What a First Year!

1st October 2020

It doesn't seem possible that we have just completed our first full year since taking over in 2019.

I think it is fair to say that this has been a very eventful year indeed.

From the moment we took over, the heated Brexit debates were at the top of national news programming. The subsequent snap general election called by the government in December and the official trigger of our exit of the EU in January didn't help with the economic uncertainty. As if this wasn't enough for the country to be dealing with, it was quickly followed by growing international concerns surrounding the spread of covid-19, which as we all know lead to an unprecented national lockdown. As such our office was closed for seven weeks, from the 24th March until the 18th May.

As we returned to the office during May, we had to navigate new laws surrounding social distancing in order to keep our staff and customers safe, and it definitely took a little time for our clients to feel comfortable enough to begin planning their home moves. After the first few weeks it was apparent that the housing market was showing good signs of recovery, and from June through to September we saw phenomenal numbers of home movers coming to market. The letting market also remained very strong, with high demand from prospective tenants.

After enduring such national economic uncertainty, followed by a full scale industry shutdown, it would be fair to say that simply surviving the last year may be considered a reasonable achievement. However, we have been fortunate to be able to do so much more during the past twelve months.

We have worked hard to increase our market share, both in terms of lettings and sales. As I type this, I am looking at statistics which show we have agreed more sales than any other agent within our area during the past few weeks.

At the beginning of 2020 we created our Block Management department, which allows us to provide another branch of services, and we have been pleased with how this has started to come together.

As we have grown, we have also taken the decision to add a new, highly experienced staff member to our established team (pictured above with the three of us), as we look to expand our residential sales department.

So all in all, I think it is fair to say that we have greatly exceeded our expectations, particularly in the most challenging of times.

We can't thank our Vendors, Purchasers, Landlords and Tenants enough for helping us to make our first year such a success and we go into our second year with immense pride in what we have so far achieved. We are all local people, trying to provide the best standard of service we can, in order to make our business a success.

Gary, Nicola and Lesley