Trad or hybrid – it’s a booming new year!
Agency growth across the self-employed and traditional high street models shows how both styles of independent estate agent have bright futures.
The latest industry professionals to announce business growth milestones are proving that there’s plenty of room for a hybrid approach of physical high street branches and broker-style agents.
Three months after opening its first high street hub in Ladbroke Grove, Agent&Homes has opened a second in Islington to support its cluster of self-employed agents in the area.
The firm’s founder, Rollo Miles (pictured), said, “Where we already have strong self-employed agents on the ground working and gaining market share, we then parachute a local hub into their patch to support them. This gives them extra presence and helps them gain more market share by tapping into potential clients who do not know them personally. They also get increased marketing and brand presence by having a local branded hub in which to welcome clients.”
The plan is to open at least 10 local hubs in London, but Agent&Homes is clear that these will not be like ‘traditional’ high street offices, and instead designed to ‘feel like a living room and are inviting’ in a world where local habits are changing.
He added, “More and more of us are working from home, our local high streets have been re-discovered by their inhabitants who get to spend more time in the local coffee shops or delis and therefore having that extra local presence and being able to invite a client for a coffee and a property catch up is more important than ever.”
Traditional take-over
Over in Sussex, owner of At Home Estate and Lettings, Paul Davies, has acquired Storrington-based Clarke and Charlesworth. The take-over follows seven successful years at At Home, during which time the property pro has bagged multiple awards for his first-born ‘traditional’ high street agency.
Clarke and Charlesworth are a long-established agency specialising in country and exclusive homes in and around the surrounding area. Paul will take over as new owner and director with the aim of applying the innovative marketing principles that have proved so successful at At Home to help house owners in this more exclusive sector.
Paul commented: “Clarke and Charlesworth share many of the same values as myself and At Home, making this a natural fit. I now want to use the unique marketing principles that we’ve developed and used so successfully at At Home to provide a better service to home owners of more prestigious properties.
“At the same time, I hope to develop and grow Clarke and Charlesworth across the region… I’m really excited to begin this new era and I’m working closely with the outgoing owner to ensure a smooth transition over the next few months.”
Paul also owns About Mortgages Ltd, an advisory service with access to a wide variety of mortgages, and equity release and protection schemes, such as life assurance and income protection.
