The Lochaber Times caught up with Gillies Pagan of Fiuran Property to talk about their recent expansion into Fort William…
Where did it all start for Fiuran start?
Fiuran started in 2013 in response to the need for quality local estate agency at a competitive price. With the vast majority of property searches now being conducted online, it was clear that this was the direction the industry was taking, however technology can’t replace good old face-to-face contact, so we thought it would make sense to combine the two.
How did the business develop?
Laura and I focused on what we were good at which is residential sales in the Oban and Lorn area. By concentrating on this we became the biggest agent in the area by number of sales, selling almost twice as many properties as our next closest competitor in the year to 1st August 2017.
What has been the key to your success?
Simply by consistently delivering great value and excellent service to happy customers; so many companies get this basic step wrong. Everyone at Fiuran has a passion for property and our local areas - we love what we do which makes every day fun.
So why are you expanding now?
We were insistent on ensuring that we didn’t grow too quickly. We needed to ensure we had all of the correct procedures and systems in place, such as our own management software which we designed and had developed and tailored specifically for our business. Fiuran is very much a ‘people’ business, and its success is dependent on having the right people in our organisation. We very deliberately held off expanding until we had the right people to support the change in dynamics. We wanted to ensure we had a team that was local to Lochaber, highly professional & organised, and very personable who would always do the very best for the client. Kelie and her team have all of these qualities and more!
Why Fort William?
Since starting our business, we have regularly had calls from people in the Lochaber area asking us to sell their properties for them but we really had to wait until we were onfident we could deliver the same first class service in this area. We are now in a position to offer the people of Fort William and surrounding area the same high quality service that we have delivered to Oban. We feel that Fort William is almost like a sister town to Oban, and there are countless synergies between the two. We feel that the west highland people appreciate the personal touch that our type of faceto-face business offers.
How important is face to face contact with your customers?
We Highlanders are sociable people and like to have the face-to-face contact with those we’re dealing with. We can’t abide the ‘centralisation’ of organisations such as banks where your only option to contact them is by web chat, or by phone when, after pressing multiple options, you might just get through to someone who might be able to assist.
Why Kelie?
We’ve known Kelie Cooper for well over ten years, and we know how immensely capable and professional she is, having previously won awards for her legal work as a Paralegal. Home buying and selling can be a stressful process and Kelie’s long experience specialising in wills and executrices means she has great empathy and understanding to give her clients support when they need it, whilst getting the job done.