Leadership

The second John Ray, grandson of John Ray and son of Eric, joined the business in 1979. Having studied Building Science at Liverpool University he went on to work firstly with Ove Arup and then to Marples Ridgeway Building Ltd. where he qualified with the Chartered Institute of Building. In 1981 following the sudden death of his father he became Managing Director of both HPT Ltd. and John Ray Ltd. aged just 30.

John’s youngest daughter Alex joined the company in 2007. Having initially trained in accounting, then moving on to running her own business Alex joined Marsh and Parsons and started her career in surveying. From there she moved to Donaldsons and whilst working full time also studied a degree in Estate Management. In 2006 Alex graduated with a First Class Degree from Reading University achieving the Estates Gazette Prize for Outstanding Achievement and then went on to qualify with RICS as a Chartered Surveyor. After a short time at DTZ, following a merger with Donaldsons, Alex joined her father at The Hitchin Property Trust Ltd.