Lettings franchisee is driven by ambition
WHEN Terry Lucking walked away from a lifetime in the fruit and vegetable industry he had no idea what he was going to do next.
WHEN Terry Lucking walked away from a lifetime in the fruit and vegetable industry he had no idea what he was going to do next.For months the former managing director of a major fresh produce supplier indulged himself in his favourite pastime – horse riding – while he considered his future career options.
He said: "I knew that whatever I did I wanted to be in control.
"I didn't want to be in a position where I had just one major customer who could pick up the phone and give me a sleepless night."
Mr Lucking (49) was the managing director of a vegetable growing producer supplying a major supermarket chain. But it was an industry that was always under intense pressure from the major retailers, and where the number of companies involved was shrinking as smaller ones were bought up by larger firms.
He said: "I wanted something that needed people and personality, and in an industry that was growing not shrinking.
"I wanted to be involved in a company that was fighting to develop not to just survive."
So, after a visit to a franchise exhibition, Mr Lucking spent some time researching a number of alternatives.
He said: "I could see the lettings industry was growing. I had an interview with the franchisor, or rather I interviewed the franchisor, as I wanted to make sure that he would allow me to develop my ideas."
And in June 1999, Mr Lucking bought a franchise of the lettings specialist, Belvoir and set up in Lincoln Road, Peterborough.
He now has a staff of 16 and a portfolio of some 600 properties, of which about two per cent are owned by Belvoir. For the rest Belvoir acts as the agent, letting the property and managing the relationship with the tenant on behalf of the home owner.
Mr Lucking is also planning a rapid growth of his business with the goal of opening new offices. By the middle of next year he hopes to have offices in Corby and Nottingham, at which point Peterborough will become the head office for the growing empire.
He said: "After that, I aim to open two more offices every year – I want to create a super-franchise."
It is his ambition and determination to succeed that secured Mr Lucking the Gold Winner award in the 2007 British Franchise Association Franchisee of the Year Awards.
After the award presentation, head of franchising for the HSBC Bank Cathryn Hayes said: "Judging these awards is always a difficult task, but we felt that Terry showed determination and commitment to building a successful business.
"This is a franchisee which truly understands that without the customer, there is no business. It's a strategy that has seen a whole raft of innovation and inspired initiatives flow into the business. Indeed, so successful have these been that many of Terry's ground- breaking ideas have, quite rightly, been adopted through the Belvoir network."
And Mr Lucking is confident there is plenty of room to grow the business.
He said the flexible nature of modern life would be the driving force for the rented property sector.
He said: "People are driven by the need for instant gratification. For instance, youngsters have to buy the latest mobile phones or the lastest brand of footwear. Employees no longer stay with the same company for decades. Instead, it is seen as detrimental if someone hasn’t moved every couple of years, and they are not only expected to have moved within the company but to have moved around the company. So there is a need for flexibility in employment and spending for which renting a home is well suited.
“Peterborough has a very buoyant rental market, which is remarkable because it is not a university town. But I think low pay, a young population and a transient lifestyle means there are a lot of people who prefer to rent rather than to buy a home.”
He continued: “The great thing about being part of a franchise is that you are part of a network of other people in the same industry with whom you can exchange ideas and experiences.
“There is also backing for ideas. For instance, I have come up with an idea for a website for studios and rooms, called 24-7lettings.com, that allows people to view the property from all angles online and to make an application and payment and then to pop along to the office the next day to pick up the keys. It has taken about 10,000 to develop, and will be trialed in Peterborough before being rolled out to the rest of the country.
“But it is a development that if I had been a sole trader I would not have had the funds to develop the idea.”
For the future, Mr Lucking is looking towards helping to bring in regulation of the lettings industry. Although there are about 40 Acts of Parliament dictating the rights of landlords and tenants, there are no rules on who can and cannot become a landlord.
Mr Lucking said: “At the moment anyone can wake up in the morning and decide they want to become a lettings agent – there is no regulation about who can set up and the condition of the property. We really need to put that right.”
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Tuesday 16 March 2010
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