Sophie Arnold is one of the founding directors of Sandersons UK and has been with the company since its inception in 1992. She started her career riding horses professionally and was sponsored to event for 3 seasons. She then moved to Canterbury to do a BA Hons in Social Policy before moving into a career in property.
Further qualifications include a Diploma in Management; Prince2 and a Microsoft Systems Administrator. She has been proactive in ensuring that the company employs leading edge technology and the staff are trained to be advanced in their skill set. This focus on using the latest tools available has put Sandersons in an enviable position in terms of quality of delivery.
Pippa joined Sandersons in 2009 as New Lets Manager after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an upper 2.1 (Hons) degree in Business Studies with Operations Management. Pippa went on to oversee the Property Management Team and in 2015, progressed into a more strategic role developing our systems, marketing and in house processes to ensure we are operating as effectively as we possibly can. This includes focusing on our brand image, marketing, staff training, internal software and technology to enable us to continue to deliver the best possible service to our clients.
Pippa's main passion is riding where she regularly competes against both national and international riders with her own horse who she trained herself from a 2 year old. Pippa loves sports, snowboarding, being active and is more often than not found out and about socialising with friends & family. She enjoys a walk with the dogs and knows that at the end of every walk, there is usually a good local pub. She has also learned the skill of traditional upholstery from her mother and enjoys working on furniture restoration projects for friends and in her own home. Pippa is married with 2 children and recently completed a self-build barn conversion project.
What advice would you give your younger self? Be more confident in yourself and remember that the problem with common sense is that it's not that common. The hangovers also get worse as you get older.
Chris joined Sandersons in 2009 specifically to launch the Ashford office. We subsequently saw unprecedented growth in Ashford as new customers benefited from the attention to detail and flair that Chris and his team brought to the role. In 2011 Chris moved to our Canterbury office to head up an experienced sales team that continued to grow year on year. As well as continuing to help the Canterbury team grow, Chris is also part of the Leadership Team and his roles include overseeing the company finance and overall performance. Chris has previously worked in kitchen design, recruitment and as a Procurement Manager for a Kent based property developer.
Why are Sandersons different?
Knowing that my opinion matters is a big reason I enjoy working for Sandersons. Not tying clients into fixed term contracts was an idea I put forward and it was embraced by the Directors. I believe it is one of the key ways we are different to other agents.
I have lived in and around Canterbury most of my life and currently live in North Canterbury. I met my wife in 2003 and we have two children who attend local secondary schools. Although a lot of my time is spent with my family, I have a real passion for sport. Over the years I have particularly enjoyed playing football and squash competitively. Unfortunately following ACL injuries and two knee operations I have had to find other ways to keep fit. Since 2013 I have enjoyed boxing training and although I don’t fight competitively, I enjoy pushing myself with this type of training. Over the years I have tried to do my bit for charity. I raised money for the British Heart Foundation by cycling 54 miles from London to Brighton. I took part in a Tough Mudder event to raise money for Dancing Eye Syndrome Support Trust and a Commando Run to support Mental Health Resource. I also managed to get my wife and two children to take part in a Colour Me Purple 5k run to raise money for The Wisdom Hospice.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Spend less time worrying about things outside of your own control.
Antony joined Sandersons in 2014 and is our Ashford & Folkestone Branch Manager. After attending Grammar School and achieving 3 A-Levels, Antony went into further education at Nottingham Trent University where he gained a 2:1 (BSC Hons) degree is Sports Science and Management. He joined the property industry back in 2006 where he worked his way up from a Negotiator to a Branch Manager within 4 years making a name for himself via two Corporate Estate Agency competitors along the way. He has been in this role ever since and is and is also NAEA qualified. Antony is involved in sales and lettings property valuations, negotiating offers, sales progression as well as the other day to day tasks of keeping the office running smoothly. He brings huge enthusiasm and energy to the role and believes passionately in working in association with clients to deliver a top end service. His commitment to this end is evident in his dealings with vendors and landlords alike. Question re Sandersons approach - Antony is extremely passionate about providing excellent customer service in addition to achieving top results for his clients and achieves this by building relationships based solely on trust. An example of this is one of our major Unique Selling Points in the fact we do not tie our clients into any fixed term contract unlike the majority of other Estate Agents.
Why are Sandersons different?
At Sandersons, we have an extremely pro-active approach to business which helps us to achieve top results for our clients. We achieve this by maintaining sensible stock levels which we regularly ring and email out to our entire database of registered applicants in addition to regularly rotating our office windows with fresh property stock, updating our property images and particulars online as well as our Featured Property Listings on the portals.
I joined the estate agency industry in 2006 and have worked in Ashford for the majority of the time as well as Folkestone, Dover and Canterbury so I have a good knowledge of the local market and surrounding towns. When away from the office, I have my hands full with my son and have always been a keen sportsman. I enjoy running but playing and watching football is my main passion.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t waste money on a nice car, put it into savings or property!!
Robin joined Sandersons iConn in January 2018 as a lettings negotiator. He has excellent IT and administrative experience so we are really happy to have this level of skill in the team to continue to ensure we deliver a consistently exceptional service to our customers. He worked as a network engineer in London working to put the WiFi networks on trains (virgin trains out of Euston/Heathrow express) for a company called Nomad Digital Ltd. Just before joining Sandersons iConn, he spent 2 years in retail at Homebase/Currys working at the front end as well as in the warehouse.
Robin is also in the process of completing a distance learning engineering qualification in HNC General Engineering.
What do you like most about Sandersons’ iConn approach?
The supportive and friendly office atmosphere makes it easy to focus on providing the best customer experience I can.
Apart from a brief move to London, I have lived in Canterbury my whole life. Two years ago I started training Kickboxing at a local club and this year I started competing in local competitions which has been a painful but enjoyable experience.
Last year I completed the PARAS'10 and COMMANDO charity runs which help raise funds for their respective regiments and I also completed a charity log run for Who Dares Cares.
I recently learnt to ski and intend to spend as much time in the mountains as I can in the near future!
What advice would you give to your younger self?
It's better to fail at something then never try at all
Matt graduated from Canterbury Christchurch University in 2013 with a degree in Photography. He also holds an Adobe Certified Associate qualification for the use of Photoshop. Since Matt began photographing properties in 2014, he has photographed a wide range of homes for estate agents and property developers. He is also involved in marketing, advertising, graphic design and social media.
What do you like most about Sandersons’ approach? It is refreshing to work for an agent that has such a straight-forward approach and to work with colleagues that are all working as part of a team.
Holding a camera or with some sort of board on his feet
My personal photographic work has been selected for a number of competitions, it was most notably featured in the Royal Photographic Society 'International Print Competition', as part of it was included in a touring UK exhibition. I also held a solo exhibition in Broadstairs, Kent. Aside from undertaking my own photography, I enjoy snowboarding and skateboarding. I also have a passion for travelling, in 2016 I went on a trip around the world. In my spare time I go snowboarding at the local dry ski slope, go skateboarding or spend time with my girlfriend. What advice would you give to your younger self? Do what you enjoy because life is short.