Today, EYE offers our warmest congratulations to Geoffrey Hunt who marks 50 years with the same business.
Hunt started his career in 1968 as a junior negotiator with Barnard Marcus, in Barnes, west London.
Today, he can be found not far away at Barnard Marcus’s East Sheen office, which he joined in 1986 and where he is now branch partner.
As you can see from the pictures, colleagues went to town celebrating Hunt’s golden achievement with a special birthday cake – and by plastering the office itself with suitable images.
Hunt was treated to a surprise party at the branch, with both staff and customers paying tribute to his long service, which included a spell as area manager looking after several west London branches.
However, he missed the cut and thrust of agency life and headed back to East Sheen.
He recalls his first job as a junior was to print property details on a traditional Gestetner.
Later, he stuck black and white photos on property details – one of the first local agents to do so.
When he arrived in East Sheen, the first house he sold went for £155,000. Today it is worth £1.3m.
However, Hunt believes that the fundamentals have not changed, and that hard work, a sense of humour, dedication to customer service, and the ability to adapt to changing housing markets have seen his career stand the test of time.
Hunt said: “Barnard Marcus has been and still is a phenomenal place to work, and I am honoured to have enjoyed a career spanning five decades with them.
“I am proud to have helped many repeat customers and families move many times within East Sheen and, by becoming part of the community, it has made this a hugely rewarding job.”
David Plumtree, estate agency chief executive at parent company Connells Group, said: “Congratulations to Geoff on his remarkable achievement and, on behalf of the business, I would like to express our appreciation for all his hard work over the last 50 years.
“During his tenure at the Barnard Marcus East Sheen branch, it has regularly been one of the most successful branches in the whole of Connells Group. Geoff is a true ambassador within Barnard Marcus, a true gentleman and we thank him for his service to the business.”
Comments (7)
He’s not very tall is he 🙂
Well done sir.
Congrats – must have the hide of a rhino to have put up with it. Deserves a medal for being able to work for a large corporate for so long, particularly in recent years.
Crikey, i bet he has seen some changes within the firm and industry. Well done fella!
Fantastic to see this level of loyalty from both employee and employer
Respect! Very well done. I must admit I think your greatest achievement is to have remained with the same business all this time.
I can’t believe the first house sale was at £115,000. My first sale in 1975 was at £3,000. I suspect someone may have added an extra 0 to the £15,000.
I think you’ll find ’twas the first sale he negotiated in his new office, NewsBoy – not the first one with the company.
Mine, by the way, was at the Princely sum of £11,450, back in ’78. A new-build Freehold four bedroom semi in a town called Ashington in Northumberland. The buyers were distant relations of Bobby and Jack Charlton – which I’m almost certain to this day made them distant relations of mine as well.
Same house today is worth around £150k.
Congratulatations and best wishes to Mr Hunt, for his outstanding achievement.
Brilliant! Well done Mr. Hunt, big respect from me!