Making his vision of property in the North East a reality, Stuart Nickloes, Managing Director of Bricks & Mortar, has transformed an already well-established Letting Agency to an Estate Agency ahead of its time.
With an eclectic, bespoke premises operating from 140 New Bridge Street intermixed with its digital platform, the extensive services on offer mean they’re not just your typical Estate Agent.
Whilst Bricks & Mortar may appear to be a newcomer on the property scene in Newcastle, it’s actually far from it.
Established back in 2003, the company started out as ‘letslivehere.’ Even back then, they were an agent unlike anyone else. With a vibrant brand, quirky marketing and a portfolio of quality properties, Newcastle’s student market had a game changer in town.
Subsequently, landlords, developers and prospective tenants took note and the company went from strength to strength to become one of the leaders in the Newcastle student market.
“We were incredibly proud in how far ‘the company progressed over the years.” Stuart said.
“One of our biggest achievements was being awarded Best Agent, Newcastle 2018, at the International Property Awards.”
Gaining this prestigious award didn’t make ‘letslivehere’ stop there as the makings of Bricks & Mortar were already set in motion 18 months ago, well before the upcoming Tenant Fee Ban and the significant changes in lettings regulations which will be introduced later this year.
“As we know, there is a huge shake-up with the lettings side of our industry on the horizon but even with sales and the uncertainty around the future of sales due to Brexit, we wanted to look to the future of property” said Stuart.
“Whilst ‘letslivehere’ had excelled in its field of lettings, it seemed only fitting to develop an all-encompassing, fresh brand that included all of the services that we can offer. With the rise of the ‘online estate agent’ in recent years we wanted to ensure we were one step ahead in our ability to offer our clients a one-stop shop for their property needs, without removing our High Street branch.”
The company had three choices; to simply be like every agent out there offering standard sales, lettings and property management which would be straight forward but expected; to create a solely online model mirroring the likes of Yopa and Emoov, or do something completely unexpected- a complete re-brand and an amalgamation of the two. And that’s exactly what they did.
“I saw a gap in the market in the North for our concept,” Stuart commented. “Our hybrid model enables the traditional offerings of traditional Estate Agents
and then some.” So what do Bricks & Mortar offer?
Naturally, they do offer sales, lettings and management like your traditional agent but they also offer a whole host of services to meet any clients’ needs.
Their home staging and refurbishment services have enabled landlords and vendors aplenty in finding tenants and buyers quickly. From small apartment renovations to large-scale developments, their property refurbishment division is no small deal.
With a team of highly skilled and qualified individuals, their consultancy department can advise on how to maximise your investment, where the best areas are for rental yields to working alongside architects from the ground up in planning new developments. Additionally, with their Bricks & Mortar Protect division landlords and tenants get peace of mind through insurance and rent protection policies, including rent guarantee for added security.
“In a time when the Government seems to be vilifying agents and landlords, Bricks & Mortar welcome a lot of these to help regulate our industry. We take great pride in our operation and want to deliver the best possible service to our clients. Agents like ourselves who can adapt and look to the future can look upon these changes as being positive and grow with them despite the sense of foreboding from the concerned agents out there,” Stuart concluded.
For more information, visit www.bricksandmortargroup.co.uk or call 0191 230 5577
