One of the country’s best-regarded lettings agencies celebrates its 50th birthday today.

The Oxford-based Finders Keepers was founded in 1972, starting out as an acquisition company before focusing on property letting and management. 

Over the decades it has grown from one office in that city to eight offices across Oxfordshire and over 100 team members. 

In this time, it has added property renovation and furnishing to its portfolio of services and, more recently, sales. 

The agency – which in 2016 was acquired by the ill-fated Countrywide management, now in turn subsumed by Connells – says it’s worked to three founding principles over its half century in business.

These are to aim to deliver the most professional service possible; offer quality tenants quality properties, owned by quality landlords; and to act with integrity in order to build long-term relationships. 

Managing director Paul Rushworth says: “Our founding principles remain unchanged and feed in to our values of ‘expert’, ‘dynamic’ and ‘scrupulous’. We understand that property is about people, and we are delighted not only that we have such long standing relationships with clients, but that our team members stay with us for so long. 

“This means that we retain the knowledge, experience and expertise, which allows us to continue to offer the best service to our clients, and they can trust us to manage their property as though it were our own. I’m delighted that this service led to us winning Feefo’s Platinum Trusted Service in 2022.” 

Finders Keepers also has a strong focus on working with local communities and has committed to raising £50,000 this year for three local charities.