What were you doing 30 years ago?

Someone who certainly was around thouh then, is a certain ginger person named Tim Scott who together with his sidekick Mike Stapleton decided that they would open their own estate agents.  Yes, Scott & Stapleton is 30 years old this month!

As you can probably imagine there are plenty of festivities planned but it is a good chance to look back and realise just how far we have come.   

Tim had been working for local estate agents Dedmans for a few years but decided that he could do it better himself, or more likely' didn’t like being told what to do so opened a small office in Rectory Grove, Leigh with Mike and their trusty, long suffering, secretary Sheena.  

To most normal people who weren’t born in the 90’s or even later, 30 years doesn’t seem that long ago but a huge amount has changed in the property market since then. At the time there were very few estate agents in the town, buying a property to rent it out was unheard of and arranging a mortgage meant a scary meeting with the bank manager who would turn you down if he didn’t like the look of you.  

House prices were a little different to say the least. A 3 bedroom semi detached house on the Marine Estate would set you back £40,000 and it would not be unusual to sell flats for under £10,000. By hook or by crook and with a few scrapes along the way and lots of scandalous stories that I couldn’t possibly share with the public they did okay and held their own against the other more established and increasingly dated agents in the town.  

One thing you can say about the pair of them, still to this day, is that they can sniff out a deal and they managed to carve a bit of a niche for themselves being the new kids on the block what with bein a bit less stuffy than the old school agents that were in the town at the time.  

It soon became apparent that they were going to have to expand and in their wisdom they decided to employ Simone Giles just a mere 22 years ago. Try as he might Tim hasn’t been able to shake her off and she is still with him. Described by some, but never by Tim as his right hand woman, Simone has been invaluable to ensure that Scott & Stapleton have enjoyed such longevity in an ever increasingly competitive market place and to allow Tim to continue to look forward with new technologies, opportunities within the housing market and ways to stay one step ahead of the competition.  

Over the past 30 years Tim has ridden the wave of the sometimes turbulent property market. Surviving 2 property crashes, interest rates as high as 15%, a spate of house repossessions, various tax changes, government legislation,  and industry reforms. No wonder he has very little hair!

In 2000 Mike wanted to try his hand at other things so Tim took over the business and eventually rewarded Simone with a well deserved equity share.  Together they have seen various staff changes and 2 office moves. The latest (and last!) to our fabulous open plan office in the heart of the Broadway that has been a breath of fresh air to house buyers or renters in Leigh. Gone are the traditional desks with scary or dodgy looking estate agents in their shiny suits. Tim’s foresight has seen a more approachable and less formal office environment where people can pop in without feeling pressurised and chat about their property needs or just what is going on in the local housing market.   

Scott & Stapleton is now unrecognisable from its first incarnation 30 years ago. We now employ 15 people, are in the top 3 of the biggest and busiest sales agents in the town, are statistically and consistently the biggest letting agent, have a huge rental management portfolio of about 700 properties, have employed handymen, electricians & plumbers and have a hugely successful and expanding block management department as well as a lease enfranchisement department.  

Tim is always bringing new technologies to the table with on-line reporting of issues with management properties, e-signed tenancy agreements ensuring speedy turn arounds for new tenants and landlords and has fully embraced social media with a hugely popular Facebook page with a great blend of properties and local interest together with instagram showing exactly what we get up to in the office (maybe not all of it).  

It is going to be an exciting few months celebrating our birthday, but what is more exciting is seeing what will happen in the next 30 years and where Scott & Stapleton might be!

This article is by Rob at Scott & Stapleton 
Tel: 01702 471155 
Email: rob@scottandstapleton.co.uk

To read all of Rob's previous property blogs, please click the link here