A man who lives, loves and breathes property, John began his career as a trainee surveyor completing his chartered surveying exams by correspondence course. He then spent five years in London working for property company Hillier Parker May and Rowden before joining the York estate agency Jackson Stopps, where as director he ran the commercial department. He went on to open the York commercial office for Sanderson Townsend chartered surveyors.

He joined The Helmsley Group in 1995 as an equal shareholding partner with company founder Andrew Overington. John took control of the business when Andrew passed away in 2001 and has since extended the shareholding of the business to his co-directors.

John is married and has three children. A keen environmentalist, John’s belief in eco-friendly technology is behind the company’s desire to develop sustainable buildings.

John followed family tradition joining Garbutt & Elliott Chartered Accountants in 1969. Having spent 10 years in the practice and a further 10 years in the manufacturing industry he joined Helmsley in 1987 as Financial Accountant and appointed Financial Director in 1988. Working closely with Andrew Overington the founder of The Helmsley Group he has built up many working relationships with clients and professionals alike. John became a shareholder of the business in 2002 and now as Managing Director has an active involvement in all areas of the business. A very keen golfer, John is also a member of Lions International and has been a past Chairman and Treasurer of the local Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Richard joined The Helmsley Group in 1998 as group surveyor and became an associate director two years later, before joining the board in 2001 and becoming a shareholder in 2005. He is responsible for the monitoring of Helmsley's loan portfolio and also the company's wide-ranging property development programme, which includes regionally important employment sites, mixed-use developments involving historic and listed building, large scale business parks and regeneration projects.

Prior to joining The Helmsley Group, Richard worked at chartered surveyors DTZ in York where he became a qualified member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Here he was responsible for managing the office and industrial agency department, where his major client was The Helmsley Group.

Born in Howden, Richard has a degree in estate management from Staffordshire University. A keen adventurer Richard has undertaken a number of challenges for charity including trekking across the Himalayas and cycling the full length of Ireland.

Julie joined Helmsley in 1988 following 10 years working for ICI and a short time as a self-employed bookkeeper. In 1999 she achieved a BA(Hons) Degree in Business Studies providing a diverse background in a number of business areas. Appointed a Director in 2004 Julie heads up the accounts team overseeing the internal accounts and those of many client companies and joint venture projects. In her spare time she enjoys walking and has more recently taken up golf. She is also a keen supporter of several charities including the Multiple Sclerosis Society for which she was Branch Secretary for over 10 years and also a National Trustee.

Ian joined the development team of The Helmsley Group in 2004 having spent many years as the director responsible for DTZ Debenham Tie Leung’s York office. His career started in York as an article clerk to one of the leading estate agents at the time and he moved into commercial property in 1972 when he joined the Burton Group and was a founder member of MBPI that eventually grew to be known as The Burton Property Trust. In 1978 he joined the Provincial Building Society based in Bradford and headed the team responsible the acquisition and asset management of the society’s branch network throughout the North of England and Scotland. In 1989 he returned to work in York joining Bernard Thorpe, which shortly after merged to become DTZ. Ian is married with three children and is also a director of York City Football Club.

Having brought up her family, Sue returned to the workplace as administrator for a small engineering company before joining The Helmsley Group in 1996. In 2001 she became a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians and is now Helmsley's Assistant Accountant.

She was appointed as Director in 2005. Sue's primary role is the administration of the loan portfolio, preparing accounts for The Helmsley Group as well as many of the joint ventures and clients. Sue enjoys aerobics, walking and gardening and is an avid holiday scuba diver.