CASE STUDY Starting from scratch as Winkworth

“Winkworth offered us an effective route to market with a tried and tested brand whose backing enabled us to hit the ground running...”

Jon Hallett Ltd was one of Readings leading letting agencies with a managed portfolio of almost 400 properties and over 500 clients. The business was sold in August 2011 with the clients moving too as part of the acquisition. Many of these clients retained a strong relationship with Jon (as well as Michael who ran the front end of Jon’s business between 2002 and 2008) and were redeemed into the Winkworth Reading portfolio.

James offers estate agency experience of nearly 20 years, starting his career with GA property services. In 2001 he joined Atlantis Property services and was instrumental in establishing them as one of the most successful letting agencies in Reading. During his time in agency he has gained long standing and prosperous relationships with many local companies and relocation agencies.

The business is now owned and run by Micheal and James under the business name Foldaway Estates Limited

With many Reading residents regularly commuting to the Capital for work and more moving out into the Thames valley, we have leant on Winkworth’s strong London connection. Additionally, knowing that Reading offers excellent returns for investors and with many overseas investors already prominent in the market, we have utilised Winkworth’s international department, which has helped us to win instructions and increase our access to broader markets.

Winkworth offered us an effective route to market with a tried and tested brand whose backing enabled us to hit the ground running. There was no other agency like Winkworth in the town which we knew would give us the opportunity to break into the middle-to-high end markets and be well placed to command higher fees than a new start up or an agency with a less well established brand.

We came to Winkworth with over 50 years' combined agency experience, much of it in Reading and the surrounding areas. With our drive, local knowledge and commitment to good service we quickly gained new business making us the go-to people in the local market. Together Winkworth and Winkworth Reading formed a strong partnership enabling the business to become the leading residential agent in town. At Winkworth Reading we’re confident that we have the best knowledge of the local area and now with the connection to London with the arrival of Crossrail we're sure that the Winkworth brand was a perfect fit for us. We are always committed to providing the best possible service to our clients.