Principal Contractor & Investment Group

Building
legacies
across generations.

Family-led, privately held. Over two decades delivering construction and property projects — from heritage residential and commercial conversions to industrial new-build and large-scale land restoration. Now consolidated under YayYay Holdings Ltd.

Since 2000
Over two decades building
70+
Dwellings delivered
Family-led
Independent contractor
In-house
Plant, CNC & survey
Leazes Terrace, Newcastle — Grade I listed Georgian facade restored by YayYay

Featured Project

Leazes Terrace, Newcastle

Grade I Listed · Residential Conversion

Tyne View House at night — full-property contemporary transformation in Northumberland National Park Residential
The Old Forge in Godalming — historic forge converted to award-winning offices Commercial
Quarry Works in Surrey — two new-build industrial units on an 18-acre former chalk quarry Industrial
Excavator craned over the roofline at The Mount — engineering complex residential transformations Engineering

Surrey · North East · West Sussex

Residential, Commercial & Industrial Holdings
About YayYay

A family‑owned investment
company with deep roots
in property & construction.

YayYay's roots stretch back to 2000 — over two decades of delivering construction and property projects across the South East. YayYay Holdings Ltd is the formal evolution of that long-running practice: years of work under earlier trading names and as sole traders, now consolidated under a single brand. We operate at both ends of the development equation — delivering projects as principal contractor and holding assets as long-term landlord.

Our construction heritage is the foundation of everything we do. We own our plant — from 14-tonne excavators to a full CNC joinery workshop — and we employ our key trades directly. Because we have built the majority of the properties we own, we understand them inside-out, and that same rigour is applied to every project we deliver on behalf of third-party clients.

01
Main Contractor
Over two decades delivering projects as principal contractor — from sensitive refurbishments to complex multi-phase new-build schemes for private and public sector clients.
02
Property Portfolio
A curated mix of residential and commercial holdings, managed for long-term income and capital growth — the majority built and developed by us.
03
Development
End-to-end development capability — from site acquisition and planning through to practical completion and onward management or disposal.
04
In-House Plant & Manufacture
We own our plant fleet, operate a 3m × 2m CNC joinery workshop, and carry GNSS RTX survey capability — no hire delays, no markup, full control.
"We don't build to sell and move on. We build to last, because we live with what we create."
Robert Yay — Founder & Chairman
Selected Work

Featured Projects

A selection of projects spanning both our own portfolio development and main contractor commissions for third-party clients.

Leazes Terrace, Newcastle — Grade I listed Georgian facade
Residential · Grade I Listed · Portfolio
Leazes Terrace, Newcastle
Two-bedroom conversion — opposite Leazes Park, Newcastle
→
Tyne View House Northumberland — dramatic night exterior of transformed contemporary home
Residential · Whole-House Transformation · Main Contractor
Tyne View House, Northumberland
1970s bungalow to contemporary home — Northumberland National Park
→
Quarry Works Surrey — completed industrial units in green cladding against winter snow
Commercial · Industrial · Portfolio Asset
Quarry Works, Surrey
Two industrial units, 18-acre site — Surrey countryside
→
Victorian detached townhouse conversion to six flats — Surrey town centre
Residential · Conversion · Sold Before Completion
Victorian Townhouse, Surrey
5-bedroom house to 6 flats — Surrey town centre
→
The Old Forge, Godalming — historic forge converted to award-winning offices for GoDaddy's European arm
Commercial · Conversion · Award-Winning
The Old Forge, Godalming
Historic forge to offices & data centre — Godalming, Surrey
→

Principal contractor and landlord — trusted by private clients, local authorities, and registered providers since 2000.

Home › Portfolio · Property Portfolio

A mixed residential &
commercial portfolio
held for the long term.

Built on over two decades of construction experience, YayYay owns and manages a portfolio of residential and commercial assets — the majority of which we designed and built ourselves. We acquire, improve, and hold for the long term, without the pressure of short-term thinking.

70+
Dwellings Delivered
Mixed
Residential & Commercial
Long-term
Hold Strategy
In-house
Designed & Built
Home › Construction · Main Contractor

Over two decades of
delivering projects
others trust us with.

YayYay operates as a principal contractor across residential, commercial, and mixed-use sectors. Trading since 2000 and consolidated under YayYay Holdings Ltd, our in-house expertise and established supply chain allow us to take projects from concept through to practical completion with full accountability at every stage.

YayYay in-house joinery workshop — Pegasus 3m × 2m CNC router and Holzher edgebander In-House CNC Joinery · Guildford
2000
Trading Since
70+
Dwellings Delivered
In-house
Plant & Joinery
Family-led
Direct Accountability
What We Deliver

Our construction
capabilities.

Principal contracting is at the heart of what we do. From design and build to traditional procurement, YayYay takes on full responsibility as main contractor across a broad range of project types, values, and sectors — bringing the same rigour to a £1M refurbishment as to a £30M new-build scheme.

01
New Build Residential
Houses, apartments, BTR schemes and affordable housing developments.
→
02
Commercial & Office
New-build and refurbishment of office, retail, and mixed-use commercial space.
→
03
Heritage & Conversion
Listed buildings, barn conversions, and sensitive refurbishment projects.
→
04
Fit Out & Refurbishment
Category A/B office fit out, major refurbishments, and building upgrades.
→
05
Public Sector
Schools, healthcare facilities, and community buildings for public bodies.
→
06
Design & Build
Single-point responsibility from planning stage through to handover.
→
Our Heritage

From garden camps
to grown-up sites.

Building has always been in the family. What began with a child copying his civil-engineer father has grown into over two decades of construction work across the South East — formalised today as YayYay Holdings Ltd.

Origins
A childhood in construction
The founder grew up watching his father — a civil engineer — at work. By the age of six, he was building elaborate camps in the garden. By eight, he had repurposed tea chests left over from his father's secondment to the Middle East to build a working crane that lifted things over the fence into the neighbour's garden. The instinct to build was there from the start.
2000
First projects
The first commercial projects are delivered as a sole trader — residential refurbishment and small-works construction across the South East. The reputation grows by word of mouth: do good work, leave the site cleaner than you found it, finish what you started.
2005
Channel 4 feature
A subdivision of two terraced houses on Springfield Road, Guildford, into six luxury apartments is filmed for Channel 4's Room for Improvement, broadcast in Series 3. National television exposure that captured the methodical approach to value-creation through subdivision — and validated it for a wider audience.
Late 2000s
Award-winning commercial work
The conversion of The Old Forge in Godalming — a historic building set into the hillside, transformed into high-specification offices for the European arm of GoDaddy — wins a Waverley Borough Council award for the best commercial renovation of its year. The business operates under several trading names through this period, taking on increasingly complex residential conversions, new-build schemes, and growing commercial contracts. In-house joinery, plant, and survey capability is built up alongside the project work.
2010s
Investment portfolio takes shape
A long-term hold strategy is established alongside the contracting work. Buildings designed and built by the team begin to be retained as residential and commercial investment assets — Quarry Works, Leazes Terrace, Weyview Court, Ladymere Place and others. The dual identity of builder and landlord becomes a deliberate part of the business model. Typical tenancy length on held assets exceeds three years.
2022
YayYay Holdings Ltd incorporated
After years operating across multiple trading entities, the practice is consolidated into a single formal company — YayYay Holdings Ltd. Same hands, same standards, now under one roof and a single brand.
Today
A two-decade portfolio
70+ dwellings delivered. A held portfolio spanning residential apartments, town houses, and commercial industrial units across Surrey and the wider South East. Land restoration credentials with the Environment Agency. In-house capability across plant — including 14-tonne excavators — a Pegasus 3m × 2m CNC joinery workshop, Holzher edgebander, and GNSS RTX survey. The same instinct to build that started in the garden, now applied at scale.
Our Approach

Accountability at every stage.

—
Preconstruction
Feasibility, value engineering, procurement planning and programming.
—
Construction
Site management, subcontractor coordination, health & safety, quality control.
—
Handover
Snagging, O&M manuals, end-user training, defects management.

"Every project we take on is treated as if we're building it for ourselves — because often, we are."

James Yay — Managing Director, Construction
In-House Capabilities

We own what most contractors hire.

From precision CNC joinery manufacture to heavy civil plant, the majority of YayYay's core capability is directly owned and operated — giving clients speed, cost control, and accountability that hired-in operations simply cannot match.

YayYay in-house joinery workshop — Pegasus ATC CNC router and Holzher edgebander
Joinery Manufacturing

Pegasus ATC CNC & Holzher Edgebander

Our in-house workshop is equipped with a Pegasus 3m × 2m Automatic Tool Change CNC router and Holzher edgebander — giving us the capability to design and manufacture bespoke joinery to precise tolerances entirely within our own operation. Kitchens, staircases, cabinetry, bar units, wardrobes and architectural joinery of any complexity — designed in-house, cut in-house, installed by our own team.

The result is joinery that fits the building it serves, not the other way around — particularly critical in heritage and listed building environments where profiles, proportions, and material choices must meet consent conditions exactly.

Owned Plant Fleet

We own and operate a comprehensive fleet of major plant — meaning no waiting for hire availability, no hire costs passed to clients, and complete scheduling control. Key owned plant includes:

Doosan DX140 LCR-714t excavator
Kubota KX0808t excavator
Komatsu PC13013t excavator
Hitachi ZX19mini excavator
Bobcat T190 & T66tracked skid steers
Manitou MT625telehandler
Thwaites 9t Dumperarticulated dumper
Hamm HD8V Rollercompaction
Bomag BMG8500landfill compactor
Valtra T174agricultural tractor
Heli Forkliftmaterials handling
Skyjack & Genie Liftsscissor & boom

GNSS & Survey

We operate our own GNSS RTX surveying equipment alongside Leica laser levels — giving us centimetre-level precision positioning on site without the cost or delay of third-party surveyors for setting-out operations.

GNSS RTX uses real-time satellite correction to achieve precise three-dimensional positioning in the field — critical for earthworks, foundations, and drainage schemes where accuracy directly affects structural performance and compliance.

Equipment

GNSS RTX precision satellite surveying
Leica laser levels
In-house setting-out capability
Earthworks volume calculation

Smart Home & Networking

Our smart home and networking capability runs considerably deeper than most contractors'. We don't specify these systems from a brochure — we import and distribute Shelly products into the UK market and are one of the country's largest distributors of professional networking hardware including Ubiquiti.

That means clients receive specification advice, installation, and support from people who understand these systems at a technical level no third-party installer can match — and systems that are planned from first fix, not bolted on at the end.

Systems installed

Shelly smart home — full property automation
Lutron DALI intelligent lighting
Ubiquiti professional networking
VoIP video intercom systems
Underfloor heating design & installation
AV & cinema room specification

Looking for a main contractor?

We'd welcome the opportunity to discuss your project requirements.

Home › Projects · Our Work

Projects that speak
for themselves.

A selection from our two-decade project history — spanning our own portfolio development, design and build commissions, and main contractor work for third-party clients.

South Downs landscape near Petworth, West Sussex — site of a YayYay barn conversion project South Downs Barn Conversion · West Sussex
Leazes Terrace Newcastle Grade I listed building
Residential · Grade I Listed · Portfolio
Leazes Terrace, Newcastle
Two-bedroom conversion — opposite Leazes Park, Newcastle · 2024
→
Tyne View House Northumberland night exterior
Residential · Whole-House Transformation · Main Contractor
Tyne View House, Northumberland
1970s bungalow to contemporary home — Northumberland National Park
→
Quarry Works Surrey industrial units in snow
Commercial · Industrial · Portfolio Asset
Quarry Works, Surrey
Two industrial units, 18-acre site — Surrey countryside
→
Victorian townhouse Surrey conversion to six flats
Residential · Conversion · Sold Before Completion
Victorian Townhouse, Surrey
5-bedroom house to 6 flats — Surrey town centre
→
The Old Forge, Godalming — historic forge converted to offices, GoDaddy European arm
Commercial · Conversion · Award-Winning
The Old Forge, Godalming
Historic forge to offices & data centre — Godalming, Surrey
→
From the Archive

More Projects

Further selections from a two-decade portfolio — including held investment assets, sold conversions, and complex remediation projects across Surrey and Sussex.

The Mount, Guildford — chalet bungalow transformed to 4-bedroom family home with Lutron and Sonos
Residential · Whole-House Transformation
The Mount, Guildford
Chalet bungalow to 4-bed smart home · Held over a decade, sold
Denzil Road, Guildford — Victorian town centre house substantially extended and refurbished
Residential · Substantial Extension & Refurbishment
Denzil Road, Guildford
Victorian 2-up-2-down to 3-bed luxury town house · Held, sold
Springfield Road, Guildford — terraced house split into three flats, featured on Channel 4
Residential · Multi-Flat Conversion · TV Featured
Springfield Road, Guildford
Two terraced houses to six flats · Featured on Channel 4
Barn Conversion, West Sussex — 9-acre dairy farm restoration near the South Downs
Land Restoration · Heritage Site Preparation
Barn Conversion, West Sussex
9-acre dairy farm remediation near Petworth · Sold
Ladymere Place, Godalming — gated apartment refurbishment, acquired from Charterhouse School
Residential · Apartment Refurbishment · Portfolio
Ladymere Place, Godalming
2-bed flat acquired from Charterhouse School · Held, let
Weyview Court, Guildford — riverside apartment with flood remediation
Residential · Flood Remediation · Portfolio
Weyview Court, Guildford
Riverside flat, station-adjacent · Held, let
Terrace Renovation, Surrey — end-of-terrace acquisition resolving complex legal dispute
Residential · Acquisition & Refurbishment · Portfolio
Terrace Renovation, Surrey
2-bed end-of-terrace, complex legal acquisition · Held, let

Home › Contact · Get In Touch

We'd love to
hear from you.

Contact Details

Unit 4, Riverside Business Centre
Walnut Tree Close
Guildford, Surrey
GU1 4UG

0207 112 9334

info@yyestates.com

Office hours: Monday – Friday
9am – 5pm

Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 2026 · This policy explains how YayYay Holdings Ltd handles personal data collected through this website and through direct enquiries.

Who we are

This website is operated by YayYay Holdings Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14344923, VAT number 424157219). Our registered office is at Unit 4, Riverside Business Centre, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4UG. We are the data controller for any personal data we collect through this website, by email, or by phone.

You can contact us at legal@yyestates.com or on 0207 112 9334.

What personal data we collect

We collect personal data only when you choose to provide it to us. This typically means:

  • Enquiry form submissions: your name, email address, telephone number (if you give it), and the content of your message.
  • Direct correspondence: if you email or telephone us, we keep a record of the contact details you have provided and the conversation, so that we can respond and follow up.
  • Project work: if you become a client or supplier, we will hold contact details, contract information, and financial information necessary to deliver the project and to meet our legal and accounting obligations.

We do not currently use website analytics or tracking cookies. If we add analytics or marketing cookies in future, we will update this policy and our cookie policy and ask for your consent first.

How we use your data and our lawful basis

We use personal data only for the purposes for which it was provided:

  • To respond to enquiries — lawful basis: legitimate interests (responding to a request you have made). If your enquiry leads to a project, we move to a contract basis.
  • To deliver projects and contracts — lawful basis: performance of a contract with you, or steps taken at your request before entering into a contract.
  • To meet our legal obligations — lawful basis: legal obligation (for example, retention of accounting records).

We do not use your data for marketing, profiling, or automated decision-making, and we do not sell or rent your data to anyone.

Who we share your data with

We do not share your personal data with third parties except where strictly necessary:

  • With professional advisers (accountants, solicitors, insurers) where required for our business or legal obligations.
  • With subcontractors or suppliers acting on our behalf in connection with a project, where you are a client or supplier and the sharing is necessary to deliver the project.
  • With public authorities (HMRC, Companies House, the Information Commissioner's Office, or others) where we are legally required to do so.

Where we engage third parties to process personal data on our behalf, we put appropriate contractual safeguards in place.

How long we keep your data

We keep enquiry-only data for up to 24 months after our last contact, after which it is deleted unless we are required to retain it for legal reasons. Records relating to clients, suppliers, contracts, and projects are retained for at least six years from the end of the relevant project, in line with our legal, accounting, and contractual obligations.

International transfers

Your data is stored on systems located in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area. If we ever need to transfer your data outside this area, we will use safeguards approved under UK GDPR (such as the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses) and update this policy accordingly.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

  • access the personal data we hold about you;
  • have inaccurate personal data corrected;
  • have your personal data erased in certain circumstances;
  • restrict our processing of your data in certain circumstances;
  • object to our processing where we are relying on legitimate interests;
  • receive a copy of your data in a portable format where we are processing it on the basis of consent or contract;
  • withdraw consent at any time, where we are processing on the basis of consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please email legal@yyestates.com. We will respond within one month.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle your data, please contact us in the first instance and we will do our best to resolve it. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office — the UK supervisory authority for data protection — at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page indicates when it was last revised. Material changes will be notified on the website.

Legal

Cookie Policy

Last updated: May 2026 · This policy explains how YayYay Holdings Ltd uses cookies and similar technologies on this website.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by the websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work, to make them work more efficiently, and to provide information to the website operator.

Cookies on this website

At the time this policy was last updated, this website does not use any cookies. We do not run third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking, and we do not embed third-party content that would set cookies on your device.

Your browser may display a "padlock" or HTTPS icon to confirm a secure connection to our server — this is a normal browser behaviour and does not involve a cookie.

If we add cookies in future

If we choose to add cookies in future — for example, to add a basic visitor analytics tool — we will:

  • update this policy to set out clearly what cookies are used, what they do, and how long they last;
  • display a cookie banner asking for your consent to non-essential cookies before they are set;
  • only use strictly necessary cookies without explicit consent, where the law allows.

Types of cookies (for reference)

If we add cookies, they will fall into one of these categories:

  • Strictly necessary: required for the website to operate — for example, security or load-balancing cookies. No consent needed.
  • Performance / analytics: help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it. Consent required.
  • Functional: remember choices you make (such as language). Consent required.
  • Marketing: track visits across websites to display relevant advertising. We do not currently use these and have no plans to.

Managing cookies

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings — you can usually block all cookies, block third-party cookies, or delete cookies that have already been set. Doing so may affect how websites work. Useful guides are available at aboutcookies.org and allaboutcookies.org.

More information

For our wider position on personal data, see our privacy policy. For any questions about cookies on this website, please contact legal@yyestates.com.

Legal

Website Terms of Use

Last updated: May 2026 · These terms govern your use of the YayYay Holdings Ltd website. They do not govern any commercial relationship with us — that is dealt with by separate project-specific contracts.

About these terms

These terms apply to your use of the website at yyestates.com ("the site"). By using the site you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, please do not use the site.

The site is operated by YayYay Holdings Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14344923) whose registered office is at Unit 4, Riverside Business Centre, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4UG.

What this site is for

The site provides general information about YayYay Holdings Ltd and our work as a principal contractor and property investment company. It is intended to give you a sense of who we are and what we do, and to provide a way to make initial contact. It is not an offer of services and does not form part of any contract.

Any commercial work we undertake — whether as principal contractor, design and build, refurbishment, or otherwise — is governed by a separate written contract specific to that project. Nothing on this website creates contractual rights or obligations.

Information on the site

We try to keep the information on this site accurate and up to date. The site is provided "as is" and we make no warranties or representations about its accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any purpose. Any photographs, project descriptions, and project details are illustrative of past work and should not be taken as a specification or warranty of future work.

Any reliance you place on information from this site is entirely at your own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for any loss or damage of any kind arising from use of, or reliance on, the site or its contents.

Intellectual property

All content on this site — text, photographs, graphics, layout, code — is owned by or licensed to YayYay Holdings Ltd and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. You may view, download, and print pages from the site for your own personal or non-commercial use, provided you do not modify the content or remove any copyright notices.

You may not reproduce, republish, distribute, or use any content from this site for commercial purposes without our prior written consent. The "YayYay" name and logo are trade marks of YayYay Holdings Ltd.

Acceptable use

You agree not to use the site:

  • in any way that breaches any applicable law or regulation;
  • in any way that is unlawful, fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose;
  • to transmit any malicious code or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site, the server on which it is stored, or any related computer or database.

Links to other sites

The site may contain links to third-party websites. We have no control over the content of those sites and accept no responsibility for them. The presence of a link does not imply endorsement.

Linking to this site

You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval, or endorsement on our part where none exists. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.

Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under English law.

Subject to that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations, and other terms that might otherwise apply to the site, and we are not liable for any loss of profit, business, contracts, revenues, anticipated savings, data, or any indirect or consequential loss arising from your use of the site.

Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms, their subject matter, and their formation are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with these terms, except that we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these terms in your country of residence or any other relevant country.

Changes to these terms

We may revise these terms at any time by amending this page. The date at the top of this page indicates when the terms were last revised. By continuing to use the site after a revision, you accept the revised terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent to legal@yyestates.com.