Charles Smailes

Smailes
Charles Richard Rex
10th August 1946
9th October 2023
Died peacefully in
Harrogate Hospital on
Monday 9th October,
after successfully battling a degenerative disease for the
past few years.
Charles was the third of four sons, of former Yorkshire and England Cricketer Frank Smailes and Dorothy Smailes (née Stubbs).
Charles started his property career in 1963 and
spent 57 years in the industry, founding his multi-disciplined property company, Feather, Smailes & Scales, in 1994
(retiring from FSS in 2020).
He was elected President of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) in 2006 and
during his stewardship,
was instrumental in the setting up and implementation of the National Federation of
Property Professionals
(NFoPP now PropertyMark), a professional body formed to maintain the standards of property agents throughout
the UK.
Amongst his many roles in the industry, Charles became an advisor to the then Housing
Minister Yvette Cooper, and lectured in property auctioneering at the NAEA headquarters in Warwick;
he also became a regular on the
BBC television programme
Homes Under the Hammer.
Charles, along with Stanley and Audrey Burton, helped found the Harrogate Families Housing Association. For over a quarter of a century, Charles ran this voluntary organisation which provides quality accommodation to vulnerable homeless families in the district.
After such a long and influential career in the region, Charles was recognised with a Lifetime
Achievement Award at the Harrogate Business Awards in 2006.
Charles is survived by his wife,
two sons and four grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at 1.15pm on Monday 30th October 2023 at The Church of All Saints, Ripley and afterwards at Ripley Castle. No flowers please,
but a collection will be taken
after the service for
St Michael's Hospice.