I’m not quite sure what it was that led to the emergence of the high end independent agent, especially in central London. For years, unless you were professionally accredited i.e. a RICS or ISVA member, you wouldn’t even have been considered as a partner of a firm, and in those days most were partnerships. When you’re starting a new business, or trying to compete in the industry you work in, you can do one of two things – have an idea no one else has or do the same thing, but just do it better. In the early 80s the spirit of Maggie Thatcher spurred many an entrepreneur to do just that, and if they wanted to staff their agencies they didn’t have far to look. Old-fashioned unmistakably upright companies expected the likes of me to stay with them for life. But that age-old code was breaking down and having proved I could sell, some of these new go ahead outfits came knocking – and it wasn’t difficult for them to look attractive.
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