Over £600 raised by Temples in Race For Life

May 22, 2013

Temples Girls Team would just like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all who have donated to this great cause by sponsoring us in our Race For Life event for Cancer Research UK.

The event took place across Delamere Forest on Sunday 19^th May, and we are pleased to say that all who took part from Temples made the full 5k to the final line, and we are pictured here with our medals!

There was a lot of aching bodies in the Nantwich, Crewe and Northwich offices on Monday morning, but a great sense of achievement and pride in having done our best to raise as much as we could for Cancer Research, as many of us have lost loved ones to this devastating disease.

Thank you once again for all the support, it has been amazing, and we have so far raised in the region of over £600!!

We will publish the final figure on the News section of our website when all monies are in during the next couple of weeks.

There is still time to donate by visiting http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/templesteam

Temples step into action for Cancer Research UK

May 14, 2013

Dedicated employees from Temples are putting on their running shoes to raise money for the national charity Cancer Research UK in the Race for Life.

The team of eight is eager to complete the 5km event in a bid to gain donations from local businesses and well-wishers, and includes Natalie, Amy, Julie and Sue from the Nantwich office, and Rachael and Kimberley from the Crewe office. Owners Robbie and Natalie have also signed up.

The girls at Nantwich  said training so far been tough, but that hasn’t stopped them from rallying around after work hours and hitting the Nantwich streets.

Natalie Sheen, Team Leader, said: “The support and enthusiasm has been infectious in the office, we have been making the most of social media and business contacts to raise as much awareness as we can”.

Director, Roy Kitchen said: “I am incredibly proud of my team dedicating their time to training for the event and it’s been great to see them motivating each other towards their goal. I also have my wife Robbie, daughter Natalie, plus grandchildren taking part. I am looking forward to supporting them all on their race to the finishing line”.

The race will take place this Sunday the 19^th of May at 11am, in Delamere Forest, where there will be refreshments and entertainment for all the family.

The group so far has raised money through targeting local businesses and suppliers, but would be very appreciative to receive more kind donations to hit their £500 target.

To donate you can go directly into the Temples offices at 12 Bull Ring Northwich, 4 High Street Nantwich, and 135 Nantwich Road Crewe, or visit the team’s online fundraising page http://raceforlifesponsorme.org/templesteam.

Temples Score a Hat Trick of Top Awards at ESTAS 2013

April 23, 2013

Temples Lettings has received the Gold Award in the national category for Best Small Lettings Chain at the prestigious Estate & Letting Agent Awards 2013 – for the second year running. The Nantwich office, owned by Roy Kitchen, won the Gold Award in the regional category, being named Best Letting Agent in the North West, and the Northwich office, owned by Roy’s daughter and son-in-law Natalie and Gary Williams won the Silver Award for the region.

The hat trick of awards was announced on Friday 19th April 2013 by Phil Spencer, the TV property expert, at a lavish luncheon & ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane London attended by 600 of the UK’s top estate and letting agents and suppliers to the industry. The awards, celebrating their 10th year, are known throughout the industry as the ESTAS.

The ESTAS determines the best estate and letting agents in the UK through research carried out amongst customers who are asked a series of questions about the service they have received from their agent, 23,000 questionnaires were completed by customers during the competition.

Phil Spencer, who has hosted the ESTAS every year since their inception in 2004 said “I think these awards help us all to focus on customer service for the greater good of our own businesses as well as the wider industry. We must all drive standards higher, raising the bar in terms of the quality of advice we offer and the level of customer care we deliver.”

Agents were shortlisted in 18 regions around the country. “The ESTAS competition is about recognising the hard work agents put in every day, every week and month of the year” says Simon Brown who runs the national scheme. “So to be shortlisted is a great achievement, but to win is the highest accolade any agency can achieve”.

Owner of the Northwich office, Natalie, who entered the group for the first time into last year’s ESTAS, said “Gary and I are extremely proud of our success again this year, and I’m thrilled that my Dad’s office did so well too. The fact that our landlords think so highly of us and our team to give us such amazing ratings for all aspects of our service is truly the highest accolade, and we thank them all very much for taking the time to complete the ESTAS questionnaires. We also improved our national ranking from 25th in the 2012 awards to 9th in the 2013 awards, which demonstrates our total dedication to striving for the highest standards and to better our customer service wherever possible.”

Steve Kitchen, Natalie’s brother, and Lettings Manager at their father’s office in Nantwich, was shortlisted as one the top 25 individuals in Lettings and Sales across the country for the ESTAS ‘People Awards’. Steve said “I was delighted to represent Temples within this category as our family business truly believes in the personal touch when dealing with all customers, and being named by so many landlords for this Award was the crowning moment of my 10 year career at Temples.”

Lords’ vote on regulation just scrapes through

March 13, 2013

An amendment to regulate letting agents by bringing them under the scope of the Estate Agents Act only just scraped through in the House of Lords.

The majority was only five, with 211 supporting Baroness Hayter’s proposal and 206 against it.

Almost with exception, the peers voted along party lines – raising a large question mark as to what will happen to the amendment when the measure goes to the Commons.

This was the second time that Hayter, a Labour peer who chaired the now defunct Property Standards Board, had moved the amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill.

If – and it is a big if – it is approved by the Commons, it would mean that letting agents would have to belong to an ombudsman scheme and could be banned by the Office of Fair Trading – which currently does not recognise letting agents as estate agents.

The move would also prevent estate agents who had been banned from opening up the following day as letting agents.

On the first occasion she withdrew her amendment as a matter of procedure after the Government made its opposition clear.

Last week, the Government continued to maintain its opposition.

Speaking for the Government, Viscount Younger of Leckie, parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), said that expanding the supply of rented homes was “at the heart of the Government’s strategy. We want a bigger and better private rented sector.”

But boosting supply, he said, meant avoiding excessive regulation.

“Excessive regulation, however well intentioned, can result in precisely the outcomes we want to avoid,” he said. “That is why we did not proceed with the proposals of the previous Government, such as a national register of landlords and the full statutory regulation of letting agents.”

He went on: “We have heard a number of people express the view that the lettings market is totally unregulated. That is not in fact the case.” He drew attention to legislation such as the Unfair Trading Regulations, and Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

He added: “We know that trading standards bodies use these powers to prosecute lettings agents. Some very substantial fines, and indeed prison sentences, have been handed down to agents who engage in serious misdemeanours, such as misrepresenting their membership of professional bodies, or indeed misappropriating clients’ money.”

He said that he strongly supported “making better use of existing regulations before we create new ones”.

Hayter, in wrapping up the debate, pointed out that current housing minister Mark Prisk wanted regulation of letting agents back in 2007.

The wafer-thin majority in the Lords did not stop the lobbyists from greeting the amendment almost as though it was a done deal.

Ian Potter, managing director of ARLA, said: “We all look forward to working with the Government on the Bill as it moves back to the Commons for final approval.”

The British Property Federation said it welcomed the amendment “that will introduce statutory regulation of letting agents”.

Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer said: “This will mean greater protection for a number of consumers.”

Peter Bolton King of the RICS sounded a note of caution, saying that the decision was “one step nearer to this vital change becoming law”.

When the Bill does get back to the Commons, much will depend on the usual behind-the-scenes horse trading. While the Conservatives are against regulating letting agents, their coalition partners, the Lib Dems, support the idea.