Rugby and cooking legend Phil Vickery MBE, has joined market-leading lettings agency franchise, SureLet Ltd as a Director.
After a successful career in rugby, starting his own clothing range, Raging Bull and winning the coveted 2011 Celebrity MasterChef title, Phil is now ready for a new challenge.
Phil said: “I’ve been looking for my next long-term challenge and when the opportunity to become a director for such a fresh vibrant company came about I jumped at it.
“I’ve been aware of SureLet for a number of years now as I’m a close friend of the Managing Director, Colin Poole.
“I can hold my hands up and say I know nothing about the lettings industry, but I’m taking on this role looking to soak up the skills, experience and market-leading knowledge of the SureLet team and hopefully impart my skills in the business world into their model.”
SureLet Franchising was set up in 2003 and since then has had great success in the industry with around 24 franchises across the UK from as far South as Exeter and as far North as Manchester.
A Franchise Vision
Managing Director, Colin Poole, said: “Having Phil on board is the icing on the cake as far as I’m concerned and I’m looking forward with a refreshed sense of optimism to the future of this great company.
“We have a vision here at SureLet to become recognised nationally by our competitors and peers as a dominant and dynamic lettings franchise company and we’re going to achieve it.
“The reason people choose SureLet is because we offer something unique and more appealing compared to our competitors.
“Our franchise model is a fresh approach to the lettings agent market place as we have a dedicated team of property managers (the Property Management Centre) who will provide services including legal documents, references, credit checks and more as part of your package.
“This model allows the franchisees to spend more time networking and building their agency rather than doing the paperwork.”
Family Values, Professional Support
Phil is joining the team on a long-term basis and hoping to emulate the unrivalled success of the other aspects of his career.
Phil said: “I liken the work with SureLet to rugby, as in the lettings industry team spirit and family atmosphere go hand-in-hand with raw skill and a hard work ethic.
“In rugby, once you’re welcomed into the ‘family’ you have a support network that you can constantly call upon when you’re struggling. SureLet have this in abundance, the franchising team are on hand to help you and give you support every step of the way which to me is one of the most important aspects of their model.”
SureLet Franchise Manager, Dan Lewis, said: “Unlike most of our competitors, we don’t just set you up, train you and let you go, we go the extra mile to make sure your venture is a successful one.
“We do this in a number of ways with on-site training and on-going contact, whether you’re a Local, Central or Advance SureLet franchise.”
Tried and Tested
There are three levels of investment that SureLet offer; SureLet Local, SureLet Central and SureLet Advance. A SureLet Local package makes it possible to carry out all of your work from the comfort and ease of your own SureLet branded car. SureLet Central is an office based package and SureLet Advance is a new offering that allows the opportunity for a developing hub that is designed to oversee a number of SureLet Locals and Centrals over a longer period of time.
Dan Lewis said: “With the SureLet Local Franchise package, the simple solution to reducing expenses has been made possible due to our use of innovative cloud technology across the Franchise network.
“This piece of software provides a simple, time effective way of uploading a new property to let onto market leading property portals.
“Our industry research tells us that the majority of potential tenants now search the likes of Rightmove, Zoopla and Findaproperty, meaning that franchisees no longer need an expense-filled office presence to gain leads.”
This Local model is a lower level of investment and has been tried and tested for around a year now with great success.
The concept of a mobile letting agent really bodes well for the franchising market at the moment because now more than ever, keeping overheads down is a must.
Dan Pilkington, SureLet Local Franchisee for the Forest of Dean, said: “Before joining the SureLet family as a Local franchisee, I had a significant amount of experience in the property industry, but with the option to go mobile and utilise the technology that SureLet have, I realised the overheads didn’t have to be a factor and that lettings can be simple.
“Because of the Property Management Centre taking on the nitty gritty side of the process, I’m free to spread the word about my SureLet agency as much as possible by networking and relationship building.”
10 Years and Counting
This year marks SureLet’s 10 year anniversary. Back in 2002 Colin and Kelly Chick, who is now Director of the SureLet Property Management Centre, came up with a fresh concept for a lettings agency.
The vision, when SureLet was originally set up, was to bring a new, time-efficient Letting Agency style to the property rental marketplace.
Both Colin and Kelly wanted to create their new brand of lettings agency free from all the restrictions they had experienced in the previous 11 years spent in the industry.
Phil said: "With the franchising side of the SureLet family constantly growing and the Property Management Centre working like the well-oiled machine it was designed to be, it’s never been a better time to get involved."
SureLet will be attending the Landlord & Lettings Show on the 4th and 5th September, The Franchise Show on the 7th and 8th September, Franchise Opportunities Live, also on the 7th and 8th September and The National Franchise Exhibition on the 5th and 6th October – Phil Vickery will be attending some of these for you to talk to about his new business venture with SureLet.
For more information call: 01452 313313
Or email: info@surelet.co.uk Visit: www.SureLet.co.uk
After manning their stand for two days at the National Franchise Exhibition, the SureLet team were impressed with the footfall on both days of the show.
Over the last few days we have been trying out a new email campaign to a few select contacts. A few of you will now have a beter idea about what we're going to launch at the franchise exhibition.
