editor posted on April 16, 2010 05:05
The Lucinda Newell Column
To be seen pottering along the highways and byways of Luton in her Mini Clubman, her trusted Scottie Malcolm at her side, our super sleuthing property rental expert Ms Lucinda Newell is on the case on your behalf!
The other day I was visiting Lenwell’s offices in Luton to discuss one of my properties when I bumped into Rob Wellstead, the man who started the business twenty years ago when he was just nineteen.
I have been so pleased with Lenwell’s services that I invited him for a coffee and a chat and was delighted when he accepted my invitation. Over a couple of large lattes (and I must admit I did treat myself to a Danish pastry too) I found out quite a lot about the man at the top. The nice people in the coffee shop found a large bowl of water for Malcolm too.
Rob was charming and spoke passionately about the business and his desire to improve standards and service. Rob told me he had been a member of the National Association of Estate Agents since 1991 and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) since 1993. Apparently he is also a qualified Domestic Energy Assessor and we had an interesting chat about the merits of investing in solar energy. But I digress!
Rob is rightly proud of the Silver award Lenwell’s won in the national Estate Agency of the Year Awards Lettings category in 2009 and that the business achieved the coveted British Standards ISO9000 accreditation (formerly ISO9002) as far back as 1995.
With ambitious and ongoing plans for expansion he is determined that Lenwell can be the leading agent in every town in which they operate and he is also keen to raise standards and see better regulation in the industry.
After ordering another latte our conversation turned to more personal matters and I was impressed to learn that Rob managed to combine his obviously driven and committed approach to business with an equally busy and fulfilling life away from the office.
Married to Jo and with two young boys, Rob is a very keen sportsman and says he cycles nearly everywhere, including to the office. As someone whose last experience of riding a bike was when collecting groceries as a small child, I was impressed to learn that Rob manages to cycle over 100 miles a week and last year cycled up Mont Ventoux in Provence whilst on holiday. Rob also mentioned the cyclist Lance Armstrong as a person he admired due to his ability to succeed through hard work, determination and single mindedness. By now I was thinking that Rob could probably win the Tour de France himself if he put his mind to t!
Rob is also a keen skier and sailor. He regularly sails dinghies locally and yachts whilst on holiday in the Mediterranean or Caribbean. In fact Rob’s favourite place in the world is a bar called Sydneys Peace and Love bar in the British Virgin Islands which he described as an honesty bar. When I asked what an honesty bar was he said it was where you just helped yourself to a drink and then put the money in a jar behind the bar and then watched the sun going down from either their deck or back on your own boat. Rob made it sound completely idyllic but I’m not sure it’ll catch on with the landlord at the Rose and Crown in my home village.
Rob did however admit to enjoying lazy Sundays at home with his family and to laughing at, what he described as, juvenile comedy.
Anyway, all our talk of cold drinks on Caribbean beaches had made me realise that our coffees had also now gone cold and that I had kept Rob too long from his work.
Having refused to let me pay, he settled the bill and kindly escorted me from the coffee shop before heading back to his office. I was left feeling that I now knew a lot more about the man himself and was also confident that, with Lenwell, my properties were definitely in the right hands.
Come on Malcolm. “Walkies!”