Development of improved estate agency premises

By 1962, as all attempts to secure the future for the office at 6 Dame Alice Street had proved unsuccessful, the partners were left with little alternative but to find a new site for the increasingly busy estate agency activities.

It was thought important that any new premises should be easy to find, close to the town centre, but not in a prime retail location. With the increasing use and availability of the motor car, car parking was also becoming an important consideration. With three office cars used at Dame Alice Street, it had been calculated that the equivalent of one day per week was being wasted in fetching cars and finding parking spaces. It was apparent that the problem would become worse, as has since been proved.

The redevelopment then taking place in the central area of Bedford, north of Midland Road, including the possibility of a new river bridge at Batts’ Ford to link Kingsway and Greyfriars, led the partners to look at 58 St Loyes Street. Plans for a Batts’ Ford bridge were later abandoned, but have been periodically revisited.

The St Loyes Street premises had been occupied by The Imperial Cycle and Motor Company as a motorcycle showroom with workshops behind. The owner, Miss Queenie Symonds, an old friend and client of the Peacock family, was very pleased at the prospect of granting a lease to the partners.

Most of the original building was too old and unsuitable for use as offices, so local architect Bernard West RIBA was engaged to design new premises. The brief was to retain the skeleton of the building frontage and to rebuild the remainder, incorporating a garage with access from Brace Street behind the premises. The site was relatively deep but narrow. The original design included offices on the first floor of the new rear extension. The first floor rear offices were ultimately omitted on the grounds of cost as the space was not immediately needed, though provision was made for future extension.

The contract for the building work was awarded to E. W. Harris & Co. Ltd of Kempston. Work commenced in 1963, but various problems were encountered.