the business was established in 2009 by the present owners to capitalise on the market conditions, whilst others were in freefall. With a number of years background trading as an estate agent with his partner, the vendor opened his new establishment with existing contact in place derived over the years. Alongside traditional property management with some outstanding clients including a number of local authorities across the area, the business has built a great niche in aligned removal services. The removal business is promoted to each and every client of the estate agency, providing a constant stream of business, along with direct promotion to the area. The removal business now represents a healthy 50%+ of the revenue, and is growing fast both nationally and internationally. The core property management business enjoys a fresh image and well thought-out internet and advertising presence, which is drawing new customers daily, whilst giving confidence to landlords and tenants already in place. The business offers competitive margins to the marketplace, and enjoys healthy profits from ‘let-only’ properties, ‘fully-managed’ properties, and sales. This offering will appeal to a wide variety of investors, or indeed another agency seeking a geographical foothold. Key factors of interest are the business’ good premises and key location with great frontage, the wide spread of landlords and the low business risk enabled from the in-house rental stream. Alongside this, the independent removals business which is in-house, not only provides a good revenue stream which is stabilising figures, but represents a great opportunity to those entering the market, or adding this business to their portfolio. Equipment: the business utilises a fully integrated back-office and telephone system, with access for 5. On the it network, the company has the latest edition of the ‘universal’ estate agent management suite, which has the option to integrate with the property listing websites such as and the corporate website which is currently under construction. The business has fully computerised databases of both tenants and landlords, with contact history and notes for future promotion and handover. Customer service: the business has developed a great reputation with both its rental tenants, the landlords and the customers listing their properties for sale, based on the open and honest approach used as part of their business practice. Key strengths: the usual key strength of a business in this sector is that in difficult trading times the business’ balance between property sales and rentals will always even itself out i.e. When sales are up – rentals may be down and when sales are down – rentals will be up. Above and beyond this, the company has tapped the removals market, with a branded offering that gains lots of business in-house, but also supports the turnover figures independently from people moving property at all times of the year. Although the present limited company has been trading only recently, the removals business gains customers from other estate agents, who do not offer the same comprehensive service to their clients. Growth and expansion opportunities: as the property market returns, there is ample opportunity for this business t gain valuable market share in the current locality, and also offer their services further a field. With a stable footing of local authority clients that are currently customers of the business, there is a great opportunity to build relations with neighbouring regions now, for long-term residual income. The model of linking a removal business to the core estate agency and property management operation is ripe for further growth and roll out across other areas.
