Vogue Estate Agents moves from high-street to Regus centre
Hull-based Vogue Estate Agents has moved from a high-street location to the Regus centre at Norwich House, following a review into completed sales via walk-ins that showed only one property was sold this way in the last few months. Its owner said the move has allowed the company to save money and work smarter, benefiting both buyers and sellers.

Does your business really need to be in the hight street?

As any estate agent knows, the three most important aspects of any property decision are location, location, location. Hull-based Vogue Estate Agents recently proved that this philosophy is just as important for the agency as it is for the buyer.

Up until January this year, Vogue occupied a High Street premises. For owner Nick Beach, the site was no longer adding up, particularly given that many enquiries were coming in via the internet.

Nick Comments: "Traditionally, estate agents have occupied high street premises with property details displayed in the window. But we reviewed our operation and looked into the number of people who physically came to our shop to buy. The answer was pretty revealing - just one person had bought this way in the past few months. The majority of our customers identified properties of interest online and then met us at the property for a viewing rather than coming to the agency.

"We still felt that having a physical base was important rather than operating purely online. Experience tells us that buyers still like to meet those who are responsible for the sale. So, we decided on a hybrid site - a mixture of internet selling, and a base to meet and discuss."

Now, Vogue Estate Agents operates from the Regus centre at Norwich House, Savile Street - a flexible, managed workspace that can be adapted to suit the needs of the occupier.

"The move to the Regus space has allowed us to totally re-think our operation, " states Nick. "We are now just moments away from the train station, so we attract potential buyers from further afield as well as our local clients.

"We style ourselves as a bespoke, hybrid agency - we have a strong internet presence but retain the office space necessary for discussions. We are able to modify the space as we see fit and vendors are pleasantly surprised by the professionalism of the environment.

"Put simply, the move away from the High St to a more flexible workspace has enabled us to save money and work smarter. We are saving around £15k per year by not occupying a High St premises, and we are re-investing this saving into the business - increasing our marketing and generally raising awareness of the brand.

"Because our overheads are lower we can operate with a much more streamlined portfolio of properties, giving each buyer and seller the level of care and attention that they should expect when dealing with such a big lifestyle decision.

"With the support of Regus we feel perfectly positioned for the future, knowing that we can save money and adapt our space to suit our developing business pattern. We've definitely made the right move."