AN ESTABLISHED estate agency has relocated its Winchester branch to the High Street.
The new Hamptons Office, at numbers 51-52, is the only estate agents office on the pedestrianised part of Winchester High Street. It was previously on the upper High Street, near Cote Brasserie, where it had been for more than 25 years.
The new branch, in the shop previously occupied by Joules, allows Hamptons to be open on Saturdays and comes with a private upstairs meeting room for use by clients and staff.
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Branch director Gareth Anwyl said: “Whilst we’ve run a successful business from the old office, this opportunity which presented itself gave us an opportunity to raise our profile because now we’re the only agents on the pedestrianised part of the High Street. And with our windows, we’re hard to miss.”
The new location, which opened its doors on Friday, February 24, has already given the branch a boost to business. Senior head of lettings Sophie Winterson said: “We’ve already noticed a massive difference in the number of people coming in, talking to us. Even if it’s not an immediate move, it’s a future move, and there are a lot of people coming in on Saturdays to talk to us, which has made a massive difference already.
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“Also, from a perspective of both vendors and landlords that are selling, having their properties in the window will make a huge difference as well to them selling, with the number of people walking past and seeing them as well.”
She continued: “The benefit that we’ve got now is that we’re in such a prominent position. We’ve got the space, people can come in and have a chat with us. We’re open Saturdays, so if it works better for them to come in on a Saturday – come in and have a chat with us because we’re here now, it’s easy.”
Hamptons offers a range of services including land, new homes, mortgages, sales, lettings and property management. The company has 90 offices across the UK, with a branch in Winchester since the 1980s.
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