An estate and lettings agency which has grown by 25 per cent in the last 12 months is celebrating a milestone 10 years in business.
Belvoir’s Stoke-on-Trent franchise is marking the anniversary two years after being taken over by determined entrepreneur and property developer Ramona Hirschi.
It also comes on the back of a record month of instructed sales in the history of the business.
Belvoir – which is one of more than 170 branches across the 海角视频 – had been based in Piccadilly, Hanley, before relocating to its current base in Albion Street.
And since taking over the Hanley business in 2017, the mother-of-two has successfully grown the company to a four-strong team who now manage in excess of 175 properties across Stoke-on-Trent and parts of the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Managing director Ramona said: “When the franchise first opened in 2009, Belvoir was a lettings business. The country was in recession but the rental industry was really buoyant at that point and that side of the business has continued to grow and grow.
“We started selling houses about three of four years ago, predominantly for the buy-to-let market, but when I took over in August 2017 we opened it up to everybody.”
Ramona added: “Lettings is still our core business but the sales side has been a big growth area over the last two years. In May, it took us an average of 27 days to sell a property.”
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Former solicitor Ramona, who lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme, had been running fair trade homeware company Little Trove and developing and managing properties privately for several years before taking over Belvoir.
After becoming the new owner of the business, she invested in new systems and refurbished the office in preparation for expansion.
Ramona said: “When I took over the business it was under-performing, but I was confident I could turn it around and in the last 12 months we have grown 25 per cent and expect to do the same again.
“We are gaining traction as a business. We have taken on more rental housing and more sales but more importantly, we have played a big part in helping to improve the standards of housing in the area.
“We encourage our landlords to make improvements to their properties so we are making a positive contribution to living standards in Stoke-on-Trent. We really believe in what we do.”
Over the next two years, Ramona has plans to double the size of Belvoir’s Stoke-on-Trent branch and turn it into a ‘solid business.’
She added: “Nobody knows what is going to happen with Brexit, but Stoke-on-Trent is one of the cheapest places to buy a house, especially for out-of-town investors. So we will continue to adapt and grow as we have been doing.”