The Business

Elephant & Castle independent estate agents were launched into the Coventry market place in 2006 and instantly became one of the fastest growing independent estate agencies in the city. Initially operating from a small rented office space in Holbrooks, the business was started with the intention of providing the BEST POSSIBLE level of customer service, and an understanding that the job of an estate agent isn’t just to sell houses, but to help people move. With this in mind Elephant & Castle not only arrange viewings on our vendors homes, but also, once a buyer is found, if a suitable next home is not on their books, will phone around other agents to book viewings on suitable properties for vendors, even negotiating on their behalf.

The first year of trading was far more successful that could possibly have been hoped for and in 2007 the company relocated to it’s state of the art flagship office on Cannon Hill Road. With a prominent window display, convenient location and FREE PARKING this position has proved to be a real alternative to the traditional City Centre estate agency.

“We understand that the market place has changed,” Says Rob Shields, Partner. “Once was the time that people would be queuing out the doors of City Centre estate agencies waiting to register their details. But with the dawn of the internet and mobile telephones, this simply isn’t the case anymore.”

“These days, the vast majority of people use the internet to search for properties. With that in mind we have invested heavily in our own website, along with marketing on many of the major property portals. We also use eye catching local newspaper advertising and with our bright orange For Sale boards, anyone looking around an area cannot fail to notice our properties.”

Steve Bell, Partner, added “Of course this doesn’t mean that we under estimate the power of our shop window. We have refitted our office to a very high standard, so it is a comfortable place to be. We have free parking, so buyers who would rather deal face to face or pop in to collect a set of details can be relaxed and not worried about how much the car park is going to cost like they may if parked in town.”

“We have a bright and clean window display with many more properties inside and a large flat screen scrolling through properties on the wall too. Many people who visit our office have commented on what a nice place it is to be.”

In 2008 The Guild of Professional Estate Agents invited Elephant & Castle to join, an honour of which they are rightly proud. As the only member of The Guild in the Coventry area, Elephant & Castle are part of a 500 strong national network of independent estate agents and benefit a lot from relocation work.

“The office on Park Lane in London’s Mayfair district is a particularly powerful tool for us” Steve continues, “with Coventry being only a one hour commute from the capital and prices here being so much more reasonable are properties benefit from being on display there.”

Rob Shields

Rob has lived in Leicestershire since the age of 9 after his family moved down from Yorkshire. He was educated in Leicester and has a background in accounting and financial services.

He has worked in various housing markets since 1988 in both financial services and estate agency roles, moving into the Coventry & Warwickshire areas in 1995.

Rob has gained a wealth of experience and helped many local people move home over the years and recalls how much the area has changed since he first arrived.

“When I first came to Coventry, I felt as if I had come home. I found the people very friendly and welcoming and the City itself extremely vibrant and progressive.

Work on the Skydome had just started, the A444 was still under construction , Coventry City Football Club were still playing at Highfield Road & the site where the new arena now stands was still the Foleshill gas works. There have also been many improvements to the City centre including the Lower Precinct and Priory developments.”

Steve Bell

Born in Coventry and spending much of his formative years in Coventry and Kenilworth, Steve takes a pride in his position of trust, and always strives to provide the most professional and friendly service available in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Originally a trained engineer and dancer, Steve entered the Housing market in 2000, when a bad experience with a letting agent made him so cross that he set out to provide a better service himself. He joined a large corporate chain of estate agents where he learned the ropes and won many awards for customer service and sales results, he later left the corporate world to gain a taste of life at an independent firm. His success at that company lead to him being Head Hunted by a large Corporate chain.

It was whilst working for that large company that Steve became increasingly frustrated with the demands of senior management who were even advising some valuers to overvalue and tie people in for long sole agency periods.

Steve is a regular contributor to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, guesting on the Annie Othen show on a number of occasions.

Rob and Steve met when working for the same company in 2004 and decided that it was time to put together a business plan for a whole new breed of estate agency, and one which would pride itself on delivering the highest standards on customer service at a reasonable, honest and competitive cost to the consumer. And so Elephant & Castle was born.

The pair came up with the name Elephant & Castle because of the pride that all Coventrians take in their cities history, and as everyone will know the Elephant & Castle are the main part of the Coventry Coat of Arms dating back to the medieval times when the Black Prince ruled the city and the city’s motto “Camera Principis” meaning prince’s chamber was created.

In 2008 Steve and his wife Zoe made history by becoming the first ever Non Royal couple to have their wedding broadcast nationally in full on the BBC. Radio 4 recorded the event and it was broadcast on Sunday 31st August. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/galleries/wedding/