Gullett & Sons Limited - A History
By 1887 the Metropolitan Line had reached Rickmansworth. Two years later it was extended to Chesham. As passenger numbers grew, so did the demand for housing in the new suburbia.
 In 1922 a Housing Act granted subsidies to builders and the Metropolitan Railway Country Estates Company Ltd launched their “Live in Metroland” campaign. These were the incentives for Frederick Gullett (pictured left), a carpenter with generations of craftsmen behind him, to leave the Works Dept of the Army and Navy Stores in London.
He purchased two plots of land on the North Circular Road at Neasden and built two pairs of semi-detached houses. Soon he was winning contracts from both individuals and the Metropolitan Railway, and in 1923 Gulletts was born. To this day it is possible to spot Gullett-built houses at almost any point along the Metropolitan Line from Harrow to Chesham and Amersham. A £25 down payment could secure a property priced at £825. Another £25 would buy a garage too! Houses boasted three bedroom, tiled bathrooms, airing cupboards and separate toilets. Living rooms looked out over private gardens.
By the 1930s Frederick’s sons, Claude and Ralph (pictured below right), had joined the business and Gullett & Sons became a registered company. Contracts were won as far afield as Dorset, but most work was in Bucks, Herts and Middlesex. In 1939 Gulletts were building on nine Metroland estates from Rayners Lane to Tring employing between 250 and 350 men.
 During the war years house building ground to a halt and the workforce nearly all dispersed into the services, but a nucleus of older employees were kept together for war damages work and property maintenance until the end of hostilities. As soon as possible the old threads were resumed and many ex-employees returned and were welcomed back into the team.
After the war Gullett & Sons acquired a yard and office in Chorleywood. As sales from the yard increased, a Builder’s Merchant and DIY business was added. As this developed, it was decided to split the business and Gullett Building & Timber Supplies Ltd, the DIY / Merchant side, came into being.
The completion of the new church at St Andrews Chorleywood in 1966 was regarded by Claude and Ralph as their crowning work to date.
In the early 1970s redevelopment of the Chorleywood site was planned. Peter Reynolds (pictured below left with Clive Gullett) joined the company to manage the project. The redevelopment included adjacent land and premises and, when complete, there were a number of shops, offices, a branch of Nat West Bank and a doctor’s surgery as well as space for the building company.
 In 1981 the company relocated to Little Chalfont, taking over and extending a yard and offices which had been vacant for a while.
By the time the company celebrated its 60th year in 1983, the scope had broadened to include not just house building but ecclesiastical, commercial and educational projects. “The experience, reputation and goodwill engendered in 60 years of honest endeavour, on projects large and small, are available as always.”
In 2007, after a brief tenure of a temporary office in Chartridge, the company moved again to Chesham. Four new houses now occupy the site at Little Chalfont.
Clive Gullett, grandson of the founder, retired in 2007. Under the present directors, Peter and David Reynolds, the company concentrates on medium to large scale building projects in the residential, ecclesiastical and commercial markets. The aim is always to maintain the high standards and principles established from the earliest days.
To visit the Gullett & Sons history picture gallery click 'here'.
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