What excites you most about your role as a Partner at Knight Frank?
It’s a genuine interest in people and property that keeps my role at Knight Frank really interesting. No two days are the same in this job, and I never know whose door I am going to walk through next.

There is a wonderful culture unique to Knight Frank that I haven’t experienced at any other company, a culture of ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. I have brilliant mentors at Knight Frank who have supported me throughout my career to date, and I am most excited to see where my career takes me. 

What do you think is the main benefit of having a property staged when selling?
The clear benefit for me based on the experience of it happening time and time again, is that put simply, staging a property will lead to selling a property within a quicker timeframe and will result in higher offers. Home Staging sells a lifestyle which pulls on the heartstrings when purchasers come to make an offer.  

If I can pick out one relevant benefit to Notting Hill then it would be that the number of homes available to buy in Notting Hill is up nearly 60% in 2020 compared with 2019, there is so much more competition out there. The first stage of anyone’s home search is usually online, and many will dismiss a property without viewing it based on the images presented. 

Home staging a property will make it stand out above the competition on the search engines; more enquiries, more viewings and more offers.

What has been your favourite project to work on with Knight Frank Interiors?
There have been a few real highlights! I am a huge advocate of Knight Frank Interiors, and being present for viewings in dressed against undressed properties; I can really appreciate the difference in reactions from buyers when properties are presented beautifully. 

One standout for me was Chepstow Road, a beautiful house in the Artesian Grid in Notting Hill. When I was initially asked to value it by the owners they were in despair, living in Hong Kong, they had a London agent working on the sale of their house, but it had sat on the market unsold for 8 months. 

When I valued the house, it was clear that pricing wasn’t the issue but presentation. There was post all over the floor and being an ex-rental property, the lack of furniture showed every slight bit of wear and tear. First impressions weren’t doing the house any justice, and it was a real shame.

The owner’s previous agents were taken off the ticket and I recommended a re-paint and re-dress of the house by Knight Frank Interiors prior to us re-launching. It was Christmas Eve when we came to market and we had 30 viewings between Christmas and New Year, resulting in competing bids and a full asking price offer.

A couple of buyers had seen and dismissed the house before it was dressed, and when they returned, they commented on just how much the furniture had bought it to life as a compelling option for their search. A real success story! 

What is your favourite part of the Christmas holidays?
I usually fly away every year as I find Christmas the only time of the year I can truly switch off and take a break from all the pressures of the job.

Last year I woke up in Sedona on Christmas day and travelled to the Grand Canyon. When I got there, the fog was so bad, could barely see more than two inches in front of me, it was truly a white Christmas and a slightly wasted journey!

Best spot or place to go in your stomping ground, Notting Hill?
I’m a huge foodie, I recently discovered a bun shop called ‘buns from home’ on Talbot Road. They are the most mouth-watering, flaky, tasty buns and they update the flavours every week! I am hooked.