What a BEAU!
We speak to a local couple Chris and Georgina about their growing business, Beau Property. They have successfully re-developed over fifteen properties with an ever expanding portfolio in and around Tunbridge Wells. We get the inside track on where to buy, how to decorate and where to get the best steak!
What brings you all to Tunbridge Wells?
Tunbridge Wells has always been my local town where I grew up, I moved to London, with my now wife Georgina who is also Tunbridge Wells born and bred for a few years and now we have moved back to be close to the rest of our family. We are temporarily living in Nevill Park while we renovate our listed house just outside of Tunbridge Wells.
Farncombe Road
Tell us a little about you…
I studied civil engineering at Durham University and once graduated I went to work at IMG the largest sports marketing and events company in the world. I was lucky enough to work on The Open Championship, The Ryder Cup and the Rugby World Cup in a commercial operations role. I am married to my wife Georgina and we have a 17-month-old daughter.
Farncombe Road
What inspired you to start Beau Property?
When I first met Georgina we were both living in Tunbridge Wells, it got to a stage where we both wanted to move to London and having been living at home we have managed to save a deposit, we were originally going to buy separately but we thought it made sense to combine what we had saved and buy somewhere together. All of the properties we viewed were renovated and didn’t really excite us much, so we decided to go for a project and that’s where the journey started. We purchased our first property in Canada Water in East London in 2010, renovated it had it revalued and given the uplift in value we decided we would sell it and do the same thing again. We ended up moving 13 times in five years and a number of the properties we have kept in our rental portfolio. Obviously we managed these projects while both working full-time and it came to a point where we decided that one of us should move into property full-time and that’s where Beau Property was born.
Farncombe Road
What are you working on at the moment?
A large family house in Farmcombe Road, Central Tunbridge Wells which we have doubled the size of which is on the market now and we are converting a surgery in some flats in Hawkhurst. We’ve got a listed House in Withyham where we are converting some outbuildings and planning to do a large basement and extension to the main house.
Tunbridge Wells is fast becoming popular for those moving out of the capital, what advice would you give to those searching for a home in the town?
Look for a property which is within walking distance of a station and if you have a family, a good school. Once you have narrowed down your areas create alerts on the property search engines and make sure you follow up on every property that fits your criteria in those areas. If you get out bid on a property you love keep checking in with the agents every fortnight or so as quite often a house doesn’t get sold first time round for one reason or another.
Do your projects have a particular style?
The majority of the projects we have worked on have been period properties, especially all the Victorian terraced streets in London, they have some lovely features that can be restored.
Ayot House
What tips would you give to anyone taking on a house project?
Plan and decide on as much as possible before you even start the project, knowing what furniture you are going to put in the house is hugely important for lighting, sockets, radiators, windows etc. so start from the end and work backwards. Also keep an eye out for bank holiday offers as you can pick up some good discounts. Pinterest, Instagram and Magazines are invaluable sources of inspiration too!
What’s does an average day look like to you?
At my desk at 5am 3/4 times a week to get the paperwork out the way before I start to get incoming calls and emails from the rest of the world. Then it’s out to sites to make sure everything is on track for the day, dropping in any last minute materials that haven’t been ordered in advance and sometimes, generally towards the end of a project its getting my hands dirty on site also. I’ll tend to play squash at 4.40 before picking my wife up from the station and going home to see our daughter. I find cooking quite relaxing and so I tend to cook in the evening also.
Ayot House
What does the rest of 2018 look like for you?
We have two properties on the market so hopefully completion on them, pushing ahead with the other two projects, planning application submission for some new build houses and the planning application submission for ‘The Retreat’.
Ayot House
What does an average Friday night in TW look like for you?
A quick drink in Chapel Place Wine bar, or a pub with a fire then home for a nice steak from Fullers or a takeaway.
Ayot House
Your holding a dinner party, what’s on the menu?
In the summer we use our Big Green Egg a lot and so it will be some marinated BBQ meat from Fullers or a slow cooked shoulder of lamb with all the trimmings. The egg is amazing! Winter time we vary it up quite a lot, I like to try new things so we will have a flick through the cook books and find something that looks really tasty. We get most of our meat from Fullers and try to get most of our veg from the Groombridge Farm Shop.
Chris & Georgina with their daughter
What do you love about Tunbridge Wells?
The variety of good restaurants all relatively close together
Chapel Place or Mount Edgecome for some drinks
Access to some great walks and parks
The Beacon for a Sunday Roast
If you’re not in TW, where are you?
On holiday or at Limewood in The New Forest
Ayot House
What’s on the horizon for you?
We are growing in terms of numbers of staff and the size of developments we are taking on. Very excitingly we are going to be crowd funding some of the projects so people who are interested in property can take a a share from as little as £100 and learn about the build journey.
If you want to find out more about Beau Property click the links below:
