The General Estates Company is a

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

registered in the United Kingdom and incorporated in October 1900. Its current businesses include the provision of

mobile home park A trailer park, caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and e ...

s, and ownership and operation of

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

s. The company's head office is located in

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a hamlet in Canada England *The ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. The proprietors of the company are members of the

Percy family The Percy family is an old English noble family. They were among the oldest and most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Neville, another fam ...

, whose lineage also includes the

Dukes of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of N ...

and Henry Percy or ''Hotspur''.

Current operations

The company runs 21 mobile home parks in southern England. It also owns and operates toll bridges, including: *

Whitchurch Bridge Whitchurch Bridge is a toll bridge that carries the B471 road over the River Thames in England. It links the villages of Pangbourne in Berkshire, and Whitchurch-on-Thames in Oxfordshire – crossing the river just downstream of Whitchurch ...

, across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

west of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

* Bathampton Toll Bridge, across the River Avon east of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

* Dunham Bridge, across the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

north of Newark (partial stake)

History

The origins of the company lie with the

Hythe Ferry Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry provide a link between the port of Southampton and Hythe on the other side of Southampton Water. It is used both by commuters and tourists, and forms an important link in the Solent Way, En ...

, a passenger ferry route that still crosses

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed we ...

from a pier adjacent to the company's head office. From 1889 the Percy family were involved in the running of the ferry, and from 1900 to 1980 the service was run by the General Estates Company. Many of the ferries used carried the name ''Hotspur'' as a consequence of the family connection.

References

Companies based in Hampshire Hythe, Hampshire {{UK-company-stub