One of the oldest names in the property industry is to disappear from the high street next year when W.A.Ellis, which has been around since 1868, rebrands as JLL, it has been announced.

The company has for many years had a large office on London’s Brompton Road but was acquired by commercial and residential giant JLL in October 2014.

At the time, the writing was on already on the wall and despite a statement talking of ‘expanding the success of the W.A.Ellis business’, it was clear JLL intended to dispense with the brand after a ‘period of time’.

JLL is currently undergoing an aggressive push into London’s prime residential market, and a spokesperson said of the rebrand: “It’s just a rename to bring it in line with the rest of JLL’s residential estate agency business”.

This is despite W.A.Ellis being a high-profile name within London’s prime market. It’s headed up by senior industry figure Lucy Morton, who set up the W.A.Ellis lettings department in 1990. She has also been a president of ARLA and won numerous honours including Estate Agency Leader of the Year at 2011’s Negotiator Awards. She is to remain at the newly unified JLL operation as its head of residential agency.

In this role she also announced last week that JLL is to open another branch. It will be on Cale Street in Chelsea and be staffed by members of the existing W.A.Ellis team, to be launched in January next year. This will give JLL eleven residential offices in the capital.