Leading industry figure celebrates 40 years’ service
Valerie Bannister is a senior at Your Move and the firm held a party to celebrate her milestone in London this week.
One of the leading figures within the property industry has celebrated 40 years’ service at her firm and within the sector.
Valerie Bannister (main image) is National Property Director at LSL estate agency Your Move, which recently became a franchised network, but she is also well connected through her work across the sector including many senior positions at Propertymark and helping raise money for charity.
To celebrate her milestone, Your Move held a surprise party on Wednesday night (main picture) to thanks her for her years of service and dedication at a bar in Chancery Lane in London at which some 50 former and current colleagues attended.
Long career
Bannister started out in the industry in the Residential Sales team at the Fareham branch of Maurice Beale & Partners in July 1984 and from there embarked on a long and impressive career in lettings.
She saw the 1988 Housing Act being introduced, which ushered the UK out of an era of strict rent control that had suppressed the sector for decades, as well as the 1996 Housing Act, and the subsequent growth of the private rental sector.
Reflecting on her early years in the sector, she says: “Those years were as thrilling as they were intellectually challenging and exciting, because there was so much change and so much to be done.”
Bannister subsequently became well known for her knowledge for and passion for lettings compliance there are few people with a more complete grasp of the processes required to run a successful and compliant – lettings business, and especially the consequences of not doing so.
Technology
She says the biggest change to the industry during her career has been the introduction of technology, saying: “There are platforms that have revolutionised the speed and ease of so many tasks; from managing repossessions, and block management to advertising properties – I remember glueing photos onto window cards to show off a property.
“In saying that, I always advise that over-reliance on too much technology risks suppressing human judgement, which is so critical in assessing and mitigating risk.”
These days Valerie can still be found hard at work, attending events such as the Agents Giving Summer Ball – greeting guests, discussing recent lettings issues and offering guidance and support to budding agents.
Of Valerie’s many achievements, some of the most prominent include being awarded a ‘Sunday Times Award’, for her contribution to the industry, a ‘Women in Industry award’, being ‘President elect 2013’ and then ‘President’ of ARLA Propertymark in 2014’. As well as that she served on the board of Propertymark for many years and is currently a regional representative. As a leading industry figure, Valerie is also a judge for The Negotiator Awards.
Congratulations

Paul Hardy, MD of LSL Estate Agency Franchising – which owns the Your Move brand, says: “Valerie’s passion, energy and warmth is abundant. You don’t come across people with Valerie’s level of expertise too often, a hands-on practitioner, with an endless supply of experiential evidence to bring cases to life.
“We’re honoured to have had one of the most hard-working and experienced letting agents in the country in our business for 40 years – congratulations Valerie.”