From Small Acorns Grow Mighty Oaks
This well-known adage is particularly apt when referring to the history and background of the Emerson Group. Its founder, Peter Emerson Jones OBE, would have begun his working life crafting mighty oaks when he joined his father’s carpentry company. Having gained sufficient business acumen and confidence and at the age of 24 in 1959, he then went on to start his own company, P E Jones Contractors Limited in England. The company set out to build new homes on small sites in the county of Cheshire and so a career in property development was launched. During the 1960s, the scale of the enterprise grew and by the 1980s the company had expanded beyond Cheshire’s borders to include sites in Lancashire, on the Lytham coast and into Scotland.
The company’s commercial division, Orbit Developments, was established in 1973 and is now one of the largest commercial landlords in the UK. The jewel in its crown is the multi-use Middlebrook Retail, Leisure and Business Park in Bolton which opened in 1996 and now employs about 7000 people.
During the 1970s, after a holiday in Portugal, Peter Emerson Jones recognised a new market – that of second homes for UK buyers. He bought his first property, Jardim do Vau, in Algarve in 1972. The inauguration took place in 1985 when the company’s Portuguese division began operating in earnest. The portfolio was added to in 1992 with the purchase of Oasis Parque. The company acquired Lakeside Village in Quinta do Lago followed by Quinta da Boavista in 1999. With an established reputation for quality and reliability in England, clients flocked to invest in a second home in Algarve. This trend has continued and today, Jones Homes Portugal, has cast its net further afield attracting buyers from different corners of the world.
Emerson International was launched in 1975 in the United States of America. This has been a hugely successful venture for the group who now also own commercial property as well as the renowned residential site of Eagle Creek near Orlando which has almost 3,000 homes on a 2,000 acre site that includes a golf course and a retail park.
The Emerson Group remain a privately owned company and have their headquarters in Alderley Edge, Cheshire where they employ over 600 people. The Chairman, Peter Jones, to this day, continues to have an active role in the operation of his companies and travels worldwide to oversee their on-going development. With immutable resolve, energy and dedication, the company continues to grow in strength. Having played an important role in the Algarve’s touristic development, Mr Jones was recently honoured by the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce for a lifetime of achievements at a gala dinner at The Naval Club in London’s Mayfair.
Boavista Golf & Spa are immensely proud to be a part of this success story. Over the years, the dedication and commitment of the directors and staff have enabled the development to achieve a pattern of steady growth and to build up a strong and experienced management team capable of completing projects on time and to the highest standards of quality and design.
Like the mighty oak, the deeper the roots, the higher the branches grow and under its protective canopy, Boavista Golf & Spa will continue to flourish!