Henshaws Estate Agents, Great Bookham

At the age of 17 a friend of my father introduced me to estate agency in Northampton. If I'm honest the fact that he had a brand new Mercedes Benz and a private aeroplane might have influenced my decision to get in to the business! So that was it I was hooked on property at an early age and having served my apprenticeship in Northamptonshire I headed south to East Horsley as a 19 year old in 1978 where I joined a well-respected practice called Bridgers. I moved up through the ranks from negotiator, senior negotiator and manager and then the bombshell hit and Bridgers were sold very quickly changing to a 'corporate animal'. My working ethos has always been about knowing your client and providing a service that was second to none. This became an impossibility with the new regime, so it was time to head out and go it alone in partnership with another disenchanted ex Bridgers employee. This is when Henshaws was born in the early part of 1987.The decision then came as to whether we expand expand expand, but potentially lose our identity or stay fervently independent and continue with the ethos we had been brought up on. There was only one real answer to that question! It's the way I am and it's what drives me on, it's what gets me out of bed in the morning.

Married to my lovely and very understanding wife Ann for 23 years (being in agency and a passion for sport she needs to be!) we have 2 grown up children and have lived and worked in the Surrey and south west London area for nearly 26 years. After working abroad for a number of years I returned to these shores in 1990 deciding on a change of direction in terms of career. With property being the chosen path I joined a large corporate organisation gaining invaluable knowledge of the South West London property market. In 1995 I joined Henshaws as a branch manager and then in 2006 and on the retirement of the previous partner took over the running of the company with my now Co-Director Andrew Halliwell. Our ethos remains the same today as it was then to provide a first class and personal service with all staff being prepared to go that extra mile to hopefully put a smile on the faces of all our clients.