The past few years have provided unknowns for many businesses, but Evans Jones is looking forward with a degree of certainty and celebrating a major milestone in its history – 50 years in business.
Founded in 1972 with partners Eric Evans and Prys Jones starting out from an office in Cheltenham’s Royal Crescent, the practice has grown from a local architectural and surveying firm to a nationwide property and planning consultancy with offices in London, Reading and Cheltenham.
The firm has survived an oil crisis, the three-day week in the 1970s, recessions in the 1980s and 1990s, a financial crisis - and most recently a global pandemic!
Managing director David Jones said “We have some ambitious plans for the next five years. We are building and strengthening our team and have made some key investments in our future growth, especially in our people, processes and technology.
We are delighted to be celebrating our 50th anniversary and are looking to build on a strong foundation created over the last 50 years.”
“It has been a cruel few years for everyone and there has certainly been no rule book of how to deal with things. We have taken the opportunity to press the reset button and make some ambitious plans for the next five years. We are building and strengthening our team and have made some key investments in our future growth, especially in our people, processes and technology.
A key part of our strategy is to increase our presence in our geographic areas - the South West, London and the Thames Valley,” said Mr Jones. “We work for a fantastic calibre and range of clients, both nationally and locally, and we plan to continue to build our client base in these.
We have particular strength in the hotel, leisure and education sectors and these will continue to be a focus for us going forward.”
He continued: “A strong focus on marketing has been at the centre of our approach and will remain at the forefront of our strategy going forward.
“Many businesses cut back on their marketing efforts during the pandemic and have fallen off the radar – we have done the opposite and rather than retreating, we have upped our game and shouted even louder.
Our new brand launched in June last year has launched us into the next phase of growth - it reflects the journey we have been on, as well as embracing the future,” he said.
“The time is right for the next chapter in our journey – watch this space.”
As well as looking at the company’s future, Mr Jones is predicting bright times ahead for Gloucestershire.
“With the strength of businesses we have in the county, as well as some fantastic investment in infrastructure projects from town centre regeneration and innovative workspaces to cyber security and education, we have every reason to remain positive about the future.”