Arun Estates has marked its 25th anniversary at its annual awards bash for staff.

It was back in 1991 that Arun’s chairman Paul Rooney took the bold step of purchasing what was in effect the entire South Eastern region of Prudential Property Services, thereby expanding his network of offices overnight to more than 100.

Since then Arun has expanded still further, and today has a network of some 120 offices operating under four long-established regional brands – Ward & Partners in Kent, Cubitt & West in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire, Douglas Allen in Essex and East London, and Pittis on the Isle of Wight, together with a single Rooney & Co branch serving Horsham.

The group also operates a number of Fine & Country licences.

Addressing the 500-plus managers and staff attending the gala event, group managing director David Lench identified three factors that have helped the group stand out from the crowd over the past quarter-century: continuity of the senior management team; strict financial disciplines and cost consciousness originally introduced after years of profligacy in the corporate sector; and third, the group-wide focus on charitable fundraising.

Last year alone, Arun raised a total of £95,558 for national and local children’s charities – the bulk of it through individual initiatives.

John Cameron, senior branch manager at Ward & Partners in Loose, was named winner of the Laura Warner Award. This is presented each year to the member of staff who best personifies the Arun charitable ethos, and is named in memory of a late member of staff who, despite her own illness, helped set up a charity to support families dealing with similar challenges to her own.

The title of overall top office in the group went to Ward & Partners in Strood, pictured.