For those who watched the TV series about tenants on benefits, the Castledene Group stood out as a beacon.
Its staff – part social workers, part agents – were both inspirational and utterly practical in their day to day dealings with tenants who are often demanding and needy, but always treated with care and respect.
Of course, that is only one part of the business of the sales and lettings firm based in the north-east, which was started by John Paul in his back bedroom in 2008.
It has gone on to win Best Letting Agent in the UK, Best Letting Agent in the North four times in the last five years, along with national awards for training, development and property management. It is also thought to be the only estate agent in the UK to be awarded Investors in People gold status.
The firm currently has seven offices and is expanding.
Its founder maintains he has little to do with the day to day running of the company, thanks to the systems he has set up.
If you want to take inspiration, then John Paul has now written a book on how all this has been achieved, called From Stress to Success: How to build a successful business that operates without you.
You wouldn’t think that what is essentially a textbook on systemising an estate agency would be that successful. But you’d be wrong.
Yesterday, after peaking in 11th place, it was at number 12 in the Amazon business book charts (three places ahead of Donald Trump) and had attracted 32 glowing five-star customer reviews.
However, while John Paul says he does not run Castledene on a day to day basis, he is still very much in charge of the group’s further expansion.
It has just bought Gordon Lamb Estate Agents, in partnership with a private equity provider.
Founder Gordon Lamb had been selling homes in Washington for over 35 years, and ran his company for 25 years alongside his wife Hazel.
John Paul said that he anticipates this to be the first of many acquisitions in the region, with Castledene looking to ‘buy and build’ to add to its network.
Details of the book are here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stress-Success-successful-business-operates/dp/1781332479/ref=zg_bs_268294_12?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JE1E34FD8N89GVKP41E3
I’ve met John many times and in 2012 had the pleasure of spending a day at his offices.
It was a watershed day for me because John’s set up gave us the inspiration to set up our lettings business which we later re-branded EweMove.
His method is simple. Set goals, implement, systemise and get on board a great team who are trained to the highest standards.
He deserves all his success.
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Why did he let a rat into his business to steal ideas?
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WELL, WELL, Mr Ackroyd – fancy seeing you here!
How’s ‘retirement’ shaping up?
Are you surviving on the royalties the sheepsh@99ers must be paying to still using your names and faces on the website?
;o)
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