Presentation is everything!

So it's back to work for me after having last week off house building for a rest. The building went well, I made a start on the circular oak staircase which is just like building a boat and I got through lots of coordination of things needed to get closer to finishing. The only thing that didn't go to plan last week is we put the digger through the mains power cable which brought proceedings to a premature end for the week. It is lucky I was off because I normally spend the whole of Friday afternoon on the phone getting updates on the weeks performance and with no power there was also no phone! So if it had to happen then it happened on the right day!

The offices had a good week for exchanges of contracts last week which was good to see and that means there will be a lot of happy customers moving into their new homes over the next couple of weeks. Our current sales have slowed up again and it is very difficult to understand what is influencing the market now. I thought the financial news was not so bad at the minute and the Euro crisis hasn't had so much air time so I thought we may see a little more confidence in the market return but it is still tough and if you want to sell in the current climate then the price has to be right and the presentation brilliant.

An interview with Brian Bradley

Bradleys Estate Agents is celebrating 20 years in the forefront of estate agency in the West Country.

Down the years Group Chairman Brian Bradley has dealt with everything from multi-million pound pads to a converted World War 2 concrete pill box on Burgh Island, a block of toilets at Newquay, and a bungalow at Brixham that had a nuclear bunker beneath it. 

He started Bradleys in premises in Exmouth’s Rolle Street in 1992 with three colleagues.  Today, 178 staff are employed running a string of 32 offices stretching from Taunton to Penzance – making  Bradleys the 9th largest independent estate agents in the country, and the 15th largest overall.

Despite such sustained growth Brian has never felt the need to move the business base away from Exmouth, the seaside town that has been home since settling there from Berkshire with his parents as a youth of 17. For the last six years Bradleys HQ has been located in the town’s leafy suburbs in a sizeable former Hotel with a staff of 35. “We bought it just before the slump,” he says, smiling wryly at the vagaries of the property market.  His spacious first floor office has pastel tones and comfy, light grey leather furniture. It exudes an air of becalmed gravitas personalised with photographs – including one of him with Jimmy Greaves.   

Brian was both Chairman and managing director until 18 months ago. Now the role of MD has been passed onto Francis Marshall, while Brian remains Chairman. “I set the policy of the business and look after the finances – and that dovetails in with what the other guys are doing,” he says.

“We have long term plans and short term plans – and something to fit in the middle. There is a lot of financial strategy that comes into it.”  Courteous and quietly spoken,  a twinkle in his eye suggests he doesn’t take himself too seriously despite the weight of responsibility. “I have never done a day’s work in my life because I enjoy what I do,” he says.

“The challenge is still there – I ought to retire but I don’t want to.” 

From his  first day  working in an estate agents’ office his enthusiasm has stood the test of time.

“I was bemused by everything that went on around me – but I loved it and that has never changed. Selling property is very interesting and competitive. You go out to win.”

Now 63, he has slightly taken his foot off the pedal – metaphorically speaking, at least, as he enjoys track days out with his BMW at Silverstone, Castle Coombe and Donington.

“I like my cars, and I play golf and spend time with my wife Joan.”  

After leaving school he joined the Lester Smith Partnership, becoming a partner himself in 1978, and selling the business to the Bristol and West in 1987. Two years after Bradleys was started the old business was bought back.

Brian is proud of the company logo with its all-embracing circle around the name. His 90-year-old mother is also a fan, regularly telling him where the latest ‘for sale’ signs have appeared, and how well Bradleys is doing. 

 The company motto, ‘people serving people’, is a maxim close to Brian’s heart .“Three words that mean a lot. ‘People’ are us – we are not machines; the second ‘people’ are our clients which we serve,” says Brian. “Some organisations don’t treat clients as people but simply as business. We like to treat them as people then hopefully they will come back to us. ”There are clients who have sold with Bradleys five times during the last 20 years. Brian, however, would be his own worst customer – having lived in his present home for 35 years!

The logo’s white circle, with its two arrows and yellow tick, reflects the company’s mission statement of offering a complete property service. “It is not only sales. People come back to rent properties or to have a survey done. We do conveyancing, have chartered surveyors, and offer a three-pronged financial service with advice on mortgage, investment and general insurance,” says Brian.

Since 2007 the market has, he says, changed “big time”. Bradleys reacted by expanding its rental portfolio and, as a result, doubled its foothold in this competitive arena.

“Renting is the way the market will be for evermore. Even if things changed over night they wouldn’t get back to what they were. I don’t think that’s possible – money was freer and people could borrow more easily.”

True to its motto, Bradleys has been built on people – the quality and loyalty of its staff helping keep it buoyant through turbulent times. “It is remarkable how many people have stayed over the 20 years. Cathy Nickels and Lisa Findel-Hawkins are two girls that started with us and are still here – having had a few children on the way,” says Brian. Founder managing directors Michael Dibble and Lyndon Bent have also been on board for the whole Bradleys journey. Proud of his team, and a great believer in a happy staff, Brian says the expansion of the business has been done within the capability of the people that work there. “If you have the right person in the office you will do well. If you haven’t you won’t. It’s black and white.” 

A shrewd businessman, one senses he has a paternal approach to Bradleys and appreciation of those who, over two decades, have helped make it the success it is.

“I have seen places where man management is appalling. That doesn’t sell you anything, or motivate someone to stay on an extra half hour and make some additional calls.”

For him such experiences didn’t illustrate how to treat staff – “but how not to.”

And that is why Bradleys has stood the test of time while less scrupulous businesses have not.

Ask him what he most enjoys about the business and he will tell you its “working with the people”.

He says Francis Marshall, Mike Dibble, Lyndon Bent and the other directors Chris Baxter and Richard Greetham along with Rick Mason do a “fantastic” job. “All have a real passion for success and they are a delight to work with.”

By Roger Malone (SWMG)

The hardest bit...

I am holiday this week so I have just written my Monday Morning Communication to the Management team urging everyone to make sure they push really hard for sales this week to keep us on track for the year. England failed miserably again at yet another penalty shoot-out last night but maybe now we will all be free to concentrate 100% on a good weeks sales.

I bet you are thinking "I wonder where he is going for his holiday?" To answer the question for anybody who is interested I am making a staircase for the house I am building, it won't get finished in a week as it is a round staircase but it will get started and starting is the hardest bit.

 
Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

Greece lightning!

The Bank of England is putting 80 Billion into the banks to lend to home buyers and business to help get our economy going. Now it looks like the Pro-Austerity Measures Party in Greece have come out on top in their election so perhaps the combination of these two pieces of good news will give some buyers in the UK the confidence to go ahead and buy a property. Interest rates are still comparatively low and prices may be set to rise if the mortgage market is made a little easier. The biggest problem buyers have is getting together a large enough deposit to avoid high set up costs and higher interest rates. If the market can return to make a 90% mortgage available without too many set up costs then that should help a lot.

I never fail to be amazed at how the sales results fluctuate for no apparent reason. 2 weeks ago sales were great in a 3 day week with a third of the work force on holiday. Last week most people were back and it was a normal 5 day week yet the sales slowed up. Maybe we were worried about the Greeks!

I think we all think too much about outside influencing factors and if mortgages can be made more available then now is a great time to buy.  What else can you be waiting for?

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

Dr Feelgood

Our busy time has carried on. I asked all of the Bradleys Offices to go out and see their customers a couple of weeks ago and carry out a through market review if a property has been on the market for 7 weeks or more. The review included an update of details, photos, marketing and price. In most cases where all of things were looked at and revised it did enough to generate new interest in a property and has contributed to some good sales last week. 

Personally I was quite worried about what would happen last week with about one third of our sales force on holiday and many of our customers also away on holiday, all taking advantage of the 2 consecutive Bank Holidays which meant a weeks holiday could be achieved with only 3 days leave taken. My fears were however unfounded as the Market Reviews helped to generate many good sales and we had one of our best sales weeks of the year!

Does that mean that some of the houses were a bit stale to the market? Does that mean some of the houses were a tiny bit expensive in a competitive market or does that mean with all the Diamond Jubilee celebrations taking place everyone had a better feel good factor and that contributed to sales. I don't know but Greece and Spain hardly got a mention on the news last week and everyone seemed a lot happier. I suspect the answer is a combination of all three things and I just hope that any feel good factor is not obliterated by the relentless scaremongering of the news channels and their coverage of the Eurozone this week.

Buck the trend!

So the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations have drawn to a close and what a great extended weekend it was for the country. Ella actually had a ticket for the concert outside Buckingham Palace and enjoyed the whole event very much. Being only 19…… Enid wouldn't let her loose in London on her own for the weekend and felt it was her motherly duty to accompany our youngest daughter on a weekend trip to London whilst I was left at home to keep on trying to finish building a house!

I hope the new feel-good factor will now knock on to house sales as I have been complaining for weeks about the bad news scaring buyers away, perhaps some good news on the telly will encourage buyers to buy. We have Euro 2012 and the Olympics still to come this summer and whilst major sporting events sometimes keep the buyers at home they can only help to keep stories of economic doom out of the news and perhaps this year the trend will be reversed. We will have to wait and see what happens.

May seems a long time ago now but I haven't written anything since the month ended and whilst it was tough earlier in the month everyone worked very hard and with some real determination to make things happen we actually ended up with a very decent result. Now it's June and we have to do it all again.

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

croeso i'r blog Bradley!

Another busy weekend has come to a close, I have been to a wedding in West Wales which was conducted entirely in Welsh and out of 300 guests I think I was only 1 of 3 where English was their first language! I haven't got a clue what was said in the speeches but I could see they all spoke very well and it must have been humorous because there was a lot of laughter. I did feel a bit like a seal clapping at the right points but on the whole it was an excellent day and it was nice to be there as the groom was our page boy 26 years ago! I hope I have got that timescale right or else I know somebody who will be giving me a hard time tonight!!

I am late sending out this morning's Monday Communication as I normally write that on a Sunday evening but when we got home last night I couldn't remote my laptop into Cornish HQ. Enid found out why this morning when she got there to find the front door forced open and it had been burgled over the weekend. Probably kids as £3.70 from the petty cash tin was taken but the computers and some other items of value were left behind. They must have disturbed the router as it had to be reset this morning.

A very strange week in Bradleys last week where sales number were really up and down. We need a good run at the minute and I was really pleased with very good performance on Monday and Tuesday then it died a death on Wednesday and Thursday before retuning again on Friday. From what I can see the weekend was busy so hopefully the month will have a strong finish.

Quite what makes the market stop and start so much is getting beyond a joke, it appears that the market is related entirely to the news. If there is some bad economic news then sales slow if there is no economic doom and gloom reported for a week or so the buyers seem to get their confidence back and dip in again. There was a suggestion that the 2 slow days last week related to the lovely weather that we all enjoyed but the improved performance over the weekend doesn't really agree with that theory.

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group