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A multi-award winning estate agency that has managed the sale of almost £400 million worth of Highland homes is celebrating its 10th anniversary – and is confident its stratospheric rise will continue long into the future.
Tailormade Moves, which is based in Inverness, will celebrate its 10th anniversary on August 26. Those 10 years have been a decade of success, as the firm grew from just three employees to its current 13, and moved from its original base out at Fairways Business Park in Slackbuie to its current home at The Green House in the Beechwood Business Park.
It has won multiple industry awards in the intervening years and swiftly built up an impressive 20 per cent share of the local market thanks to what it calls its “no-nonsense, honest approach” and its “excellent customer service”.
Thanks to this it enjoys a strong reputation where it counts most – among the many satisfied customers it has helped move into their new homes. And director Morna Eadie is clear that it is the people they have worked with that are behind its success – both within their tightly-knit team of staff and their many happy customers.
She explained: “We’ve got a really fantastic team. People are our business and we wouldn’t be where we are without the right staff.
“In a small place like Inverness a key element of what we do is with people as much as with houses. It’s why our reputation has always been a strong one – our customer service and expertise.”
That focus on customer service and people has stood the firm in very good stead during its first 10 years. Despite major changes within the industry in that time – from the booming local housebuilding market, to the pre and post-Covid pandemic surge in interest in Highland housing, and latterly, the pressure on the market caused by interest rate rises – Tailormade Moves has continued to grow.
It has handled the sale of around 1850 houses in that time, with a combined market value of £385 million. Those figures are something Morna and fellow director Karine MacRae Simpson (who both set up the firm alongside Portfolio Manager Innes Simpson) are deservedly proud of, and have led to the firm gaining attention from several notable and prestigious awards.
These have ranged from winning the Most Promising New Business award at The Highland Business Awards, SME News’ UK Enterprise Award for Best Sales and Lettings Agency in Inverness for 2023, to the most prestigious of the lot – the Negotiator Awards – the UK’s biggest independent awards organisation for estate and lettings companies. Indeed, in the most recent Negotiator Awards last year, the firm was shortlisted finalists in four separate categories – Regional Agency of the Year (Scotland), Small Estate Agency of the Year (UK Wide), Website of the Year (UK wide) and Community Champion of the Year (UK wide).
Not only that, but they were highly commended in two of the four – Estate Agency of the Year (Small) and Community Champion of the Year.
Other notable awards in recent years include wins in the Best Estate Agent Guide Awards in 2022 and 2023 for sales and exceptional sales, and a Gold for letting in the British Property Awards.
The awards success also brings things back around to the way the firm is rooted in the community. As well as scoring highly with their customers for their hands-on support throughout the buying and selling process, Morna and Karine believe it’s their team’s friendly approach that means people keep coming back to Tailormade Moves time and again.
Karine said: “My favourite part of the job is meeting clients and selling them their dream houses. Both of us have got good friends that we actually met through selling houses.”
Morna agreed that meeting people is one of the best things they get to do: “Our approach is people conscious. You can be having a really bad day and then you meet a client or viewer, hit if off with them, and suddenly it’s a really good day.”
“I think that’s why we get good Trustpilot reviews,” added Karine.
“We’re really very involved right through the process.”
Indeed, the firm’s current rating on Trustpilot is a superb 4.9 out of five, reflecting Tailormade Move’s determination to provide exceptional customer service.
Morna and Karine have seen a lot of changes in the market in their first 10 years. After the business launched it rapidly cornered an impressive market share of around 20 per cent inside its first two years. Its focus on properties in Inverness and within a 20-mile radius of the Highland capital meant they were well placed to take full advantage of Inverness’s housing boom, which has only continued apace over the years – with more developers working in the city now than when Tailormade Moves was first set up.
And there have been major shifts in people’s lifestyles too, with the popularity of the Highlands as a place to relocate for quality-of-life reasons only growing further in the wake of the Covid pandemic and the rise in working from home.
Morna and Karine said the months moving out of lockdown proved an exceptionally busy time for the business, with the pair working until 10 or 11 at night at times as the firm dealt with a huge surge in interest in the region.
They also believe this sort of dedication and hard work has set the bar for similar businesses in the region. When they started out, they say the estate agency trade within the Highlands was “nowhere near as dynamic” and the city was less vibrant.
They said their “fresh, nononsense and quality” service was a big part of the reason why they had cornered a 20 per cent share of the local market within just two years. And, despite many similar estate agencies setting up in the time since then, their market share is still a very strong 17 per cent – as anyone who has been house-hunting will be aware due to the presence of many of their signs in streets across Inverness and beyond.
“We saw what was required and stayed a few streets ahead of the competition. Now our signs are everywhere,” they said.
“We do everything from valuations, listings and accompanied viewings on all of our properties, including evenings and weekends. “It also meant that we could really specialise in our area to become the local property experts.”
Morna added: “We set the bar and others have been running to catch up”.
But they won’t be resting on their laurels. They say they have big plans to grow the business even further and are confident that Inverness’s resilient housing market will continue to weather recent storms, like higher interest rates and demand outstripping supply.
“In Inverness the housing market bubble has been very resilient,” explained the pair.
“House prices don’t drop as far or fast as in the central belt.
“Pre-pandemic people were already coming to the Highlands for the quality of life, and postpandemic even more so.
“And with people not needing to work in their office, but working from home instead, we see that continuing.”
But central as always to their plans for the future will be people and a tight focus on the area and its community.
“It’s all about local knowledge, local people… local everything,” they said.
A company rooted in the community
The company’s strong links to the community are not just reflected in their local knowledge and expertise.
Tailormade Moves has also made a point of sharing its success with the community which helped to nurture it – donating to a number of famous local causes since day one Morna and Karine said: “As our company grew, along with the population, we wanted to share our success by giving back to the community in areas that needed it most. We support many local charities and have sponsored many local events.
“We identified early on that we wanted to regularly support a charity close to our hearts, so have had a tie in with Cash for Kids on Moray Firth Radio from our first year of business.”
“Our involvement with the community and local charities is one of the things that both customers and new staff, when recruiting, all comment on.
“They love the fact that we are so involved, whether it be with local schools, children, sporting events, the Highland Hospice, mental health support groups, homeless charities, foodbanks, local theatre and even animal charities.”
These causes also included the likes of Mikeysline and Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.
Testimonials
MORNA and Karine say the focus on people – both within their team and among the customers – has stood Tailormade Moves well over the years.
Strong word of mouth has resulted in the firm enjoying almost unrivalled ratings on review sites like Trustpilot.
And the testimonials from their many satisfied customers have been as glowing in their praise as the company’s much coveted 4.9 Trustpilot rating would suggest…
Outstanding service once again
“Second time we have had the Tailormade experience, first time as a seller and this time as a buyer and once again the service was outstanding. The efficiency and professionalism of the team make them the only agency I would use if I were to sell a property in the future. You feel you’re in safe hands and that your custom is valued. Well done to Morna, Louise and all the team and thanks once again.” – May 22, 2023
Great service
“Speedy, efficient, friendly service. As landlords, it’s great to have a company managing our property that we can rely on 100%. Would highly recommend to anyone.” – March 30, 2023
Exceptional service
“Exceptional service, friendly staff, wide market exposure for the property we were selling and as a result offers we received were significantly over valuation. I’m delighted with every part of the service provided.” – May 9, 2023
A big thank you for the very best of services
“It was such good fortune that we chose this highly professional agency who provided us with faultless advice and services. “Being distant from the property we were selling, we were very reliant on the range of their services but nothing was too much trouble, and the quality of their advice and friendly support could not have been better.
“It is so refreshing to deal with folk who are truly committed to their work and their clients.
“A very big thank you to Karine, Iwona and the team.” – July 20, 2022
‘Proud of our success’
THE team at Tailormade Moves are also proud of the company and its success over its first decade. Here are just some of their comments:
“We can’t believe we’re at our 10 year anniversary! It has gone by in a flash in some ways, but we’re really proud to get to a 10 year mark.” – Owner
“First reaction is probably pride, to be honest. Very proud of the company and proud of the service we’ve managed to provide throughout the 10 years.” – Owner
“Great atmosphere to work in, great team of people.” – Staff member
“You get to know everyone you work with really closely, and it’s really nice to have that kind of community. I was so nervous when I started because I was quite young, but everyone just totally took me in. It’s really exciting to be part of it when they hit that milestone.” – Staff member
“So I’ve worked here for three years but I’ve been watching proudly from the sidelines for 10 years since they started the business. So it’s a massive honour now to be part of the team that’s completely changed the estate agency marketing in Inverness and have just absolutely smashed out of the park.” – Staff member
Contact details
The Greenhouse, Beechwood Business Park, Inverness IV2 3BL
T: 01463 233218
E: info@tailormademoves.co.uk
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