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Richard Sayer meets bdaily, discussing his experience in Rook Matthews Sayer

“I’d describe my role as part estate agent, part social worker,” says Richard Sayer, one of the three founders of estate agent Rook Matthews Sayer

If Richard’s attitude is anything to go by, the success of the business, which has 17 branches in the region, is down to the personal touch provided to customers. “We’re dealing with people under stress – moving up or down the property ladder, death, divorce…it’s so important to make sure they are ok,” he said.

Richard has spent the whole of his career working in the North East after graduating from Newcastle University with a degree in General Practice Surveying in 1981. After working for Addison Hudson and the Halifax, he and former classmate Clive Rook joined forces with Rod Matthews to form the firm in 1990. Over 20 years later, the business has gone from strength to strength.

“We’re a really broad based practice here. We do building surveys and valuations, and as well as this I’m a RICS spokesman for the North East and an agent advisor for the Bank of England so we’re very busy!” Richard said.

Inevitably I asked him about house prices, a topic which has been heavily debated over the past few years. However, he is far more optimistic than I expected.

“There was a big crash in 2007 when prices dropped by around 15–20 percent, but broadly speaking, prices have been flat,” he said. “New instructions are now selling for reasonable prices, which is a positive move for the industry, but it’s important to accept that it’s not going to be a massive recovery.”

“The media emphasise bad news in our sector, when really we should have seen a lot more good news stories over the past few years.”

Another problem blighting the industry is the lack of good graduate skills. “Ours was a favoured industry five years ago, but because of bad media coverage, many no longer see it as a ticket to stardom.

“It’s very concerning, as when we’re interviewing we are not overwhelmed with good quality entering the industry.”

Currently business is looking positive for Rook Matthews Sayer: “We have good steady branches which fulfil our high expectations. Business should have tailed off over the summer, but at the moment several of our branches are doing really well.

“However, the one thing you can rely on in the property industry is its unpredictability!”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .