I look back at the night before we opened. I was busy in my shed, using coffee cup hooks to make up a small keyboard in anticipation of hopefully listing a handful of properties in our first few months of trading. Most of the world was still in lockdown so I wasn’t anticipating an influx of enquires. Especially for a ‘start up’ business.

Such humble beginnings…

I looked at WhatsApp conversation with Jim

Me) ‘Hi Mate, just to let you know I’ve made a keyboard up’

Jim) ‘Great, how many sets of keys can we hold?’

Me) ‘24’

Jim) ‘That should last us until the end of the year’

We subsequently listed 34 properties in our first month of trading. Incredible.

I look at our keyboard now and have a tingle in my heart when I see that we hold keys for over 350 different properties across our two offices and three different businesses.

If you had told either Jim or I that fast forward four years, we would have moved over a thousand families, raised over £25,000 for various charities, whilst enjoying every single second of our working day we wouldn’t have believed it. This kind of social responsibility has enriched our business's legacy and strengthened community ties. We now proudly host a strong market presence and an increasing reputation in the industry.

An awful lot of graft, after hours appointments, emails and telephone conversations late into the evening have helped us to build James & James into the reputable business we have created.

Neither of us would change a thing and we are forever grateful to our staff, folks who take the time to recommend and endorse us, and of course to our families who support and encourage us every step of the way.