Office politics

It may be surprising to note that the family office in the UK has been in existence in one form or another for hundreds of years. The traditional landed estate-owning clients have all maintained an 'estate office.' Examples which readily spring to mind include the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor Estate where its vast London property empire is run from the estate office in, not surprisingly, Grosvenor Street, London. The Bedford Estate has two estate offices with one being run from Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire (the home of the Duke of Bedford) as well as its London-based office, which deals...