William Swan is the name to know at the legendary – and legendarily publicity-shy – Currey & Co, which is based in Queen Anne Street in Marylebone.
The firm has undeniable hauteur. Its (relatively new) website states: ‘We are rarely
able to take on discrete pieces of work for individuals with whom we have no previous association.’ Indeed, some of the firm’s client relationships date back to the 19th century.
However, the well-connected Spear’s reader will find no more suitable place to go for ‘strategic advice tailored to their specific needs, focused on protecting wealth for successive generations’. It’s also a rather charming firm: it was slow to embrace email,
and for years a story did the rounds that faxes were sent up the stairwell on a makeshift
pulley system.
That kind of eccentricity works for some – in particular the firm formed a close relationship with Deborah Vivien Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire, and the last of
the surviving Mitford sisters, famously representing the Chatsworth Estate.
‘They’re very, very “Spear’s”,’ says one observer, ‘and absolutely superb for trusts work.’
The firm, which was founded in 1812 by Benjamin Currey and was based for 86 years at Buckingham Gate just a stone’s throw from the palace, declined to comment for this profile.