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Rising star: ‘why frustrations of working at Reeds Rains made me go independent’

Mansfield estate agent Jon Brown says he launched BuckleyBrown after getting 'fed up' with corporate life at the LSL brand as he rose through the ranks.

Nigel Lewis

estate agency

The estate agent who won The Negotiator’s ‘Rising Star of the Year’ award at Friday’s gala ceremony in London has revealed how a frustrating spell working for LSL estate agency Reeds Rains led him to set up shop and become the No.1 agent in his area.

30-year-old Nottinghamshire agent Jon Brown (above, second left) established BuckleyBrown in 2015 after several years working initially for Halifax Property Services and then LSL after it bought the business in 2009.

“I worked my way up the ladder at Reeds Rains and really enjoyed that but for me it just became too much about numbers,” he says.

“I used to come up with so many ideas I wanted to implement as a manager but my hands were tied and it was very much ‘their way or the highway’ which was annoying when I could see the problems and knew what the solutions were.”

One day in May 2015 Jon took the plunge with silent investors and local business duo Sean Kenny and Mark Stevenson and launched BuckleyBrown.

Estate agency launch

“Although I’d had enough of the corporate life I didn’t think I was brave enough to launch my own business but one day I thought ‘sod it’ and here I am now,” he says.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is that the three negotiators who started with us on day one are still with us today, although they have been joined by another 11 staff, so we’re growing fast.”

Jon says his business has been Mansfield’s top-selling agent from year one of its five-year existence.

“It an absolutely honour to be awarded Rising Star of the Year by The Negotiator given the very good agents across the UK who I was up against,” he says.

Jon says he plans to expand the business next year to cover a wider area around Mansfield via a ‘hub’ rather than expanding via new branches.

“It’s the way forward for the industry – I don’t think you need ten offices and it’s better instead to work smarter but also still offer a personal service.”

December 4, 2019

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