An agent is planning to expand via ‘hubs’ rather than more branches and is eventually hoping to take his business and brand nationwide.
Benjamin Stevens currently has two offices in Edgware, London, and Bushey, Hertfordshire.
It was co-founded 15 years ago by Steven Wayne when he was just 22.
Wayne said: “There are about 25 of us in the business, and we’re successful – 10% ahead of last year.
“So, the feeling was, what next? Yes, we could open up another office, but it’s expensive. You need to open with three members of staff, and then there are the overheads plus the costs of the portals.
“In north-west London, you see some well known agency names with branches everywhere. I didn’t want to go that route.
“Instead, I decided to expand via hubs covering larger territories. I have already got three people working out of our Edgware office, each servicing areas that we didn’t cover before – and it’s working very well.
“We’re now going to be opening a hub in Luton. We will have someone there from November 1, starting to build the business.
“We have first floor offices in the shopping mall, and will be physically moving into them on December 1.”
Wayne believes that each hub outside London could cover a radius of at least ten miles, and in London six to eight miles.
He is also using the hub concept to offer agents a different style of career.
“We are looking to give people the opportunity to build their own business within our brand. They will have the opportunity to be a business partner and go 50:50 on earnings. Or they could choose to be salaried at first, and when they have built up a pipeline of business, could then convert.”
Wayne said he is looking for entrepreneurs who are unafraid of working hard at the basics – including hitting phones and winning instructions.
Too many seniors in estate agency, he says, have lost sight of the basics and only carry out valuations.
Eventually, Wayne would like to set up some 50 hubs, all with the Benjamin Stevens brand.
“However, we are going to do it bit by bit, one hub at a time, and evaluate how each is going. We’re not going to over-expand.
“The key will be to ensure that each hub is successful and profitable in its own right before going on to the next.
“If we have three or four hubs by this time next year, I’ll judge it a success.”
He says that “it is neither here nor there” if the hubs are on or off the high street: “What is important will be getting the right people to join.
“I do, genuinely, believe that as the industry evolves, this is going to be the future of estate agency.”
Could this become a national brand via hubs?
Can someone enlighten me, is a hub just an office that the public can’t visit, or is it a posh, modern, hip word for bedroom?
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It is a 1970’s master builder who in the 1980’s began calling themselves ‘A Developer’ !
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This isn’t new news and the internet helps with the concept for obvious reasons. Foxtons tried it outside London with area specialists in the Guildford office and there was another that folded very quickly. Savills expanded on a similar principal, with a main hub office with all disciplines and senior management team and smaller sales only offices normally within 10 miles. .house are doing the same thing, it can work, but really boils down to the individuals and enables a big geography to be covered quickly. However it is the brains trust and quality of sales team that matters…you need thoroughbreds not donkeys!
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Don’t tell Reicht move or they’ll charge you for a branch.
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Children want to be Batman. Their parents want to be Bruce Wayne.
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Or Michael Bruce
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What does is matter if it’s on the high Street or not?? It’s still a branch whichever way you describe it.
Will these fools who think they can predict the future market and reinvent estate agency just stop it and concentrate on delivering the quality service they’re there to deliver then the market and industry as a whole would be in a far better state and the consumer would have nothing to complain about.
No it is not the future of agency.
Next….
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How about adding a walk in mobile estate agency van into that mix, no rates, no rent.
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A motor home or caravan for the future of agency ? Bring the agency to the client. Park up in town centre car parks. Leave a branded caravan in a car park while you do your valuation/viewing thing – this has got me thinking.
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Its got me thinking too, the knight rider truck……lol
Eat, sleep and work in your truck.
No Rent, No Mortgage, No Rates.
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Breaking News… bloke setting up hubs says hubs are the future….
Agree that high street offices aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but in my experience some clients like to come to the office to discuss the marketing of their property, or maybe talk about a difficult sale, but with this set up their nearest hub might be 10+ miles away.
Covering an area that large you are basically pbricks but with a higher fee.
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if it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck……its a …..
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Getting a bit of a toasting for wanting to push on isn’t he?
The brand isn’t unique enough in my view, but what do I know? A nice idea though.
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I have been saying this for a long time, the agent will remain but the high-street shopfront is excessively costly in todays climate.
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