A radical career change is revving up to put Jason Ou firmly on the road to success.
Moving from a motor-cycle and scooter import and export business, Jason has changed gear for a new career journey with the lettings specialist Belvoir.
Operating from offices located on Kingston Hill, in Kingston Upon Thames, Jason and his wife Isabella Zhang join the growing number of franchisees bringing Belvoir’s nationally accredited award-winning lettings service to the southern counties.
They will provide a full range of professional management services to buy to let investors, residential property landlords and their tenant clients in Kingston Upon Thames and surrounding areas.
“The response has been very good,” says Jason. “We started with three properties on our books and one of them let before we even opened the office!
“The Belvoir ethos is centred on offering superlative levels of customer service with a high level of specially tailored property letting solutions. This is also our mission. We will be accountable for every property we deal with and believe that through honesty and professionalism we will win the trust of our clients and achieve our aim of being the most admired lettings specialist in Kingston Upon Thames.
”It’s a highly competitive, tough market place so a good reputation is crucial. Honesty, transparency and a willingness to go the extra mile for both landlords and tenants is our modus operandi.”
Jason’s method statement is illustrated by a four hour return journey to Brighton that he made late evening in a hired van to help a landlord exchange two single beds for double beds in a student let. Says Isabella “Even our window cleaner said that was five star service and that we are not like other agents!”
Isabella brings valuable talents to the business from her former career as a qualified accountant. She moved to Britain from her homeland of China in 2001 and met Jason, also a native of China, who had been resident in the UK since 1999. He studied at the University of Surrey where he achieved a BSc in business economics and computing.
In 2006 Jason and a business partner launched Sinnis International, to import and export motorcycles and scooters. When he decided to leave the business two years ago – selling his interests to his partner – the company had grown to over 70 dealerships all over the UK.
While deciding on his new career path Jason worked for a short time at the Belvoir office of letting and estate agents in Brighton. It was there that he developed a respect for Belvoir as a company and the franchise opportunity it offered.
Jason explains “I find the property business dynamic and it has interested me for some time. When I started to research getting into the lettings business, Belvoir’s offering and the company’s credibility as a nationwide franchise made it the natural choice for us.”
Dealing with a variety of good quality residential properties ranging from luxury apartments to family homes, Jason and Isabella believe they can make the right connections to effect a positive change to the perceived negative levels of service they have identified in some aspects of the lettings industry.
When they launched their business earlier this year, Jason and Isabella intended to manage operations between themselves for the first 12 months, but such has been its success, they are already in a position to recruit staff to better manage the workload.
The franchise is welcomed by Dorian Gonsalves, Belvoir’s Director of Commercial and Franchising who says: “Jason and Isabella are a very personable couple with strong ambition. I am sure they are more than capable of the challenges ahead.
“Jason has an obvious passion for people and property which, coupled with his local knowledge and professional approach provides excellent foundations for this venture into the very competitive lettings market.
“I am convinced that this couple’s enthusiasm and commitment will ensure that Belvoir Kingston Upon Thames will be hugely successful on every level.”
