It all started with Henry Kirtley a hard grafting Sunderland pit man with an eye for an opportunity…
During the miners strike of 1984 Henry needed to provide for his growing family and took a risk by buying a cottage in Sunderland to rent out. One cottage became two and fast forward 40 years and Kirtley Co is now a family business with a wide range of commercial and residential properties all over the North East – with storage units in Peterlee, business spaces in Middlesbrough right through to the stunning Mackies Corner in Sunderland.
We’ve restored, renovated, and maintained countless properties over the years and love nothing more than sharing what we’ve learned with other business owners.
That first cottage is still in our residential portfolio too!
We pride ourselves on being a local business and try hard to stick to our ethos of supporting other local businesses as much as we can. We’ve built up a reputation as a hard-working and trustworthy commercial landlord, and we’re focussed on evolving the friendly and familiar culture for all involved, whilst ensuring tenants are looked after in the best possible way.
These days Henry can still be found on site overseeing restorations and still getting his hands dirty. It’s not just Henry though; wife Jill is on board to keep Henry in check, something she’s still yet to achieve! Daughters, Alex and Toni have taken over the day-to-day management of the business and make sure the Kirtley way of doing things, simple hardworking honesty, is here to stay.
The whole team work continuously to find great spaces for our clients, and great clients for our spaces. We are a friendly and happy bunch and always willing to do what it takes to get the the job done.

Alex is our Managing Director and leads on all aspects of the business.

Toni leads on all aspects of the finances & accounts for Kirtley Co.

Recently celebrating her 20-year service with us, Claire is based at our Middlesbrough site .

Paul is a valued member of the maintenance team. Working alongside Mick in renovations & repairs . He is a skilled mechanic who can turn is hand to anything.

Mick is a valued member of the maintenance team. Working alongside Mick in renovations & repairs . He is a skilled joiner who can turn his hand to anything .