franchise estate agencies in the uk, bairstow eves franchising

Having spent the last ten years running their wholesale giftware company the Marteinssons were looking for something completely different; a fresh challenge and a new type of business, something with the potential to grow and develop. They decided to investigate the estate agency and lettings business on the suggestion of their son Robin who was himself employed in the industry at the time.

They looked at a number of options and finally decided on the Bairstow Eves franchise, launching their first business in 2002 in Redhill, Surrey.

According to Tomas, Bairstow Eves offered a number of clear advantages; a well known and respected brand, a large national network and an excellent reputation amongst its customers. In addition, the Bairstow Eves franchise proposition offered an established and well tested sales and lettings operating system, established marketing ideas, IT systems and Countrywide’s market leading sales training. Regular support from a Franchise Business Manager means that there is always someone on hand to offer advice and guidance.

Seven years on and they are planning the opening of their fourth estate agency & lettings office following on from their successes in Redhill, Merstham and Epsom.

Asked “what difficulties have they faced in their new business?” Tomas replies “initially a lot of hard work and the effects of world events in the last 12 months. Without the significant advantages of the Bairstow Eves franchise, trading would have been a lot more difficult, particularly with the lettings side of the business, without which we would have struggled.”

Where to next? Five to ten offices is the plan over the next decade and Robin is very much part of the plan having joined the new family business five years ago. As for Tomas and Barbara, extensive travel is on the agenda in addition to more hard work with their expansion plans.