Our Approach to Lettings in St Leonards

Our Approach to Lettings in St Leonards on Sea, Hastings, and Rye

Who are we? 

We love our local area! We are local to St Leonards on Sea and have lived here for over 10 years, and have had connections to visit regularly since 2000. We know this town in and out and are passionate about its people, architecture, and local businesses. We find the long stretch of clean coastline and its beauty do give something really special compared to other coastal towns. 

I (Gemma Patrick, Business owner and Director), started in the business of Lettings for a large corporate agent in Essex in 2012. I then moved to another corporate agency in Eastbourne, before joining in 2014 as a Branch Manager for an independent Estate Agency in East Sussex and Kent with three branches. I genuninely enjoy the blend of property, people, and local areas, which brings life to my day to day job. 

My personal circumstances changed a great deal in 2015, so I considered leaving for a franchine online agency and attended 5 days of their training in London. I was appalled at the contrast in personal service, attention to details, and remote feeling of the business! It lacked any passion and professionalism, of which I hold to the highest level in my agency. 

Yet I was curious, and began to merge the concept of my background in premium customer service and training from the corporate Estate Agents, and more importantly attention to the customers' needs, whilst delivering the fast, online results that I would expect myself from any business. 

My approach to lettings, property management, and sales, is a perfect blend of the flexible online operation that we have come to expect and accustomed to in almost every aspect of our day to day life. Working as an online agent has given us the freedom to be contactable 7 days a week. Not only are we contactable, but we respond immediately to your enquiry.

I (Gemma) started the business on my own in 2016, and after 2 years, we had grown to an established, successful local lettings and sales Estate Agency. This success also led to a high demand for my time in the office!

I made the difficult, but correct, decision to move the business aspect wholly online, so that I would always be contactable and keeping up with the day to day demands. This led to me finding local ladies whom also love the town and properties here and are equally disenchanted with the competition, from their own experiences. 

The ladies' commitment, passion, and results have never waivered. We continue to get excited when we wake up each day and never know what is ahead. I have found that freelance individuals have so much more energy and time for clients, than I ever managed to get from my office-based staff in the past. They listen for as long as necessary to our clients when meeting at the property, whether they be new or existing landlords, or showing potential tenants a property. 

Instructing us as your agent

When you give us your property to find a tenant (or sell), we know how hard it is to trust someone new. However, if you consider the pitfalls that may arise from finding a new tenant yourself, I know that I would far rather entrust the keys and decision making to the unbiased, experienced, and genuine individuals like those who work at Patrick Oliver Estate Agents. 

One of the greatest aspects of us, is that without a shop front, we can manage your property anytime! It means we can be juggling a number of tasks like getting quotes, or instructing clients, updating your file and accounts, whilst always being on the end of the phone. We don't get distracted by our team in the office, or constantly feeling under pressure from our peers and bosses. We work independently and support each other as a perfectly blend of online and traditional Letting Agency, as we should be in this modern, digital age. 

We have never once considered the decision to run our agency online as a hinderance to that personal touch. We have found we can actually give far more individual attention to each client, when you contact Gemma in the office. Moreover, our team of freelance ladies, Karen Standing (Sales & Lettings Manager), or Paula Chinnery (Property Consultant), are available at a time convenient to yourself to meet at the property. We're not limited to typical office hours.

Why Do We Stand Above the Rest? 

Communication is key and that is why Gemma, Karen, and Paula, work so well. We gel and consider each other a friend as well as a colleague. When we handle your property, we respect your trust in us, and make sure we deliver 100% of what you'd expect when you hand over the keys to an Estate Agent. 



Please give Gemma a call today and find out why we're different. 01424 390100 / 07398 578513 / gpatrick@patrick-oliver.co.uk