Biographies
Nicholas Woolley FRICS FAAV FRSA
is the Managing Director of Woolley. Prior to this he was Managing Director of Landmatch PLC and was Chief Land Agent to Prudential Corporation for twelve years, responsible for 85,000 acres and, latterly, also Director of Administration for its £5 billion Property Division. He was Chairman of Beaver Securities Limited, Prudential Corporation's in-hand farming company and was a Director from 1981 to 2005.
Nicholas was a Trustee of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) 2002 – 2008 and was a Suffolk FWAG Council member. Currently, he represents financial institutions on the Environment Sub-committee of the Country Land & Business Association (CLA). He was also chairman of the CLA Suffolk branch (1999 – 2001). He is a founding Trustee of the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust and a member of The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, the Civic Trust and the Academy of Urbanism.
Nicholas was a member of the Council of English Nature for nine years (1993 – 2002) and was also a Board Member of the Harwich Haven Authority for three years (1999 – 2001). He was also chairman of Freckenham’s Local Agenda 21 Steering Group.
In 1991-2 Nicholas was President of the Rural Practice Division of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, when his main themes were improving the awareness of Surveyors in property finance, business management and also their understanding of environmental issues. He initiated and chaired the joint RICS and Environment Agency Steering Research into Comprehensive Project Appraisal (CPA). CPA is a methodology for central and local government, companies and private individuals to assess the environmental, social and economic effects of projects and processes.
James Sims Williams BSc (Hons) MRICS
is a director of Woolley. He graduated from the University of Plymouth Seale-Hayne Faculty of Land Food & Leisure in 2001 with a first class honours degree in Rural Estate Management. His dissertation examined the systems of support for retaining traditional farm buildings in agricultural use. After graduation he joined Woolley where he works for private, institutional, public-sector and academic clients on land based projects and research studies. He has carried out in-depth analysis of the organisations operating in the region and has studied the policy chain from national government through to local implementation. He is currently writing business plans for a rural support organisation and a market town development trust.
James is a member of the Rural Faculty of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment. He is a lateral thinker and highly computer literate.
Liz Archer
Liz has twelve years office experience, with ten years legal at senior level. She was previously helping manage the office of a solicitors practice and is now assisting in the day-to-day running of Woolley's office. She also assists with project management and research projects. She is a gamekeeper’s daughter and has a keen interest in the countryside.