Agencies & People
News covering the businesses, activities, people and personalities in estate agency and letting agency and wider residential property industry.
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Millstream celebrates 10 years
Millstream Management Services (MMS), a provider of retirement housing management services in the UK, has celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a special event at its Head Office in Ringwood.
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Father and son complete the Frankfurt Ironman
Father and son estate agents, Sean and Tyler Newman, successfully completed the Frankfurt Ironman to raise money for the Fine & Country Foundation, a charity set up to help the homeless.
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It’s just hearsay…online agent claims celebrity client
Most estate and letting agents have a celebrity client story to tell. It might be an A-lister viewing a city pad or country pile, a downsizing ageing rock star or a recently-enriched boyband member on the hunt for a party pad. It’s not always plain sailing, though. Last year Rowan Atkinson at first listed his Cotswolds home with agent Carter Jonas and then, after a buyer wasn’t forthcoming, decided to switch agent and try Strutt & Parker. But for online-only letting agent Upad their celebrity moment came recently when former Hear’Say member Noel Sullivan decided to log on, much to the surprise of its staff. The singer and more recently TV actor, who was brought up in Cardiff and initially trained as an opera singer, is now a client. He’s currently on tour with the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and also has a new album out, Here I Go Again, and has just landed a TV role in BBC drama Ordinary Lies. Sullivan has been renting out his one-bedroom apartment in SW London for some time and recently switched from a traditional local agent to Upad, and now appears to be an enthusiastic convert to the online model. He cites “astronomical…
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Sheldon Bosley Knight Launches
Two of the most prominent estate agents in Warwickshire are joining forces.
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VeriSmart reaches century
VeriSmart Inventories, based in Poole, has taken on its 100th member of its highly efficient paper free inventory system.
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The Property Centre raises £5,000
A team from Gloucestershire and Worcestershire agent, The Property Centre, with Dee & Griffin Solicitors climbed the National 3 Peaks in 24 hours and raised £5,000 for charity.
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Strutt & Parker agents face 85mph winds
Strutt & Parker agents may be known for their upmarket house sales and lettings but such prime concerns were set aside recently by a group of employees to raise money for the Sebastian Coe Charitable Foundation, part of the company’s efforts this year to garner £200,000 for charities who support the Francis Crick Institute. It specialises in biomedical research. An intrepid group from the company completed the Three Peaks Challenge, which for non-walkers means climbing three of the highest peaks in the UK in under 24 hours including travel time. These are Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in Cumbria and Snowdon in Wales. The fund raisers (pictured above, left to right) included James Gow (head of house sales in Kensington ), Dominic Price (residential development), Lucy Ball (public relations manager), William Sensecall (graduate surveyor ) and Stephanie Nash (head of Fulham lettings). They set off on a Friday morning at 5.45am from Hammersmith for Ben Nevis where they faced driving rain, 85-mile-an-hour winds and fog for their first climb, aided by two mountain guides. Setting off at 6.38pm they reached the summit at 11pm, returning to the bus at 1am and then setting off for Scafell Pike. They arrived there at 7.30am and, says Lucy Ball,…
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Suzy Lamplugh: 30 years on… live life safe
Suzy Lamplugh: 30 years on there are still serious concerns about personal safety in the property sector, says Trust. 30 years ago a young estate agent called Suzy Lamplugh disappeared while showing a client around a house in Fulham. No trace of her has ever been found. The Suzy Lamplugh Trust was subsequently founded by her parents Diana and Paul following and since then it has pioneered personal safety as a life skill and a public policy priority. National Personal Safety Day, run by the charity, is an annual event aimed at highlighting some of the simple, practical solutions that everyone can use to help minimise personal safety risks. It’s about helping people live safer, more confident lives. New research To mark the 30th anniversary of Suzy’s disappearance the trust has carried out research into personal safety issues within the housing sector and is proposing that estate agencies sign up to ‘Suzy’s Code for Personal Safety’ to ensure that their employees are as ‘Safe As Houses’ while at work. According to the English Housing Survey 2014-15, there are 22.5million households in England. Almost everyone will visit a prospective property at some point in their lifetime. Suzy Lamplugh Trust is concerned…
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What’s it like to be a Purplebricks ‘property expert’?
James Humphries-Stone, 29 joined Purplebricks two-and-a-half years ago What did you do before joining Purplebricks? I have been an estate agent since leaving school; I always wanted to be one and knew which path I wanted to follow since I was young and the only thing that held me back after leaving school was not having a driving a licence. As soon as I passed my driving test I got a junior negotiator role in a Basingstoke agency – it’s where I live – and then at 23 I became a branch manager of a leading independent in the town, and then two and half years ago I met Kenny Bruce (co-founder and sales director of Purplebricks). The main reason for my move from the high street to Purplebricks was that I had noticed the way in which people were transacting with the high street. I’d seen a shift in the way people were contacting agents more online instead of coming into branches. So for me, it was all being a part of that change. What do you estate agent mates think of you joining Purplebricks? It’s a mixed bag. When I joined a lot of them thought I was…
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SDL Group acquires Humphreys of Chester
SDL Group, one of the UK’s fastest-growing independent property groups, has today announced its third business acquisition in 12 months. Humphreys of Chester, one of the most respected estate agencies in the region, has been acquired by the SDL Group for an undisclosed amount. Humphreys is the recipient of various awards for estate agency and auctions. The deal means that the Humphreys business will expand across the North West region offering its complete property service from sales and exclusive homes to lettings, property management and auctions. It will report into Rob Clifford, SDL’s estate agency Chief Executive. Following the acquisition, the Chester office on Lower Bridge Street will also become a regional hub for hundreds of SDL Group’s Private Rental Sector (PRS) build-to-rent properties while its auction business will join the SDL Auctions network – the UK’s largest auction network outside of London. Paul Gratton, CEO of the SDL Group, said, “Humphreys of Chester is a leading agent in the North West property market and is hugely respected so I’m delighted to welcome them to the SDL Group. “Their areas of expertise, particularly in auctions, estate agency and lettings, perfectly complement our own portfolio of property services and our aim through this…
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