 1912 to 1914. 1897: The first recorded business property sale is achieved in November, when Knight, Frank & Rutley sells a ‘cycle machinery and plant’ business in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

for £270 11s 6d.
1911:

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

is sold to Lord Plymouth for £210,000.
1914:

, the senior partner, is knighted.
1915:

Cecil Chubb Sir Cecil Herbert Edward Chubb, 1st Baronet (14 April 1876 – 22 September 1934), was the last private owner of Stonehenge prehistoric monument, Wiltshire, which he donated to the British government in 1918. Early life and education Chubb was ...

buys Stonehenge through Knight, Frank & Rutley for £6,600 as a present for his wife Alice. Mr & Mrs Chubb gave it "to the Nation" three years later.
1921: The town of

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

is sold by Knight, Frank & Rutley for £203,840 – the first time the firm has disposed of an entire town.
1922: The firm handles the sale of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's house and sells

Chartwell Chartwell is a country house near Westerham, Kent, in South East England. For over forty years it was the home of Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965. In t ...

to him.
1924: The

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

sells

Grosvenor House Grosvenor House was one of the largest townhouses in London, home of the Grosvenor family (better known as the Dukes of Westminster) for more than a century. Their original London residence was on Millbank, but after the family had developed ...

in Park Lane through Knight, Frank & Rutley.
1927: The firm advises on the site assembly for the BBC's headquarters,

Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...

in London.
1937: Most of the town of

Lytham St Annes Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...

in Lancashire is sold – including the celebrated golf course.
1974:

Fountains Abbey Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 40 ...

, Yorkshire, dating back to 1132, is sold for £1 million.
1981: In New York, Douglas Elliman Knight Frank sells Pan-American World Airways Intercontinental Hotels Corporation to

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to for ...

for $500 million.
1996: On 1 January, ‘Rutley’ is dropped from the Knight Frank name as part of a plan to expand international market share.
2000: Knight Frank sells the Duke of York's Headquarters in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
2005: The firm is appointed to advise on the development of the London Olympic Village for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

.
2006: With effect from 1 January, Knight Frank establishes a global real estate partnership with leading New York-based real estate service firm

Newmark Knight Frank Newmark Group Inc. is a commercial real estate advisory and services firm headquartered in New York City. It operates as ''Newmark'', and is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "NMRK". The company’s services include Capi ...

, formerly Newmark.
2012: February, presents

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...

to the global property market.
2013: Participated in the founding of OnTheMarket
2015: Knight Frank wins the instruction to sell 231 prime residential units within the Royal Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

Global House Price Index

The Knight Frank Global House Price Index is compiled using official government statistical office or central bank data where possible.

House Price Sentiment Index (HPSI)

The Knight Frank/

Markit Markit Ltd. was a British financial information and services company with over 4,000 employees, founded in 2003 as an independent source of credit derivative pricing. The company provides independent data, trade processing of derivatives, fo ...

House Price Sentiment Index (HPSI) provides the earliest view of how the UK housing market is faring. The monthly survey gauges the sentiment of households across the country, and is a lead indicator of future house price movement.

Country House Index

The Knight Frank Country House Index is a valuation based index, compiled quarterly from valuations prepared by professional valuers in every Knight Frank Country House office in the UK. The index is based on the valuation of a comprehensive basket of properties throughout all United Kingdom regions based on actual sales evidence.

Prime Central London Index

The Knight Frank Prime Central London Index, established in 1976, covers the prime central London residential marketplace. The index is based on a repeat valuation methodology that tracks capital values of prime central London residential property.

The Wealth Report

The Wealth Report is an annual publication produced by Knight Frank. The Wealth Report looks at global prime property trends and wealth, and examines the prime and super-prime property markets. The Wealth Report focuses heavily on the investment activity of global single and multi family offices. In their latest report of 2018, the Knight Frank Wealth Report expounded on the increase in family office real estate activity, citing both

WeWork WeWork Inc. is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated of space, including in the United States and Canada, in 756 locatio ...

and the FINTRX Family Office Platform. The report stated that 57% of North American family offices had real estate exposure, while 48% European family offices were currently allocated to the real estate sector.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight Frank Real estate companies established in 1896 1896 establishments in England Property companies based in London Property services companies of the United Kingdom