Goodfellows
GOODFELLOWS has grown from a single estate agency office opened in 1990, to a network of seven closely linked branches established as one of Surrey’s premier estate agency and financial services groups. The company remains independently owned and all of the partners play an active role in the day-to-day running of the company, ensuring continuity of the service ethos which has been the bedrock of swift expansion.
"Estate agency’s public image as an industry has long since needed significant improvement," says partner Steve Goodfellow. "We have always sought to provide added value to the house selling and letting process by tackling head-on the common objections often expressed about estate agents by the public. Namely presentation, regular updates on transactions, feedback on the results of viewing appointments and marketing activity, returning phone calls promptly and general attitude to service provision."
The company was launched during one of the worst recessions on record, but rapidly emerged as a market leader whenever a new branch was opened.
In 1993, when many of our competitors were downsizing or closing completely, Goodfellows was busy establishing branches in Morden, Mitcham and Sutton. Since then a thriving Lettings and Management Division has emerged to provide the same level of service to the rental sector; and a dedicated Financial Services branch has been set up to help clients with mortgages and financial planning.
The opening of the fourth sales branch in the heart of Carshalton Beeches, in 1994 has proved our formula works equally well for prestigious properties; this has been further supported by the opening of our Cheam Village office in 1998. Due to the extraordinary success of our Mitcham branch, an additional office was opened nearby, to cover the Streatham Vale and Norbury areas.
Says partner Christopher Lines,"The successful expansion has been based primarily on finding, training and motivating the right people, as there is no substitute for competent personal contact at what can be a stressful time when moving home."
Recently the company has installed new presentation and business systems; using computers, digital cameras, colour printers and the Internet to further improve the service.
Goodfellows’ record of success is considerable, but nothing is taken for granted. We value the views of all our clients and endeavour to improve our standards based upon client feedback.