One of the legends of UK estate agency, Raymond Andrews, has died.
He was the altruistic founder of the NAEA in 1962, establishing the Association with the goal of upholding good practice and high professional standards.
Between 1946 and 1986, he was general manager, later managing director and then chairman of Andrews and Partners, a business created by Cecil Jackson-Cole.
Initially, the firm was concerned with mortgage and insurance broking as well as estate agency. The estate agency business today is a chain operating some 50 branches.
Andrews had a policy of recruiting staff of Christian belief or public-spirited ideas, as well as business acumen, and who would apply a proportion of their time to charity.
Today, Andrews has a somewhat wider recruitment policy but has stayed true to its original philanthropic ideals: owned by three charitable trusts, a proportion of its profits go to them.
Staff at Andrews still engage in a considerable amount of charitable work, both in the UK and abroad.
Jackson-Cole, who also founded Oxfam and Help the Aged, met Raymond Andrews in 1945 and the two remained close associates over many years as both their business and charity work grew.
Yesterday, Michael Robson, group chief executive of Andrews, paid tribute to Raymond Andrews.
He told how Andrews had played a key role in the growth and development of the Andrews business from its inception in 1946 until his retirement in the mid 1980s, shaping the humanitarian and entrepreneurial nature of the organisation alongside founder Jackson-Cole.
He said that Andrews had been instrumental in helping to drive standards forward in the industry by founding the NAEA, and had also served as chair of the Christian Initiative Trust, one of the three charitable trusts which own Andrews.
Robson said: “As a company, Andrews has a very strong internal culture of professionalism, transparency and honesty in the advice given and treatment of customers, all of which have roots in Raymond’s style of leadership.
“It is with regret that we have learned of his passing, but Raymond’s contribution to this industry will not be forgotten”.
Raymond Andrews died on December 17. His funeral is on Monday, January 10, at Bedford Crematorium.
.jpg)
Comments
Having watched this story in order to judge its' responses for the past three days, I am truly sorry to be the first to post my condolences to the family and anyone who knew Mr Andrews.
It is a pity that only market crash or RM stories seem to get comments on here these days. The forefathers of your industry created jobs for each and every modern Estate Agent - surely they deserve respect and recognition?