Russell Simpson: The family-led estate agent making its mark on Mayfair

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You can tell a lot about a company by the fit of its office. While many enterprises in prime central London postcodes may opt for loud styling and swanky signposting, others favour a more inconspicuous approach.

Starting a new lease of life at 50 Grosvenor Hill, Russell Simpson’s new Mayfair office is very deliberately nondescript. In fact, it does not even have a shopfront. That may come as a surprise, but the estate agent founded by Alan Russell and Lyn Simpson in 1979 has always done things its own way.

“It’s awkward trying to discuss a deal with someone in a room open to the street with no privacy,” Alan says. “(When I started the company) friends in the market said: ‘Are you crazy? You need that.’ But we’ve never had a shopfront.”

That discreet, quietly efficient approach has always set the company apart and is emblematic of its humble, family-run feel. After years of operating from a Victorian townhouse in Chelsea, the eldest of Alan and his wife Jane’s six children joined the team in 2008. Since then all six Russell children have worked for the company, which today encompasses nine family members.

After 41 years as a one-office agency, Russell Simpson’s Kensington and Notting Hill office was formed in 2019. In time its flagship premises in Chelsea moved and expanded too. The company’s foray into Mayfair marks a new chapter in its mission to grow beyond its core west London base.

“We’re in no mad rush to make really quick wins, and we’re very much there to try and build a really solid infrastructure and relationships,” says managing director Bertie Russell. “We really want to offer clients honest, long-term advice.”  

The Mayfair office, launched earlier this year by Hermione Russell on the sales side and Ed Woolgar, who is in charge of rentals, covers prime property in Mayfair and Marylebone. Beau McCarty, previously of Savills and Knight Frank's Mayfair sales team, brings additional experience to the sales division.

Starting out in Mayfair's ultra-competitive market, dominated as it is by powerful corporate firms and specialist independent agencies, was never going to be easy. However, Hermione is relishing the challenge.

“You've got to show the value that you can add,” she says. “We're used to having to work harder in order to make ourselves heard and seen in a room. With any challenges comes a huge amount of reward when you eventually go up against one of the big players.”

The Mayfair branch has around 15 properties on its books, with price points ranging from £2 million to £15 million. On the sales side the £3 million to £5 million price bracket has been most profitable.

However, Russell Simpson is also well placed to capitalise on a luxury lettings market across prime central London that has more than doubled in size during the first six months of 2025, growing by 154 per cent compared with the same period in 2024.

One thing Russell Simpson has always prided itself on is cultivating lasting relationships. “I think if you work hard and you're good, people will follow you. Our success has all really been based on reputation,” Alan says.

Recently Russell Simpson helped to resell a home on Chelsea's Old Church Street. It was the first property the company ever sold. “Forty-six and a half years later the client who bought it came back to us to sell it,”Alan says. “It was extraordinary.”

Russell Simpson will hope to establish enduring relationships in Mayfair and Marylebone as it continues to evolve beyond its well hewn west London support base. One thing is for sure: it will stay true to its good old-fashioned family values.

“I've never pushed my kids to do anything. I've never had an argument with any of them,” Alan says. “We all just get along. I can't really explain it, but it just works.”