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Drivers Jonas was a longstanding private partnership of chartered surveyors in the United Kingdom. It was acquired by Deloitte in 2010.

History

Drivers Jonas was founded in London in 1725 by brothers, Samuel and Charles Driver. Formerly bakers, nurserymen and landowners. The Driver family became surveyors in the first half of the 18th century - who turned from tilling the land to measuring it.

Samuel (II) Driver (1720–1779) was, among other occupations, a land valuer. His great-grandson Robert Collier Driver (1816–1897) was a major figure in the professionalisation of the surveying profession. His daughter Maria married Henry Jonas (d. 1928), a surveyor from a prominent Essex farming family, and the partnership was set up in 1878.^[1]

The business prospered and branched out into auctioneering and estate management and “improvement”. Properties on the firm’s books included entire villages and towns such as Wetherby and Hemel Hempstead; landed estates such as Cliveden; and London properties such as the Vaudeville Theatre and a shop in New Bond Street (let to a Mr Asprey).^[2]

In January 2010, Drivers Jonas LLP merged with Deloitte LLP, combining the firm with Deloitte's property staff, creating a business group called Drivers Jonas Deloitte.^[3]^[4] In January 2013 the business was rebranded as Deloitte Real Estate.^[5]

Driver Jonas major projects

The firm was known for its public sector work, with contracts in defence, county councils, government offices and educational facilities. It advised on projects including national sports stadia, Buildings of Culture and Heritage, and the 2012 London Olympic games. Some of the more important developments that Drivers Jonas worked on are:

Tate Modern
Tate Britain Centenary development
London City Airport
Stadium of Light
The £6bn sale of Canary Wharf for Morgan Stanley
Martineau Galleries, Birmingham
Snowhill, Birmingham
QE II Conference Centre

References

^ Thompson, F. M. L. "Driver, Robert Collier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50169. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Drives Jonas Deloitte. "About Us-History". Drives Jonas Deloitte. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
^ Drivers Jonas seals historic merger with Deloitte, Estates Gazette, 22 January 2010
^ Drivers Jonas to merge with Deloitte, Property Week, 22 January 2010
^ Giles Barrie (22 November 2012). "All change at Drivers Jonas Deloitte". Property Week. Retrieved 25 March 2013.