WHILE 2020 was a rollercoaster for local businesses, one Wokingham-based estate agency says it was one of the best years so far.
David Cliff Estate Agents went from closing its doors in March, to managing a “frenzied” property market in the summer, to being named as Right Move’s Top Selling Agent in the Wokingham area.
And company owner David Cliff says that when looking back on the past year, he realises his company has been “incredibly fortunate”.
“I remember watching when the prime minister put us all into lockdown and everything went a bit crazy,” said David Cliff, company owner.
“Actually, we were very lucky, but at the time I didn’t think that would be the case.”
Mr Cliff says that despite the property business closing for a large chunk of last year, from a business perspective 2020 was one of the company’s best years yet.
It has branches in Wokingham town centre, Binfeld, Mortimer and Park Lane in London.
David Cliff Estate Agents was also chosen to work with Wokingham Town Council on the Elms Field redevelopment, which will see a whole host of town houses, luxury penthouses and apartments built in the heart of Wokingham.
However, Mr Cliff says his business was not immune to the impacts of the pandemic and he and his team had to adapt quickly to communicating online, and swiftly introduced covid-safety measures to put staff and clients at ease.
“It was really, really tough,” he said.
“Nobody had dealt with this before, there was legislation coming out left, right and centre, and it was hard to know which rules to follow.”
From enforcing gloves and masks for staff and customers, to discussing with clients in outdoor spaces, Mr Cliff said it was important to make sure everybody felt safe.
And as England’s first national lockdown began to wind down and the stamp duty holiday was introduced, he said inquiries “went through the roof”.
“You could not answer the phone quick enough,” he said. “The property market just went crazy.”
Looking back on the past year, Mr Cliff says the pandemic taught David Cliff Estate Agents a lot of lessons and gave the team a chance to grow.
“As a company, we’ve always been known for our levels of communication,” he explained.
“But I think we raised the bar on that again.
“Covid made us realise that, while we think we’re good at communicating, there’s always room to improve.”
And he says the pandemic helped the team grow even closer.
“The David Cliff family has all been through Covid together, and we support each other.”
Now, as he looks forward to the coming year, Mr Cliff says he feels more prepared than ever.
“With changing coronavirus restrictions, we’re simply going to take it week-by-week, month-by-month and see what comes,” he explained.
“As long as we look after our clients and look after each other, it will be fine.”
Rather than setting business goals, he hopes the agency can make new kinds of progress through supporting more charities and helping the community.
“That’s what an estate agent should be – part of the community,” he said.
