Initially called Burgess & Burgess, the firm was founded in 1938 in London. The name changed to Burgess Hodgson in the early 1970s when Len Hodgson became senior partner, with two partners and approximately 10 staff based in Charing Cross before the move to Canterbury in 1976.

In addition to Len and Colin Slater (the two partners), Steve Sutton (the current senior partner) and Mrs Marian Youngman (now retired) moved to Canterbury with the firm. The initial set up consisted of the two partners and six staff, occupying the downstairs and about half of the upstairs of the old part of 27 New Dover Road, the rest of the building being let to a sitting tenant.

London clients were, and remain, very important to the firm. Initially after moving to Canterbury, we operated a separate London office: now the partners and staff serving these clients are based in our Canterbury office, and modern communication methods enable us to work efficiently and cost-effectively. Indeed, the London side of the practice has seen an expansion in recent years.

Being newcomers to the Canterbury area, initial work was hard to come by in the recession-hit times of the late 1970s, but a period of steady expansion saw the firm increase in size (and gain more space due to the demise of the sitting tenant!), with Steve becoming a partner in 1979 together with Peter Clark (who retired in 2001) and Ken Jones in 1984.  

By the mid 1980s, the expansion had filled the whole of 27 New Dover Road. The partners bought 29 New Dover Road and obtained planning permission for a substantial extension on the back of 27 New Dover Road, which was built during 1986, the year in which Paul Gatland became a partner.  

The firm has continued to grow, and Steve Sutton took over as senior partner in 1993 when Len Hodgson retired. Both numbers of staff and partners increased: Andrew Miles had become a partner in 1990, Mark Laughton and Mike Horne in 1997, Colin Reid in 2000, Richard Stewart in 2003, Kenton May in 2004 and, most recently, Matthew Sutton in 2010.

The combined buildings of 27 New Dover Road (as extended) and 29 New Dover Road consist of about 9,000 sq ft of office space, although, given the expansion in recent years to the now 11 partners and around 80 staff, we are almost full.

To that end, in summer 2009, we obtained planning permission to join 27 and 29 and build a further 6,000 sq ft of office space, which would increase the total square footage to approximately 15,000 sq ft. This is a longer term project which will secure the future of the firm within the Canterbury area, and, together with our recent substantial investment in IT equipment, provide modern purpose built facilities to house the firm’s future growth.