Coventry & Warwickshire in business
Profile: James Davies
“We had offered almost all the services for tenants when they moved in to our buildings, and we realised that companies needed the same set of supports even if they were taking other properties,” he said. “We were filling up fast and rather than saying no to people because we had no space of our own, I told them I could find what they needed. We struck up some very strong partnerships with agents, introduced a commercial property insurance arm and off we went. “That worked very well, but then you end up doing a lot of different things and we realised we had to properly understand what was truly working for us alongside what we didn’t offer and really start to focus growing the business overall because we had started to expand our own portfolio quite aggressively.” The principle missing ingredient was the ability to construct, and that was solved by bringing Ciexbe Limited into the Wigley Group, through a merger. Again, the construction arm bids for jobs outside the group as well as doing work on the firm’s portfolio. For years, the Wigley Group had worked from its various sites, but needed a central base so five years ago it moved to offices on the Middlemarch Business Park, but with an end date very much in mind. Robert and James were determined to find a permanent home which the company could call its own and which would be the base for decades rather than years. They were not sure what they had in mind – but it probably wasn’t a neglected Georgian country house last occupied by a religious group! They drove past Stockton House in 2017 and although it was in need of a large degree of love and attention and was being marketed as a domestic home, they saw the potential as a commercial headquarters. Around 18 months on – and after a great deal of love and labour – it is now the nerve-centre of the expanding group.
9,000 sq ft of office space, including conference space which we will offer to partners, and a separate barn building for the construction team. “We feel it says a lot about the sort of company we are, and we are really pleased with the results.” That has been funded through decades of creating home and workplaces for other people. The company has just landed a FirstPro Award for Property Deal of the year after completing a 40-year project to breathe economic life into Edgwick Park in the north of Coventry. It has just submitted plans for a new trampoline park and commercial buildings in Exhall after a fire devasted the building which used to occupy the site. And, most ambitiously of all, it is starting to plan for the creation of approximately six acres of mixed use development on its site in Sandy Lane, which borders the Coventry Canal. Daimler Wharf will include a mix of houses, apartments and employment spaces as well as cafes and outdoor leisure spaces and will also open up the canal-side for local residents. The site is home to the Daimler building – one of the first car factories in the world – which is being transformed into the Daimler Powerhouse arts complex for artists, engineers, architects and other creative industries by Imagineer Productions.
James has two young daughters and tries to shape his working life to suit home life.
But work has always meant more than just bricks and mortar to the company, and away from the day-to-day activities, there is a strong charitable thread running through the company.
“One great thing about the move to the new headquarters is that people want to come and see us here which really does cut down on travel time.”
Its Wigley Support Fund raises and distributes money to help former members of the Parachute Regiment make the successful transition from army life to civvy street, the bulk which is raised through a sporting celebrity golf day held in July.
“Finding the ideal commercial property is never easy, and this certainly was quite a bold move for us but, although it has been a huge task, it really gives us a very solid base,” said James.
“This area has some really good companies operating here. When I mean good, I don’t just mean successful, they are good in terms of values and their ethics, and we like to think we can count ourselves among them,” James said.
“The place had not been looked after and was a wreck, more of a wreck than we realised. It has been a labour of love for around 18 months but we now have
“We want people who are good at their job, good at the technicalities and good at the commercial – but most of all we want them to be good people.”
“Finding the ideal commercial property is never easy, and this certainly was a quite a bold move for us but, although it has been a huge task, it really gives us a very solid base.” www.cw-chamber.co.uk
Working Day “That certainly doesn’t mean I work less, I just hopefully work smarter.” He arrives at work at around 8.30am, and is away by 5.30pm, but work starts again at 8pm when baths have been taken and stories have been read.
Inevitably, no day is the same and work is spread across planning new developments, keeping across the company’s holdings and seeing prospective partners. “I learned fairly early on to surround myself with people who are better than me at their individual jobs, and again that comes down to picking the right team.” Away from work, the Davies clan are big on the outdoors and country pursuits. Eldest daughter Isabella is a keen horse rider – and set to be followed by sister Matilda – while James has shares in a couple of National Hunt racehorses and is a keen race goer. They have recently finished a building project at home, only to decide to move to Warwickshire and convert a barn which will bring the family closer to Wigley HQ.
Profile Born: Date of birth: Live: Married: Children: Hobbies: Favourite book: Favourite film: Last holiday: Car: Gadget:
Coventry 27th April 1979 Northants Sarah (9yrs) Isabella (7) Matilda (2) Horseracing and the countryside Anything related to history/war – too many to mention The Godfather New York Land Rover My pen
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