Estate agency cold-starts branch despite chilly economy

Ed Casson and Simon Pelling, the Managing Directors of Fine & Country Chelmsford, are expanding even further into Essex after taking on the licence for Brentwood.

The new South Essex operation is up and running and Pelling says that despite challenging market conditions he views the expansion as an ‘excellent opportunity’.

BOTH LOCATIONS

He says: “Ed and I decided to operate Fine & Country South Essex (Brentwood) and Mid Essex (Chelmsford) as one operation with our team spread across both locations.

“The area, like much of the UK, is in a period of market adjustment. We see this as an excellent opportunity for the brand.”

And he adds: “In a good market a seller could go to a pretty poor agent and they will take some snaps on their phone, post them on Rightmove and the property will sell.

“In the more challenging market we have now, customers more than ever need the attention to detail, presentation and human skills a premium operation such as ours provides.”

SALES PROGRESSION

Pelling also reckons that the firm has the ‘lowest fall through rate’ in the area, in part due to a sales progression team that consists of two qualified lawyers, each with over 20 years’ experience.

Indeed, recruiting talent into the team has been a priority for Pelling and Casson and Helen Lees recently joined as a Senior Sales Manager.

He says: “Helen has excellent agency skills and in the few weeks we have been working together is proving to be a great asset to the team.

“She will work alongside myself in Brentwood, while Ed will continue in Chelmsford with Ben Withers our Sales Negotiator.

“We have also hired Hannah Thorpe as our Executive Assistant, who handles all our onboarding of properties for both locations, as well as admin and scheduling.”

Main picture: (Left to right) Ben Withers; Hannah Thorpe; Simon Pelling; Helen Lees and Ed Casson.