This week, taking a break from work in rural Devon, I have taken the opportunity to visit the French Property News exhibition at Olympia, which is where we launched the Allez-Français company in January 2002.
How times have changed ! The vast halls of Olympia were packed with exhibitors over 2 floors back in 2002, and space was at a premium. During the course of that weekend 40,000 visitors charged through the doors and ensured that you never had a moment to relax. Yesterday, by contrast, there was plenty of space for exhibitors, over a single floor, and visitors strolled through the doors at a trickle rather than a surge.
There seemed to be as many Currency exchange dealers as Estate Agents, surely a sign that the immobilier world has taken a big hit and found times very hard during the past 12 months. There has been a change in marketing, away from costly shows, and expensive magazine advertising, towards more cost effective property website portals. That is certainly the way Allez-Français has moved during the last 12-18 months.
Being here in the UK does give you a serious reality check, however. PC madness still rules ! The newspapers yesterday reported how it is now not acceptable to refer to a famous pudding as “spotted dick”, and there was an article revealing that prison officers had been told that they could not refer to inmates by simply their surnames such as “Fletcher”, and that “Mr Fletcher” was the order of the day. What would Ronnie Barker say !
No wonder there is no shortage of Brits still trying to escape the island for France. The recent increase in activity is being maintained, and once again our company has been dealing with the signing of a “compromise de vente” on a Saturday afternoon. Well done Nigel, our new Agent Commercial, on notching up your 1st sale. Many more to follow ….
Peter Elias (Agent Commercial)
Website http://www.allez-francais.com/ or e-mail allez-francais@wanadoo.fr
How times have changed ! The vast halls of Olympia were packed with exhibitors over 2 floors back in 2002, and space was at a premium. During the course of that weekend 40,000 visitors charged through the doors and ensured that you never had a moment to relax. Yesterday, by contrast, there was plenty of space for exhibitors, over a single floor, and visitors strolled through the doors at a trickle rather than a surge.
There seemed to be as many Currency exchange dealers as Estate Agents, surely a sign that the immobilier world has taken a big hit and found times very hard during the past 12 months. There has been a change in marketing, away from costly shows, and expensive magazine advertising, towards more cost effective property website portals. That is certainly the way Allez-Français has moved during the last 12-18 months.
Being here in the UK does give you a serious reality check, however. PC madness still rules ! The newspapers yesterday reported how it is now not acceptable to refer to a famous pudding as “spotted dick”, and there was an article revealing that prison officers had been told that they could not refer to inmates by simply their surnames such as “Fletcher”, and that “Mr Fletcher” was the order of the day. What would Ronnie Barker say !
No wonder there is no shortage of Brits still trying to escape the island for France. The recent increase in activity is being maintained, and once again our company has been dealing with the signing of a “compromise de vente” on a Saturday afternoon. Well done Nigel, our new Agent Commercial, on notching up your 1st sale. Many more to follow ….
Peter Elias (Agent Commercial)
Website http://www.allez-francais.com/ or e-mail allez-francais@wanadoo.fr
0 comments:
Post a Comment