An independent firm has backed the government aim to have mandatory qualifications for agents – and it claims it’s already ahead of the curve.

Matt Nicol, managing director of Nicol & Co., says: “We have several qualified staff and an extensive training programme for others to work towards relevant industry qualifications.

“Service standards in the industry range far and wide. We feel the bar needs to be raised and that’s why we are already being proactive with our training.”

The company has 22 customer-facing lettings and sales staff, of which 13 have an industry qualification.

Four have the more traditional Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) or Member of the National Association of Estate Agents (MNAEA) qualifications.

The remaining nine have at least CePAP (Certificate in Property Advice and Practice).

The firm says its remaining nine staff who are not currently qualified are all signed up and working towards accreditation, and receive personal development time within working hours to work though the modules which leads to a test at the end.

Nicol himself has been a guest of the Elite Retreat networking seminar in Florida since founding the business in 2009.