Holiday Issue 2019

22 Apr19314 Kingston Berkeley : A New Movement in Estate Agency There’s a pattern emerging in the real estate sector – a trend that looks set to disrupt and break paradigms. Traditional brick and mortar establishments are going out of fashion, and being replaced by more modern establishments, who embrace the customer-centric ethos of the past but are eager to be future-proof, adaptable and malleable. One of these new firms is Kingston Berkeley. Despite only launching three years ago, they have quickly made their mark and impressed through an ability to provide comprehensive, expert support to residential and commercial clients alike, as Sean explains further. “Our services offered include residential and commercial sales, lettings and management. We also cover property souring, refurbishment, new homes, online auctions and land. Kingston Berkeley work with a broad variety of clients from professional and accidental landlords, corporate agencies and public bodies. Setup in 2016, Kingston Berkeley is a relatively young agency, but we have proven ourselves to be a market leader in this time period and strive to exceed expectations in all that we do. “More importantly, we believe in offering an honest one to one service. We believe in building rapport and relationships with our clients to ensure their interest is at the very forefront of what we do.” Like many of their peers, this new wave of estate agent holds a key focus on talent, with each member of the team specifically selected to enhance the overall offerings of the firm. Kingston Berkeley is certainly no different in this regard, with extra care taken to ensure that the company’s core values are held by everyone. “Kingston Berkeley believe the key to a successful business is the people behind it, that is why we only employ the best in their field, our employees are driven from the same ethos the business was established and we therefore work by the Kingston Berkeley charter as set out in 2016.” This very team will be crucial as Kingston Berkeley move forwards further into 2019. For many industries – not just real estate – Brexit Established in 2016, Kingston Berkeley are estate agents based in Belfast offering services throughout Northern Ireland. After their recent success as the ‘Leading Residential Estate Agents in Belfast’ in the 2019 UK Property Awards, we spoke with the firm’s Sean Rafferty to find out more about their offerings and expertise. remains a unknown challenge, with preparation almost impossible to implement. “We feel that Brexit is causing a lot of uncertainty, we have seen a number of sales fallen through as buyers are cornered will the final outcome of Brexit have a negative impact on property prices or will it drive interest rates up.” As Sean continues, it is made clear that Kingston Berkeley is a hybrid firm of sorts, epitomising the customer service of brick and mortar goliaths alongside more contemporary elements. Yet, they are aware of the limitation of a truly online ‘storefront’ and want to avoid the common pitfalls of their competitors. “Online estate agency is an ongoing trend at present as well as fixed fee packages. This is not a trend we want to replicate as we feel every property needs to be accessed and a package created to ensure it is marketed to its fullest potential and the best price is achieved for our vendors. We feel an online service with call centres and no direct point of contact loses the personal touch a dedicated high street agent offers.” By all regards, Kingston Berkeley’s methodology has paid off, with exceptional growth over the last couple of years acting as testament to the strength of their approach, as Sean concludes. “Kingston Berkeley is consistently growing since establishing in 2016, we are always on the lookout for experienced individuals to join our team, we have a number of changes and plans for the next year ahead and are excited to see these unfold.” Company: Kingston Berkeley Name: Sean Rafferty Address: 21 Donegall Road, Belfast, BT12 5JJ, United Kingdom Website: www.kingston-berkeley.com Telephone: +44 0330 330 9439