PILGRIMS Sales and Lettings have celebrated 50 years in business.

The West Byfleet-based company has been a locally-run family business since first opening its doors in 1973.

Previous proprietors Mary Williams and Maggie Thomas initially worked at Pilgrims’ first-floor offices in Station Approach, providing property letting and management services for clients in West Byfleet and the surrounding villages. They loved the business so much that within a few years they bought the company.

They grew the client base significantly before moving to their current ground-floor showroom in Pyford Road. 

Then the lure of retirement proved too strong and in 2016 Maggie and Mary sold the business to father and son James and Elliot Griffin, who now run it with managing director Carla Munro and her team.

Three years later Pilgrims increased its client coverage to Woking and the surrounding areas with the purchase of Woking-based lettings and property management business Devere Property Management, and the company has continued to grow, now offering letting management services throughout Surrey.

Since joining, Carla has successfully diversified the business and Pilgrims now thrives in property sales, as well as property lettings, not forgetting its renowned comprehensive management service.

James Griffin left school at 16 to start his career in Camberley with Mann and Co in 1984. 

His entrepreneurial spirit saw him start his own business in the early 1990s and he has owned and run several successful property businesses in Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire for the past four decades.

Carla joined the company after a successful ten-year property career as a senior manager with a larger corporate agent. Her client care skills have brought new technology to Pilgrims at a time of change in the estate agency world.

Discussing the market locally, Carla said: “West Byfleet is undergoing a facelift to the village centre with the Sheer House redevelopment in full swing. 

“Scheduled to complete in summer 2024, this regeneration project will bring new shops, restaurants and the Botanical Place retirement village.

“West Byfleet maintains a vibrant community spirit that makes it such a wonderful place to live.”