WILKY - Key Persons
Colin was group marketing and communications director from 2004 until he retired in 2015 and continues to be involved in specific projects.
A former national newspaper journalist, he was later marketing and PR manager for a leading football club where he was instrumental in marketing the then novel concept of executive suites that sponsors could use as offices during the rest of the week. For 15 years he was a director of our PR company, where he specialised in professional firms, education and training and property businesses.
He advised on the communications aspects of more than 20 major strategic change situations involving mergers, acquisitions, business launches and rebranding. He also helped form and became a director of a regional inward investment agency and a company that went on to become Eagle Radio in Guildford.
Julian was appointed Finance Director in 1997, having joined the Group as an accounts trainee 17 years before. He had been made Financial Controller in 1990 and became Administration Director two years later. Julian also serves as Chairman of Trustees of The Wilky Group defined final salary pension scheme.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants, Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
Laura began her career in the marketing department of international luxury brands Alfred Dunhill & Burberry before launching a wedding business at Group-owned Fetcham Park in 2012. Just a few years later it was awarded ‘Best Venue in the UK' and both she and the house have subsequently won further awards for their innovative and client-focused approach.
More recently Laura has worked closely with her husband, chef Steve Drake, to launch Sorrel restaurant. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star and won AA Restaurant of the Year in its first year, was nominated for a GQ Food & Drink Award and was recently included in the ‘50 Best Discovery', a collection of the best restaurants and bars in the world.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chief Executive
- Group Chairman
Malcolm became Group Chairman and Chief Executive in 2003 and remains responsible for our property strategy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.
His entire career of over 50 years has been spent in commercial property development and investment. Starting his career with a well-known London firm of chartered surveyors he became, aged 22, national lettings manager for the development subsidiary of a major plc property company. There followed periods as head of the industrial department for a leading London surveying practice and then head of acquisitions for a quoted London property company.
He joined Wilky as Property Director in 1973 to build up its portfolio of developments and investments, completing over 80 projects in all. In the early '90s he was seconded to become the first UK Managing Director of McArthur Glen, where he helped to establish six UK Designer Outlet Centres for what has become Europe's leading factory outlet operator.
Malcolm's lifelong interest in revitalising communities by improving the quality of their built environment is reflected in his role as deputy chairman of the national RICS Social Impact Awards. At a regional level Malcolm was vice chairman of Enterprise First until 2019, the South East's leading enterprise agency. In January 2017 he completed a five-year term as chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership Enterprise M3's Land & Property Group, a key forum for planning, development and investment issues, having previously chaired the former Hampshire Economic Partnership's Land & Property Task Group.
Sally is a Chartered Surveyor with over 30 years' experience of commercial property development, investment and asset management.
Starting her career in industrial agency, she moved into the fledgling retail warehouse market in the 1980's, working for two subsidiaries of Boots Plc in senior management roles, before becoming a Development Director at the age of 36. In 2003, she joined PIH, where she was Property Director building and managing a portfolio of commercial property assets with a value in excess of £60m. Most recently, Sally has been a Consultant Asset Manager to Palace Capital Plc and Wilky Investments, joining the Wilky Group as Development Director in 2016.
Having started work in the family builder's merchants by the mid '80s she was marketing director of the large DIY and retail store then owned by the Group. In 1984, having gained a Communications and Marketing Diploma and become a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, she founded a separate PR company, The Parallel Group, which handled the group's PR and marketing as well as other local and regional clients.
Sandra then launched the Group's business centres division and was its managing director for 14 years. She continues to be responsible for directing the style, décor and furnishings that have helped make these heritage buildings successful.
In past years she helped found a county inward investment agency and two local business forums in Guildford and Waverley, as well as being actively involved in chambers of commerce in Hampshire and Surrey. She was also a non-executive director of a local radio company that formed County Sound and Eagle Radio in Guildford.