The Guild Welcomes New Members for September
After what has been a turbulent few years for the property market in the UK, The Guild of Property Professionals have been proud to support their Members through this period. With the market appearing to stabilise in recent months and the prospect of 2024 bringing more buoyancy, The Guild is delighted to announce eight new Members to their network of independent agents for the month of September.
The Guild, a UK-wide award-winning network, was delighted to achieve the prestigious ESTAS award last week for Best Agency Network for the third consecutive year, as well as the Supplier Award for Best in Sector 2023, Agency Network. These awards are testament to the fact that the network continues to provide the much-needed tools and support that independent agents are seeking in this challenging environment to be able to compete with corporate estate agents in their towns.
Amongst the recent, and growing, list of new Members is eight-branch agency, George F White, who represent Durham as proud Guild Members. Having opened their newest office in February 2023, David Wilson, Operations Manager at George F White, comments that joining The Guild network was a ‘no-brainer’. “We pride ourselves on providing high levels of service to our clients. The Guild is set up for estate agents to be the best they can be, to differentiate themselves in their area and that struck a note with us and therefore joining as the Guild representative in the Durham area was a no-brainer,” he adds.
With the challenging conditions experienced in the UK property market over recent times, Wilson comments, "we are in the final throws of the honeymoon period following the pandemic and the market is back to 2019 levels – it’s challenging but those who adopt realistic goals are more often than not achieving them. The market insight tool The Guild provides will prove useful, and FeeStreet looks interesting to give us that strategic marketing tool which modern estate agency needs to start embracing.”
When asked why he and his team decided to join The Guild network, Wilson responds: "The Guild provides a proactive and supportive platform that not only offers tools to inform its Members, but also continually sets and raises the bar so that agents who embrace the forward thinking approach will stand out from their competitors within their exclusive area. We will be promoting our membership to our buyers and sellers by wearing the Guild badge with pride. We will also be utilising The Guild's wide range tools and leaning on the support of its team and our fellow Members to shape ourselves into being a force that other agents in our area look towards."
Other agents who have recently joined The Guild network include, Turpie and Co in Scotland, Quinn Estate Agents in Northern Ireland and Hayman Joyce, Sibley Pares and Burrells Estate Agency in England, while JDM Estate Agents and Wye Partnership extended their Guild Membership to include a further office.
Lindy Hazell, Director at Burrell's Estate Agency told The Guild that they are experiencing 'a strange market at the moment', commenting: “The valuation needs to be extremely accurate to sell. You must be very knowledgeable about the market as competition is high in our area. It’s an honour to be part of an elite network and all the benefits that are available to us. We can't wait to fully access all that The Guild has to offer. In the past our attention to detail and thinking outside the box to help our most vulnerable clients has been our differentiator. It would be unaffordable to have access to all the tools and knowledge available to us through The Guild if we financed the tools ourselves, but joining this network effectively gives you the same tools as the corporate company. However, you still have the personal touch of a local agent but with all the features. Perfect!" She added, "I have been really impressed with the team at The Guild so far, it’s been a pleasure meeting our Account Manager, Steven McCabe, I feel confident he will make a difference for us."
Commenting on the eight new Members, Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, says: “I am immensely proud of the service The Guild continues to provide our valued Members. The Guild network has developed over the years to meet our Members needs as the property market has evolved. I hope our new agents find their membership as valuable as our existing Members have testified to, with some having joined us three decades ago.”
For more information on how your independent agency could benefit from the support and tools The Guild offers visit www.join.guildproperty.co.uk.
