Husband-and-wife franchisees snap up second office

The second largest resale in Belvoir’s history has taken place with the husband and wife behind the Southampton franchise buying Belvoir Basingstoke following the retirement of its previous owners.

“Belvoir has over 170 offices in the network, and Basingstoke has consistently been number one in the rankings, as well as winning multiple industry awards in recognition of outstanding performance in sales and lettings” says Belvoir Group CEO Dorian Gonsalves.  

“When the previous owners Mike Jones and Andrew Lowery decided to retire they sold the business to Brian and Loretto Linehan from Belvoir Southampton, who have been with Belvoir for ten years and are very successful business owners with huge integrity. 

“Over the years Brian and Loretto have consistently demonstrated their commitment to growing and developing Belvoir Southampton, whilst also being determined to provide the very best in customer service to their clients. Belvoir Southampton was started as a cold start, and it is incredible to think that a decade later this husband-and-wife team are now operating two businesses with a combined turnover of over £1.8m.”

Brian Linehan says:“ Belvoir Basingstoke is a large and very successful estate and lettings agency, with a great reputation in the local area. From our point of view, it also has the advantage of having been operated and audited to the same exacting standards as Belvoir Southampton. 

“We had a great relationship with Mike and Andrew and always admired their business style and ethos. We liked the fact that they didn’t cut corners and they have a fantastic management team in place. Belvoir’s Acquisition and Franchise Support teams at Central Office did a great deal of work to help make the resale process as smooth as possible and we are very grateful for all their help. 

“With this resale we have taken on about 530 properties, and last year when the sales market was extremely buoyant Belvoir Basingstoke sold about 240 to 250 houses. Ultimately, Loretto and I want to use our experience and expertise to move Belvoir Basingstoke on to the next level. There has been a lot of buy in from the existing team who are all staying with us, and this will provide excellent continuity for clients.”