Page 8 - Antler from Butler & Stag

Q&A COMPANY FOCUS
A man with a plan
Neil Leahy, co-founder of Butler & Stag, on how integrity, honesty and progressiveness are the three cornerstones on which the company has been built.
First off Neil, can you
tell us a bit about your background, what you did prior to Butler & Stag?
After leaving school I spent three years in the city, working for an investment bank. Being stuck behind a desk for long hours wasn’t quite what I hoped it would be, so when my now business partner (Michael Woolley) told me how well he was doing as an estate agent, my mind was made up. I started working for an independent agent in Hackney, East London, joining Michael in 2001 and progressing quickly up the company ladder to run my own office in Stratford by the age of 24. From here I realised that being a Manager wasn’t enough and I wanted to own my own agency.
So how did Butler & Stag come about?
Michael and I were both running successful offices for the same firm and we realised that our stock was high but progression was limited as the company was headed by four directors. We also felt that a fresh approach was needed in the property market, a
more customer-focus
driven agency who put
their clients’ best
interests before the fee.
Our first offices opened
in 2012 and the rest, as
they say, is history.
What was/is Butler & Stag’s point of difference from other Estate Agents?
Our three biggest assets are our staff, brand and marketing. We invest heavily in staff training and marketing, both of which provide positive customer experiences. Our brand is seen as established and traditional, we don’t pigeonhole ourselves at either end of the market and welcome all business.
Our staff are knowledgeable and likeable, which is important, as our industry carries a stigma of greedy agents in it for themselves. We work hard to change the stereotype and the good people that we are generally shines through.
As joint founders and directors, do you and Michael bring different qualities to the business?
Michael and I are very close, we have known each other since we were four and six years old, first meeting at Chingford Rugby Club. We share that same ethos of continuing to grow the company and complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
How has Butler & Stag evolved over the years?
We started as a London agency in 2012, and at the time our vision was to grow the brand from East to West London. But things can happen outside of your control in terms of market activity driven by government-lead changes, so we had to be adaptable and do what was best to secure the company’s long-term future. Shortly after the opening of our second office in Bow in 2015, the London market began to slow down and we spotted a gap in the market in West Essex. Our West Essex office was opened in 2017.
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