COMMUNITYnews Karen Keeman talks to agents who really help their community. Local heroes G
aining the trust and respect of residents in your local community is crucial to a successful estate agency business
and more and more agents are realising that they really have to go the extra mile to win that trust. So how to beat the competition and
become the agent of your community? The answer is to simply support the community in any possible way. Of course, supporting a charity that is
also dear to your own heart will always be preferable as is the case with Debbie and Rekha Essex, Directors of Jeffersons based in North London. “We regularly support events at Chickenshed, an inclusive north London theatre company that offers places for everyone (regardless if they have a disability or not)”. Debbie’s three daughters attend the classes and perform in the shows and Debbie recently did a skydive on behalf of the charity, “Supporting Chickenshed is something that we are very proud of but it also enables us as a business to tangibly demonstrate our commitment to this community,” says Debbie Essex. “We also support our children’s schools
by sponsoring their fundraising events such as the summer car boot sale and the Christmas fair and by promoting open days. These have been a great branding success for our agency as the school makes sure we have 40 Jeffersons’ boards outside local properties. Raising brand awareness locally has been especially important as we moved offices three years ago and are really keen to establish ourselves as the go-to agent with the local community.” Sandfords is one of the major forces in
property in Marylebone and Regent’s Park and has been supporting events in the local area for many years. One of the most high profile is the Marylebone Summer Fayre, organised and run by the Howard de Walden Estate. This year the Estate asked Sandfords to run the tombola stall and thanks to the organisation of Sandfords and the generosity of many Marylebone Village retailers, they were able to offer some fantastic prizes and raise a record sum of money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. “It was a privilege to be asked to run the
Magic Moments was established by Spicerhaart to raise funds to support the work of hospices.
40 NOVEMBER 2011 PROPERTYdrum
tombola and we were delighted to be able to raise so much money for the Teenage Cancer Trust,” said Andrew Ellinas, Director of Sandfords. “We believe local estate agents should really know their community and this was a great exercise in us all working together, demonstrating what can be done when we all join forces. We had stilt walkers who strode up and down the High Street giving away balloons and sweets and our brand name was visible for all to see. Raising so much money also gave Sandfords’ staff a sense of immense satisfaction; great for team bonding.” Getting stuck in and doing a hard day’s
graft is the way Cluttons like to get involved. Ian Alexander, a partner from the Maidstone office works with the Kent Autistic Trust, which provides day care for autistic adults. It recently had an open day
With our ‘haart in the
community’ programme, each branch is given a special budget.’
and Cluttons helped with gardening and general handyman duties before the launch. The outside space was full of weeds so a large group of Cluttons employees tackled it together – including staff from other offices. “As well as helping to engage with the community and local people, the work gave me and my colleagues a real sense of satisfaction and involved everyone from juniors to partners across a range off offices,” said Alexander.
Support and SatiSfaction Giving back to the community is something that Mark Pollack, Director at Aston Chase feels very strongly about. Consequently, the agents are corporate patrons of Norwood, a charity dedicated to supporting children and adults with learning disabilities. Several members of staff participate in the annual Norwood international cycle challenges and Pollack runs several fund raising events for the charity including a Property Lunch. Other charities that Aston Chase have
been involved with include: ‘A Perfect Day Street Festival’ which raises funds for the Swiss Cottage Special Needs School, Care 4 Kids ‘It’s A Knockout’ in aid of One Family UK, Rays of Sunshine Children’s Charity that is dedicated to providing wishes for children living with serious or life threatening illness. “Suffice to say there
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