I literally can’t believe it’s been 10 years since my Barker Healey baby was born! Happy Birthday to us! It has absolutely flown by and I have loved every minute of the journey so far. The property market has been quite changeable over the last decade due to one thing and another – from starting out just after the crash in 2008 to dealing with changes to BTL mortgage relief and stamp duty, Brexit and now a worldwide pandemic, it hasn’t been easy! One thing which hasn’t waned though is my love for all things bricks and mortar. I still possess the same enthusiasm and passion as I did in the beginning, only now I have much more experience and a fantastic, hardworking team too.
Granted, the last 4 years have been slightly different for me when compared with the first 6 due to the births of my 3 children, but one of my favourite sayings “If you want to be successful, be consistent” is always something I have strived to stick to. In terms of quality control, I make sure I proofread every single set of property details which are sent out to sellers, and always have. I am a stickler for checking the floorplans against the photos to make sure the doors are shown to open correctly and I will spot a typo a mile off! I believe that every property deserves the same treatment, whether it be worth £60k or £600k. I spend ages scrutinizing brochures and ensuring the photos look their best and although it drives Emma mad, I know I can’t be any other way!
Things have grown massively in recent years, not least the size of our office! 6 years ago, the central stud wall came down and we joined forces to co-habit with mortgage advisor Patrick Beech. This enabled us to expand our window space and the impressive double fronted, listed building is a wonderful platform from which to showcase the properties we advertise for sale or to let. The amount of properties we manage on the rental side has also grown and I am proud to say we still look after the first-ever property which we took on to our books 10 years ago. In fact, many of our landlords are long-standing customers and I attribute this to the consistently excellent service we have delivered, without any kind of annual price increase too!
In today’s real estate world, there are constant reminders that online agencies have increased in popularity in recent years but from personal experience, the majority of local people prefer a local estate agent with good knowledge of the area, a friendly face and a hardworking and professional approach and here at Barker Healey, we certainly deliver on all of those counts.
In the U.K., 20% of small businesses don’t make it past the first 12 months and 60% fold within 3 years so I for one am proud to have a thriving High Street business 10 years on…here’s to the next 10! Thank you to all our Barker Healey customers, past and present for all your support.
Louise Thompson – October 2020