One of the West Midlands’ most experienced Chartered Surveyors has retired from everyday practice after more than 50 years in commercial property.

Philip Jones retired from Worcestershire commercial property consultancy and Chartered Surveyors GJS Dillon on 1 October, a business he helped to create by merging his practice Guise Jones Sawyer with JP Dillon in 2012. GJS Dillon is now the largest dedicated commercial property agency headquartered in Worcestershire, with offices in Worcester, Bromsgrove and Droitwich.

Mr Jones began his career articled to Bentley Hobbs and Mytton, an old established Worcester firm of auctioneers and estate agents, before moving to Chesshire Gibson (correct) in Birmingham. He was also the youngest councillor on Worcester City Council when he was elected aged 21.

He started his own practice in Birmingham, opening offices later in London and Manchester to build a UK-wide commercial property business. Mr Jones also worked in the USA, playing a key role in the building of a major midland PLC into a significant property investment group.

Returning to Worcester Mr Jones joined Michael Guise and Philip Sawyer to form Guise Jones Sawyer, advising Worcester University on its expansion, Kings School, and various charities and industrial and commercial concerns throughout the Midlands.

In the past three years Mr Jones has served as High Master (for 2016/2017) of the Worshipful Company of Clothiers, a livery company established in Worcester in 1594, and has been a trustee of several local charitable bodies.

- more – - 2 - Although he is retiring from GJS Dillon, Mr Jones will not be idle. He has been appointed as a non- executive director in the Cheltenham-based Hemmingway Property Group, a director of Wulstan Capital, a London-based property investment fund, and has joined David Sartori in partnership in his garden design and landscaping company based in Worcester and Cheltenham.

John Dillon, managing director of GJS Dillon, says: “Philip is one of the nicest and most professional chartered surveyors I know. It has been a pleasure to work closely with him over the past five years. We will miss him at GJS Dillon, but wish him well in what promises to be an active retirement.”